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148
啶�啷佮ぐ啶距ぃ啶�啷� - [pur膩峁嘺m - ] PURANA
[Vol. VI., No. 1
is to be found in an inscription during the reign of Bijjaladeva
of Kalac眉rya dynasty. This Sila艣膩sana at Taldagundi (1157
A. D.) written in Halegannada (old Kannada) characters purports
to say that mahapradh膩na Ke艣ava Da峁嚹亂aka and his accountants
gave the village of Hiriya Tagulat峁璱 as a grant and the settlement
was made having in view the discharge of various religious
duties. Thus the Veda艣盲khas, teachers of language and
and the heads of different schools of logic as well as the teachers
of Kannada got relevant shares. The teachers of the Pur膩峁嘺s
und S盲stras had their own shares specified in the grant.
grammar
Coming to the literary works, it is seen that in the early
part of the 10th and 11th centuries when Jaina writers domi-
nated the field of Kannada literature, the influence of Sanskrit
was restricted to the use of Sanskrit words to enrich the Kannada
vocabulary. Religion was the main force behind Jaina works.
If poets like Adipampa (941 A. D.) and Nagacandra (1100 A. D.)
drew the theme from the Sanskrit epics for their Vikramarjuna-
vijaya and Ramcandracaritapur膩峁嘺, it was only to equate their
patrons to the heroes of the epics and to propagate their religous
tenets.
The Sanskrit epics have undergone a remarkable change
at the hands of the Jaina writers, who re-wrote these stories as it
were, to suit their Sampradaya. An important feature of the
Kannada works by the Jaina writers is the prose-verse form. The
Campu form had taken firm root in these writers to such an
extent that even their successors like the Bralumin poets could not
overcome its spell. Rudrabha峁�峁璦 (about 1180 A. D.) who is said
to be the first Brahmin poet "who wrote the Purana of the
Brahmins in the form of a Kavya" wrote his Jagamathavijaya in
prose-verse form. This work has as its theme the K峁涐梗峁嘺caritra
found in the 5th and 6th amsas of the Sanskrit Vi峁ａ箛upur膩峁嘺.
The period between 12th and 15th centuries was the heyday of
Kannada literature under the V墨rasaiva poets who wrote many
Kannada works in simple style with vacana and metres like
2.
Mysore Inscriptions. Tr. by B. L. Rice, P. 193
3. S. G. Narasimhacar. vide his introduction to Jagannath avijaya, 1904
edn., p. xiii.
KANNADA VERSIONS OF THE PURANAS
149 Jan., 1964]
Ragale, Satpadi, Tripadi Sangatya and so on. But the actual
impetus to render the Sanskrit Pur膩峁嘺s into Kannada came from
the Kings of Vijayanagar of whom Acyutaraya may be mentioned.
It is perhaps during his rule (1530-1542 A.D.) that C芒峁璾vithala-
n膩tha also called Nityatma艣uka wrote his Kannada Bh膩gavata,
being the Kannada version of the Sanskrit Bh膩gavata with its
twelve Skandhas, in Bhamini峁�atpadi metre.
It is, however, from the 16th century onwards that many
poets patronised by the Kings of Mysore rendered the Sanskrit
Pur膩nas or sections thereof into Kannada. Kings like Camar膩ja
(1617-1637 A. D.), Cikkadevar膩ja (1672-1704 A.D.), Mummadi-
k峁涐梗峁嘺r膩ja (1794-1868 A. D.) were themselves poets of no mean
order. King Camar膩ja wrote prose versions of R膩m膩ya峁嘺 and
the Brahmottarakha峁囜笉a of Skandapur膩峁嘺. Cikkupadhy膩ya
(1672 A.D.), a court poet of Cikkadevar膩ja who is accredited with
more than thirty works in Kannada has rendered several m膩-
h膩tmyas appearing in the Sanskrit Pur膩峁嘺s like Bhavi峁�yottara,
Brahma峁囜笉a, Naradiya etc. into Kannada mostly in prose and
campu forms. He rendered the whole of Vi峁ａ箛upur膩峁嘺 into
Kannada in prose as well as in prose-verse form. Other proteges
of Cikkadevar膩ja like Timmakavi (1677 A.D.) and Mallikarjuna
(1678 A.D.) rendered into Kannada the mahatmyas found in
N膩rad墨yapur膩峁嘺, Brahma峁囜笉apura峁嘺 etc. Mumma岣峣k峁涐梗峁嘺r膩ja has
written more than fifty works in Kannada and thus stands unique
among the kings of Mysore. He was responsible for rendering
The Sankarasa峁僪it盲-
many Sanskrit works into Kannada.
vivarana of the Skanda-pur膩峁嘺, Vivarana of the Adhyatma-
r膩m膩ya峁嘺 of the Brahma峁囜笉a-pur膩峁嘺, Dev墨m膩h膩tmya and other
puranic works were written by him. Kalale Na帽jar膩ja (about
1740 A. D.) is another prolific writer. He was the minister and
Senapati of Immadi-K峁涐梗峁嘺r膩ja, the King of Mysore during 1734-
1766 A. D. He has rendered into Kannada a number of
m膩h膩tmyas found in the Sanskrit Skanda-pura峁嘺, Bhavi峁�yottara-
pur膩峁嘺, Padma-pur膩峁嘺 and so on.
Of all the Kings of Mysore it is Sri Jayacamarajendra
Odeyar, the present Governor of Mysore, who did a great deal