Bharavi
Bharavi (Bhāravi) was a 6th century Indian poet known for his epic poem
Date
According to multiple grant inscriptions of the Ganga dynasty, such as the Gummareddipura inscription, the Ganga king Durvinita wrote a Kannada-language commentary on the Canto 15 of Bharavi's Kirātārjunīya.[2] The date of the Gummareddipura inscription is debated among scholars, but the end of Durvinita's reign is dated to c. 580 CE, which means that Bharavi lived around or before this time.[3]
Avanti-sundara-katha of Dandin (7th-8th century) suggests that Bharavi was a contemporary of the kings Simha-vishnu, Vishnu-vardhana, and Durvinita; he was also a contemporary of Dandin's fourth-generation ancestor Damodara (see Biography below).[4][5] Based on this account, Sanskrit scholar G. Harihara Sastri theorizes prince Kubja Vishnuvardhana of Chalukya family was a patron of Bharavi, before he became the Eastern Chalukya king around c. 615 CE. Sastri thus places Bharavi around the beginning of the 7th century.[6] According to Indologist A. K. Warder, the Vishnu-vardhana of Dandin's account is more likely to be the 6th-century Aulikara ruler Yashodharman Vishnu-vardhana, which places Bharavi's floruit in c. 530–550 CE.[7][8] Sanskrit professor M.K. Gangopadhyaya similarly places Bharavi around 500-550 CE.[8] According to historian B. Muddachari, Bharavi lived "on either side of the beginning of the 6th century".[9]
The Aihole inscription (634 CE) of the Chalukya king Pulakeshin II (a brother of Kubja Vishnuvardhana) states that its composer Ravikirti "attained the fame of Kalidasa and Bharavi".[10][11] Thus, by 634 CE, Bharavi was acknolwedged as a great poet comparable to the famous Kalidasa.[8][12]
Place
Majority of scholars theorize that Bharavi was from the southern region of India. The inscriptions that mention him are from western
Biography
As with most ancient Sanskrit poets, very few concrete details are available about Bharavi's life. He does not provide any personal information in his only extant work, the Kiratarjuniya. Much of the information about his life comes from legends and stories that are of doubtful historicity.[14]
Mention in Avanti-sundara-katha-sara
A historically plausible account of Bharavi is found in Avanti-sundari-katha and its metrical summary, the Avanti-sundari-katha-sara, both of which are attributed to the 7th-century poet
Avanti-sundari-katha, the original prose is available only in fragments, and various scholars have filled the lacunas in its manuscript using their own judgment.[10] Sanskrit scholar M. Ramakrishna Kavi theorized that Damodara was an alias of Bharavi, based on a verse in the metrical version Avanti-sundari-katha-sara.[18] This claim has been repeated by later writers as well.[19][20]
G. Harihara Sastri dismisses the identification of Bharavi with Damodara, stating that Kavi's interpretation is based on a misreading of the verse, and that the metrical version was apparently written by a later writer. Based on an analysis of palm-leaf manuscript of the Avanti-sundari-katha, Sastri concludes that Dandin's text states that "Damodara, associating himself with Bharavi, the great Śaivite and the fountain of the Muse, allied himself by ties of friendship with the prince Viṣṇuvardhana".[21] Dandin states that Damodara wrote the Gandha-madana and a treatise on poetics (in Sanskrit and Prakrit) under the patronage of king Simha-vishnu. However, Bharavi is known to have composed only Kiratarjuniya, which further suggests that Damodara and Bharavi were two different persons.[10]
Thus, all that can be inferred from Dandin's text is that Bharavi was a Shaivite, a great poet, and a courtier of Vishnu-vardhana; and that he introduced another poet named Damodara to Vishnu-vardhana.[21][9][22]
Other accounts
According to one legend, Bharavi was a poor poet. After his wife rebuked him for not making money, he decided to seek royal patronage. During his journey to the royal capital, he stopped by a lake and wrote a verse encouraging the reader to not perform any act rashly. The king, who had come there during a hunting excursion, read the verse and impressed, invited Bharavi to the royal palace. However, when Bharavi arrived at the palace, a royal employee turned him away, disgusted by his poor appearance. Meanwhile, the king had inscribed the verse in gold in his bedroom. One day, he found his queen laying in the bed with a young man. He became enraged and was about to kill the two, when he saw the verse inscribed on the wall, and stopped. The queen then introduced the young man as their long lost son. The king was happy to find an heir to the throne; he found the poet and rewarded him lavishly.[23]
Yet another legend describes Bharavi as a contemporary of Kalidasa and Dandin, stating that all three poets enjoyed the patronage of king
Gangopadhyaya describes both these legends as "absurd and useless".[25]
Work
Bharavi's only known work is
His poetry is characterised by its intricate styles and ethereal expressions. Like Kalidasa for his similes (upamā) and Daṇḍin for his wordplay (padalālityam), Bharavi is known for his "weight of meaning" (arthagauravam).[citation needed]
It is thought that Bharavi's Kiratarjuniya influenced the 8th century CE poet Magha's Shishupala Vadha.[27]
References
- ^ C. Kunhan Raja (1962). Survey of Sanskrit literature. p. 136.
- ^ Muddachari 1971, p. 128-129.
- ^ Dixit 1954, p. x.
- ^ Gangopadhyaya 1991, p. 4.
- ^ Sastri 1927, pp. 170–171.
- ^ Sastri 1927, p. 171.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-208-0445-6
- ^ a b c Gangopadhyaya 1991, p. 6.
- ^ a b Muddachari 1971, p. 128.
- ^ a b c Gangopadhyaya 1991, p. 5.
- ISBN 978-81-208-0027-4.
- ^ Kale 1998, p. xix.
- ^ Gangopadhyaya 1991, pp. 6–7.
- ^ Gangopadhyaya 1991, p. 1.
- ^ a b Gangopadhyaya 1991, p. 3.
- ^ a b Muddachari 1971, p. 126-128.
- ^ Gangopadhyaya 1991, pp. 3–4.
- ^ Sastri 1927, p. 169.
- ISBN 978-81-8324-078-9.
- ^ Krishnamachariar 1989, p. 147.
- ^ a b Sastri 1927, pp. 169–170.
- ^ Krishnamachariar 1989, p. 149.
- ^ Gangopadhyaya 1991, pp. 1–2.
- ^ Gangopadhyaya 1991, pp. 2–3.
- ^ Gangopadhyaya 1991, p. 2.
- ISBN 978-81-261-1243-2
- OCLC 235946715.
Bibliography
- Dixit, S.V. (1954). Kirātārjunīyam of Bhāravi: Cantos I-III. Nirnayasagara Mudranalaya.
- Gangopadhyaya, Mrinal Kanti (1991). Bharavi. Makers of Indian literature. Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 9788172010645.
- Kale, M.R. (1998) [1966]. The Kirātārjunīyam of Bhāravi: Cantos I-III (Fourth ed.). Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 81-208-0573-9.
- Krishnamachariar, Madabhushi (1989) [1974]. History of Classical Sanskrit Literature (Third ed.). Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 147–148.
- Muddachari, B. (1971). "Durvinita - A Man of Letters". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 33: 126–130. JSTOR 44145322.
- Sastri, G. Harihara (1927). "Bharavi and Daṇḍin". Indian Historical Quarterly. III: 169–171.