Medieval Kannada Literature - Vaishnava Literature

Vaishnava Literature

Rudrabhatta, a Smartha Brahmin (believer of monistic philosophy), was an early Brahminical writer whose patron was Chandramouli, a minister of Hoysala King Veera Ballala II. Based on the earlier work of Vishnu Purana, he wrote Jagannatha Vijaya (1180) in the champu style relating the life of Krishna leading up to his fight with the demon Banasura. Famous among Brahmin writers from the 15th century was Kumara Vyasa. His real name was Naranappa and hailed from modern Gadag district in Karnataka. He wrote the first ten chapters of Gadugina Bharata (1430), a Kannada adaptation of epic Mahabharata in the court of Deva Raya II. The work was later completed by Thimmanna in the court of King Krishnadevaraya. Dedicating the work to his patron king, Thimmanna called it Krishnaraya Bharata. In the 15th century, Narahari wrote the earliest brahminical rendering of the epic Ramayana in Kannada called Torave Ramayana. It is called so because it was written in Torave, Sholapur District, modern Maharashtra.

The Vaishnava Bhakti (devotion) influence on Kannada literature was acute from the time of Vijayanagara Empire, a direct impact of the dvaita philosophy propounded by Madhwacharya of Udupi in the 13th century. Over 150 well known bhakti saints who wrote thousands of compositions are known. These compositions are broadly classified as general compositions, kavya (poetic compositions) and tatva (philosophical compositions). General compositions are further classified as keertanas, ughabhogas, suladis, vruttanama, dandaka, tripadi, pattadi, sangathya and ragale. The period between the 14th century to 16th century produced the first wave of devotional literature called the Haridasa sahitya (literature). Vyasatirtha who composed songs in praise of Krishna, Purandara Dasa whose compositions marked his devotion to Purandara Vittala (a form of Vishnu) and Kanaka Dasa who praised Adikeshava (a form of Krishna) in his poems were the great trinity of Vaishnava composers in Kannada. The contribution of Purandara Dasa to Carnatic music is immeasurable, and he is called the "Karnataka sangeeta pitamaha" (Father of Carnatic Music). Historians propose the number of his compositions were as many as 75,000 - 475,000 songs in Kannada and Sanskrit language, though only few hundreds are available today. He codified and consolidated the school of Carnatic music by evolving several steps like sarali, jantai, thattu varisai, alankara and geetham and laid down a framework for imparting formal training in this art form. He became an inspiration to later day Carnatic composers.

Saint Kanaka Dasa of Kaginele in modern Haveri district, who from various accounts belonged either to the community of shepherds (kuruba) or hunters (beda) or warriors (kshatriya) is an example of a non-Brahmin composer who made significant contribution to the bhakti (devotion) movement. Apart from his 200 compositions, he authored important works namely; Nalacharitre (story of Nala) and Haribhaktisara (devotion to Krishna in a book of morals for children) in shatpadi metre, Nrisimhastava (compositions in praise of Narasimha, an Avatar of Vishnu), Ramadhanyacharite (which narrates the superiority of the ragi millet over other grains in a book meant to address class inequalities) and Mohanatarangini (river of delight) which is a poem in kavya (poetic) style narration of stories of Krishna in sangatya metre.