Jain Journal 2003 10

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 18

IAIN JOURNAL: VOL-XXXVIII, NO. 2 OCT. 2003
The latter half of the Adipurāņa recount the saga of Bharata's quest for domination over his numerous younger brothers and his ignominous defeat by Bāhubali, his youngest brother and finally Bāhubali's renunciation of the world he has just won in favour of the traditional Jaina mendicant's life. The issue for poet Pampa is ‘Where and how is the truly meaningful battle fought? And no where is this issue more piognantly handled than in the story of Bharata and Bāhubali. The poem in Champu style refutes and rebuts the war mongers. Pampa skilfully employs the situation of war, when Bharata and Bāhubali stand face to face on the battle field, to vilify the thirst for power, and finally hoist the flag of non-injury.
It is established that the Jaina litterateurs were the pioneers to write and exploit the sensibilities of the southern languages. Pampa, shifting language preference from Sanskrit to Kannada, opted to author and pave the way for local language of the people. This preference for provincial language for literary works and for the expression of political will, gradually inspired Telugu writers like Nannayya at the court of the Vengi Chālukyas, followed by Errapragada and Tikkana.
Jinavallabha, younger brother of Pampa, also following his elder brother's model, eschewed linguistic chauvinism and chose the middle path of respecting all languages. Therefore, he composed the Kurkiyāla charter in Sanskrit, Kannada and Telugu. By composing three Kanda stanzas in Telugu for the first time, as early as in C.E. 945, Jinavallabha prepared an infrastructure for the resurgence of Telugu literature. In brief, both Pampa and Jinavallabha encouraged local genius to produce literary texts in the language of the province.
Let me recapitulate and underscore the linguistic freedom that prevailed in Andhra. The people were free to speak, write and engrave inscriptions in Kannada, though by then Telugu also had come to be used as a major epigraphical medium. The authorization to write is typically related to social and political privileges. Thus, to choose a language for written literature is an extraordinary phenomenon.
Jinavallabha did not bloom to fame in the shadow of his brother Pampa. He had earned it on his merit. He was a pupil of Jayamgonda Siddhānta Bhațāra of Paņqarangapalli, and belonged to