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Kumara Vyasa | |
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Born | |
Died | 1446 |
Occupation | poet |
Narayanappa, known by his pen name Kumara Vyasa, was an influential and classical poet of early 15th century in the Kannada language. His pen name is a tribute to his magnum opus, a rendering of the Mahabharata in Kannada. [1] Kumara Vyasa literally means "Little Vyasa" or "Son of Vyasa" (Vyasa is the title of Krishna Dwaipayana, the author of Mahabharata). He was the contemporary and archrival of the famous Veerashaiva poet laureate Chamarasa who wrote the seminal work Prabhulingaleele covering the lives of Allama Prabhu and other Shiva Sharanas, circa 1435. Both poets worked in the court of Deva Raya II. [2]
Kumara Vyasa's most famous work, the Karnata Bharata Kathamanjari (the Mahabharata of Karnataka) is popularly known as Gadugina Bharata and Kumaravyasa Bharata. It is an adaptation of the first ten parvas (chapters) of the Mahabharata. A devotee of Krishna, Kumara Vyasa ends his epic with the coronation of Yudhishthira, the eldest of the Pandavas. The work is celebrated in Kannada literature due to its universal appeal. [3]
Gadugina Bharata is composed in the Bhamini Shatpadi metre, a form of six lined stanzas. [4] Kumara Vyasa explores a wide range of human emotions, examines values, and displays extensive mastery over vocabulary. The work is particularly known for its use of sophisticated metaphors. Kumara Vyasa is also renowned for his characterization. Karnata Bharata Kathamanjari is also known as Dasha Parva Bharata because it originally had only ten parvas as opposed to the eighteen in the original Mahabharata.
Kumara's Kathamanjari covers only up to the Gadayuddha, the battle between Duryodhana and Bheema, and the killing of Duryodhana. The subsequent parts of the original Mahabharata like the Yudhishthira Pattabhishekha, Ashwa Medha Yaaga , and the Swargaarohana Parva are not included.
It may be noted that Lakshmeesha, another great poet who was born a few decades after Kumara's death, took up and completed Ashwa Medha Yaaga parva alone in his work Jaimini Bharata in Kannada. This spiritual work was considered equal to Kathamanjari for its narration.
There is a strong belief among locals that Kumara was a blessed poet of Sri Veera Narayana, another name for Lord Vishnu. The poet sat in front of the sanctum sanctorum in the temple and Narayana himself narrated the story of the ancient Mahabharatha from behind the statue. The poet transformed the story excellent poetry. However, Narayana laid down a condition that Kumara was to only listen to this voice without attempting to see the source or the spirit narrating the story. When the tenth parva of his work was complete, Kumara was deeply curious to see the narrator. Much to his surprise, he saw Narayana himself narrating the story. He also saw a scene of the Kurukshetra War as if it were happening in front of him. However, Kumara had violated the condition that he not search for the source of the voice. At that point, the lord disappeared and the narration of the Mahabharata stopped forever.
Kumara has shown an exemplary writing style in the introduction. He proudly claims that his poetry is matchless and that it caters to the taste of all kinds of readers. He writes that in his poetry "A king enjoys the valor, A brahmin the essence of all vedas, philosopher the ultimate philosophy, ministers and state administrators the tact of rule and Lovers the romantic notes." In addition, he proudly acclaims that this work of his is the "Master of the works of all other great scholars." However, his selflessness may be noted when he says he merely noted all that was narrated by his lord, the actual poet.
Kumara Vyasa's other, lesser-known work is Airavata.
His magnum opus, Karnata Bharata Kathamanjari , [5] was completed in 1430 when Deva Raya II was ruling the Vijayanagara empire. Kumara Vyasa earned high esteem as a poet in his court. Kumara Vyasa was mentioned by other prominent 15th century poets, such as Kanaka Dasa and Timmanna Kavi.
Kumara Vyasa lived in Koliwad, a village 35 km (22 mi) from Gadag in North Karnataka. According to popular legend, Kumara Vyasa is said to have composed his work at the Veeranarayana temple in Gadag. A pillar known as Kumara Vyasa's pillar stands in the temple to this day.
Kumara Vyasa's works belong to the Nadugannada (Middle-age Kannada) period of Kannada literature. His influence on later Kannada literature is significant. Gadugina Bharata is still widely read. It is popularly sung in a unique style known as Gamaka. [6]
The Mahābhārata is one of the two major Smriti texts and Sanskrit epics of ancient India revered in Hinduism, the other being the Rāmāyaṇa. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kurukshetra War, a war of succession between two groups of princely cousins, the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas.
Draupadi, also referred to as Krishnā, Panchali, and Yajnaseni, is the main female protagonist of the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata, and the wife of the five Pandava brothers—Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva. She is noted for her beauty, courage, polyandrous marriage, and bhakti (devotion) for Krishna.
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Vikramarjuna Vijaya, also known as Pampa Bharatha is a classic work of the 10th century Jain poet Pampa. It is a Kannada version of the great epic, the Mahabharata of Vyasa. Pampa chose Arjuna, the central figure of the Pandava Clan, as the protagonist of his epic. This work differs from Mahabharata in several aspects, one of them being Arjuna crowned as king and Subhadra as queen after the Kurukshetra war, instead of Yudhishthira and Draupadi, respectively.
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'Karnata Bharata Kathamanjari is the Kannada version of the Indian epic Mahabharata, written by Kumara Vyasa. It encompasses the first 10 chapters of the original epic.
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This is a chronology of the literature of Karnataka, India.
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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.
Lakshmisa was a noted Kannada language writer who lived during the mid-16th or late 17th century. His most important writing, Jaimini Bharata is a version of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. The writing focuses on the events following the battle of Indraprastha between the Pandavas and Kauravas, using the Ashvamedha conducted by Yudhishthira as the topic of the epic narrative. The writing is in the shatpadi metre and was inspired by the Sanskrit original written by sage Jaimini.
Gamaka Vidwan M S Ananthapadmanabha Rao was an Indian Kannada-language poet, writer, and gamaki. He was the author of the magnum opus Karnata Bharatha Kathamanjari containing the last eight parvas of the Kannada translation of the Mahabharatha that Kumaravyasa had left unfinished.
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Karnataka is an Indian state.