Ranna (Kannada poet)

Ranna
Ranna
Born	949 AD; Bagalkot District, Karnataka
Died	1020 AD (aged 71)
Occupation	Poet
Notable works	Saahasabhima Vijaya, Ranna Kanda
Relatives	Jinavallabha(father); Abbalabbe(mother);

Ranna (

Sri Ponna are called "Three gems of ancient Kannada literature".^[1]^[2]^[3]

Biography

Ranna was a 10th-century Kannada poet.^[4] He was born in 949 C.E. in ancient Belagali, known now as RannaBelagali in the Bagalkot district of the modern Karnataka state in India, to a family of bangle sellers.^[2]

Literature

During his early days as a writer, Ranna may have been patronized by

Western Ganga Dynasty.^[5] With the rise of the imperial Western Chalukya Empire, Ranna became an important poet in the court of King Tailapa II and his successor King Satyashraya who bestowed upon him the title Kavi Chakravarti (lit, "Emperor among poets").^[2]

The writings of Ranna are in Halegannada (lit, "old Kannada"). Of the five known major works accomplished by him, two are available in full and one in part. They are: Ajitha purana, Parashuramacharithe (extinct), Saahasabhima Vijaya (also known as Gadaayuddha), Rannakanda and Chakresvaracharite (extinct).^[1]^[2]^[5]^[6]^[7]

Tirthankar. Ranna wrote this purana under the patronage of a Jain lady called Attimabbe, the wife of general Nagavarma.^[2] RannaKanda (990 C.E.), so called because it is written in the Kanda meter, is the earliest extant dictionary in the Kannada language. Only twelve sections of this writing are available.^[2]^[6] Parusharama Charite (around 980 C.E.) is a eulogy of the Ganga minister and commander Chamundaraya. The poet held his patron in such high esteem that he claims to have named his son "raya" in honor of his patron (who had the honorific Samara Parashurama).^[5]

Saahasabhimavijaya or Gadayuddha (lit, "The duel of maces") is undoubtedly Ranna's

kavya style and champu meter).^[8]

While the theme of the narration centers around the battle of maces between Bhima and Duryodhana on the last day of the eighteen-day war, the poet uses a technique similar to flashbacks in modern cinema to enlighten the reader with important events that led to the war and those events that transpired on the battlefield.[9] Bhima is undoubtedly the hero of the day for slaying his foe and thus avenging the insult suffered by his wife Draupadi at the hands of Dushshasana (Duryodhana's brother) prior to the war. However, Ranna skillfully depicts Duryodhana as a "great soul" (mahanubhava), who despite his sins, was a brave kshatriya on the battlefield, and a true friend to Karna (another important character in the epic).^[9]