Ponna (poet)
Ponna | |
---|---|
Born | 10th century |
Died | 10th or 11th century CE |
Nationality | Indian |
Occupation | Poet |
Notable work | Jinaksharamale Bhuvanaika-Ramabhyudaya Shantipurana |
Title | Kavi-chakravarthi, Ubhayakavi Chakravarti |
Ponna (c. 945) was a noted
Writings
His most famous extant works in Kannada are Shantipurana, written in champu style (mixed prose-verse classical composition style inherited from Sanskrit), Bhuvanaika-Ramabhyudaya, a eulogical writing, and Jinaksharamale, a Jain
Shantipurana is an important Jain
Scholars were divided about Ponna's protagonist in Bhuvanaika-Ramabhyudaya. The scholar D.L. Narasimhachar had opined that Ponna had eulogised Shankaraganda, a vassal king under emperor Krishna III. This opinion was based on the fact that Shankaraganda held the honorific Bhuvanaikarama. However, modern Kannada poet
Influence and style
Ponna was one of the most-notable writers of the classical age of Kannada literature, a period usually categorised as starting from the middle of 10th century and lasting for about a hundred and fifty years thereafter. During this era, Ponna and two other poets, Adikavi Pampa and Ranna, produced works of lasting merit, writings that set a standard in poetic form and composition that would influence future poets for centuries.[14] So adept were these poets that their style of champu brought together the best of the earlier masters of Sanskrit literature in various proportions, giving their narration an artificiality: poet Bana's prose, Kalidasa's graceful verses, Bhatta Narayana's dramaticism and Megaduta's lyrical flavour are seen used deftly giving naturalised and assimilated Sanskrit words in the Kannada language priority over native (desi) expressions.[15] Despite adherence to strict classical Sanskritic models (margam), the native composition styles of Kannada language, such as the tripadi (three-line verse), are found distributed in the narratives poems of these poets.[16][17] Just as Ponna eulogised his patron emperor Krishna III as Bhuvanaikarama, so did the other Jain poets of the classical age. Kannada writings by them used impressive Sanskrit-derived verses interspersed with prose to extol the virtues of their protagonists, who were often compared to heroes from the Hindu epics. While Adikavi Pampa (Pampa Bharata, c. 941) compared his patron, the feudatory Chalukya king Arikesari, to Pandava prince Arjuna, in his version of the Mahabharata, Ranna (c. 983) found it suitable to compare his patron, Chalukya King Satyashraya, to Pandava prince Bhima.[17]
Notes
- ^ a b Narasimhacharya (1988), p. 18
- ^ a b c Sastri (1958), p. 383
- ^ a b c Rice (1921), p. 31
- ^ a b Rice (1921), p. 30
- ^ a b Kamath (2001), p. 90
- ^ Sastri 1958, p. 395.
- ^ Das 2005, p. 143.
- ^ a b Sahitya Akademi (1987), p. 620
- ^ Mukherjee (1999), p. 291
- ^ Garg (1992), p. 67
- ^ Rao in Datta (1988), p. 1240
- ^ Warder (1988), p. 248
- ^ Bhat (1933), p. 105
- ^ Sahitya Akademi (1987), p. 754
- ^ Datta (1988), p. 1699
- ^ Sahitya Akademi (1992), p. 4392
- ^ a b Nagaraj (2003), p. 344
References
- Sastri, Nilakanta K. A. (1958) [first published 1955], A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar (Second ed.), New Delhi: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-560686-8– via archive.org
- Rice, E. P. (1982) [first published 1921], Kannada Literature, New Delhi: Asian Educational Services, ISBN 81-206-0063-0
- Narasimhacharya, R (1988), History of Kannada Literature, New Delhi: Asian Educational Services, ISBN 81-206-0303-6
- Garg, Ganga Ram (1992), Encyclopaedia of the Hindu World: A-Aj, Volume 1, New Delhi: Concept Publishing, ISBN 81-7022-374-1
- Kamath, Suryanath U. (2001) [1980], A concise history of Karnataka : from pre-historic times to the present, Bangalore: Jupiter books, OCLC 7796041
- Nagaraj, D. R. (2003), "Critical Tensions in the History of Kannada Literary Culture", in Sheldon I. Pollock (ed.), Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia, University of California Press, pp. 323–382, ISBN 0-520-22821-9
- Various (1987), Encyclopaedia of Indian literature - vol 1, Sahitya Akademi, ISBN 81-260-1803-8
- Datta, Amaresh (1988), Encyclopaedia of Indian literature - vol 2, Sahitya Akademi, ISBN 81-260-1194-7
- Various (1992), Encyclopaedia of Indian literature - vol 5, Sahitya Akademi, ISBN 81-260-1221-8
- Warder, A.K. (1988), Indian Kavya Literature, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-0450-3
- Mukherjee, Sujit (1999), A Dictionary of Indian Literature: Beginnings - 1850, Orient Blackswan, ISBN 81-250-1453-5
- Bhat, M. Thirumaleshwara (1993), Govinda Pai, Sahitya Akademi, ISBN 81-7201-540-2
- Das, Sisir Kumar (2005), A History of Indian Literature, 500-1399: From Courtly to the Popular, Sahitya Akademi, ISBN 9788126021710