page_title: Vijayanagara literature in Kannada
section_title: Jain writings
hierarchical_section_title: Vijayanagara literature in Kannada / Court literature / Jain writings
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph shows the nisidhi column of Malliṣeṇa Maladhārideva, the text was composed by Vijayanagar poet Malli­nātha and engraved by Gangācāri both were disciples of Malliṣeṇa Maladhārideva, in 1398 CE was taken by self (Dinesh Kannambadi) at Vindyagiri Hill temple complex, Shravanabelagola, en:Karnataka India
context_page_description: Vijayanagara literature in Kannada is the body of literature composed in the Kannada language of South India during the ascendancy of the Vijayanagara Empire which lasted from the 14th through the 16th century. The Vijayanagara empire was established in 1336 by Harihara I and his brother Bukka Raya I. Although it lasted until 1664, its power declined after a major military defeat by the Shahi Sultanates in the battle of Talikota in 1565. The empire is named after its capital city Vijayanagara, whose ruins surround modern Hampi, now a World Heritage Site in Karnataka.
  Kannada literature during this period consisted of writings relating to the socio-religious developments of the Veerashaiva and Vaishnava faiths, and to a lesser extent to that of Jainism. Writing on secular topics was popular throughout this period. Authorship of these writings was not limited to poets and scholars alone. Significant literary contributions were made by members of the royal family, their ministers, army commanders of rank, nobility and the various subordinate rulers.
context_section_description: The cultural supremacy of the Jains steadily diminished from the 12th century; the decline began in the 10th century after the conquest of the predominantly Jain Rashtrakutas by the Western Chalukya Empire, and the defeat of the Ganga kingdom by the Cholas of Tanjore. While Veerashaivism flourished in northern Karnataka from the time of Basavanna, Sri Vaishnavism (a branch of Vaishnavism) thrived in the South due to the influence of Ramanujacharya. The Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana and his descendants took to Vaishnavism. Though tolerant of all faiths, the founders of the Vijayanagara Empire and the succeeding kings of the Sangama dynasty were Shaivas by faith (devotees of Shiva) while the later Tuluva dynasty kings were Sri Vaishnavas (followers of Sri Vaishnavism). The Jain population appears to have begun its decline from this period; however, available records include a decree by King Bukka Raya I giving Jains freedom of worship, following their complaint of persecution. Although the influence of Jainism and its literature was on the wane, the coastal areas of modern Karnataka, where important Jain monuments and monoliths were constructed, remained a stronghold. As in earlier centuries, Jain authors wrote about tirthankars, princes and other personages important to the Jain religion. Most famous among Jain poets from the coastal Karnataka region were Ratnakaravarni, Abhinava Vadi Vidyananda, Salva and Nemanna.
  Ratnakaravarni of Mudabidri (1557), court poet at Karkala under the patronage of Bhairasa Wodeyar, is famous for successfully integrating an element of worldly pleasure into asceticism and for treating the topic of eros with discretion in a religious epic, his magnum opus the Bharatadesa Vaibhava. One of the most popular poets of Kannada literature, Ratnakaravarni's writings were popular across religions and sects. He appears to have had tense relationships with both court and monastery, however, owing to writings on erotics and the science of pleasure, rather than purely spiritual poetry. A radical and sensitive poet, he once claimed that spiritual meditation "was boring". Tradition has it that Ratnakaravarni converted to Veerashaivism when his Bharatadesa Vaibhava (also called Bharatesvara Charite) was initially scorned, later to return to the Jain fold and pen other important writings. The Bharatadesa Vaibhava is written in eighty cantos and includes 10,000 verses. His other important writings include the 2,000 spiritual songs called Annagalapada ("Songs of the Brothers") and the three shatakas: the Ratnakara sataka, the Aparajitesvara shataka (a discourse on Jain morals, renunciation and philosophy) and the Trilokya shataka, an account of the universe as seen by Jains, consisting of heaven, hell and the intermediate worlds.
  Bharatadesa Vaibhava is a version of the earlier Poorvapurana by Jinasenacharya and reflects a different perspective than the Adipurana written by Adikavi Pampa c. 941. Centred on the glorification of the enlightened Bharata, the son of the first Jain tirthankar Adinatha, Ratnakaravarni cleverly focuses on those aspects that the original by Pampa ignored. Ratnakaravarni goes into minute detail about prince Bharata who, according to the author, serves as the ideal balance between detachment (yoga) and attachment (bhoga). Though married to "96,000 women", Bharata is depicted as one who at once could separate himself from worldly pleasures. Unlike Pampa, who focused on the conflict between the brothers Bahubali and Bharata, ending with Bahubali's asceticism and Bharata's humiliation, Ratnakaravarni's eulogy of Bharata leaves room only for Bahubali's evolution towards sainthood. Eventually, Bharata attains moksha (liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth) by burning himself in ascetic fire. The author showers encomium on Bharata in his various roles as monarch, husband, son, friend and devotee, a rare description of a "perfect human being" among Jain writings. Since details of the early life of Bharata as a young ruler did not exist in previous writings or in tradition, much of Ratnakara
caption: Poetic inscription in Kannada by Vijayanagara poet Manjaraja (1398) at Shravanabelagola
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