Andayya

Andayya (or Andaiah, Āṇḍayya, Kannada: ಆಂಡಯ್ಯ) was a notable 13th-century Kannada writer during the rule of the Hoysala empire. Andayya was a Jain by faith and came from a family of accountants. His most important extant work is the Kabbigara Kava ("Poets' Defender") which also goes by the names Sobagina Suggi ("Harvest of Beauty"), Madana Vijaya ("Triumph of Cupid") or Kavana Gella ("Cupid's Conquest") and was written in the 12171235 CE period.[1][2]

Andayya
Born12th century CE
Died13th century CE
OccupationPoet
WorksKabbigara Kava
Noted Kannada poets and writers in Hoysala Empire
(1100-1343 CE)
Nagachandra 1105
Kanti 1108
Rajaditya 12th. c
Harihara 11601200
Udayaditya 1150
Vritta Vilasa 1160
Kereya Padmarasa 1165
Nemichandra 1170
Sumanobana 1175
Rudrabhatta 1180
Aggala 1189
Palkuriki Somanatha 1195
Sujanottamsa(Boppana) 1180
Kavi Kama 12th c.
Devakavi 1200
Raghavanka 12001225
Bhanduvarma 1200
Balachandra Kavi 1204
Parsva Pandita 1205
Maghanandycharya 1209
Janna 12091230
Puligere Somanatha 13th c.
Hastimalla 13th c.
Chandrama 13th c.
Somaraja 1222
Gunavarma II 1235
Polalvadandanatha 1224
Andayya 12171235
Sisumayana 1232
Mallikarjuna 1245
Naraharitirtha 1281
Kumara Padmarasa 13th c.
Mahabala Kavi 1254
Kesiraja 1260
Kumudendu 1275
Nachiraja 1300
Ratta Kavi 1300
Nagaraja 1331
Noted Kannada poets and writers in the Seuna Yadava Kingdom
Kamalabhava 1180
Achanna 1198
Amugideva 1220
Chaundarasa 1300

Vocabulary

According to the historian Sastri, this writing is considered important in Medieval Kannada literature for its strict adherence to indigenous (desya) Kannada words and naturalised Sanskrit words (tadbhava) only, avoiding assimilated Sanskrit words (tatsamas) entirely.[3] According to the scholar G. Varadaraja Rao of the Sahitya Akademi, Kannada writers of this time, such as Nayasena (author of Dhramamruta), had already begun avoiding the usage of Sanskrit words in their Kannada writings. In his opinion, Andayya's successful completion of this work furthered that cause and hence is a "great achievement".[4]

Magnum opus

G. Varadaraja Rao is of the opinion that Kabbigara Kava was written for multiple reasons.[5] According to him the writing may have been inspired by the military success of Kadamba king Kamadeva of Banavasi (11301217) against the Hoysala king Veera Ballala II. Kama (Cupid), the god of Love, finds an important place in Jain writings and hence Andayya wrote about the victory of Kama over Ishwara (the Hindu God Shiva) in a battle fought in the Himalayas (the abode of Ishwara). Thus he connected a mythological event to a historical one. One of work's alternate names, Kavana Gella, found in the colophon also suggests this.[1] According to the scholar D.R. Nagaraj, the possibility that this writing was yet another subtle weapon in the intensifying conflict between the Jains, who had dominated the Kannada literary culture in the centuries prior,[6] and the growing popularity of the Veerashaivas is not lost on historians.[7] However, he concedes that the influence of Harihara (a Veerashaiva poet) on Andayya is also evident in this work.[7]

Rao believes that the strict adherence to chaste Kannada words and naturalised Sanskrit words may have been Andayya's response to mainstream writers who may have claimed that writing literature in Kannada without using pure Sanskrit words was not possible.[5] This trend, it is known, was started by some authors such as Nayasena (c. 1112) who wrote the Dharmamruta choosing only those Sanskrit words that fit well with the Kannada vocabulary.[5] Andayya made his intention of using only pure Kannada clear, "without flashy Sanskrit", when he called Sanskrit by its Prakrit name "Sakkada". While the Kannada literature of earlier great poets like Adikavi Pampa (c.941) was strongly based on a Sanskritic tradition, Andayya achieved the same goal of writing a classical piece using a different technique, a practice not followed by later generation of Kannada writers.[3][7]

Kabbigara Kava was written in the champu style (mixed prose-verse) and consists of 272 poems with some prose passages in it. In a deviation from the earlier versions of the story where Kama is burnt to ashes by Ishwara, Andayya gives Kama prominence and makes him victorious in battle with Ishwara, the reason for the contest being the moon that Shiva had taken possession of, but which actually belonged to Kama's army. Andayya further enhances Kama's victory by turning Ishwara in a half woman (Ardhanariswara). Kama for his part, incurs Ishwara's curse and experiences separation from his beloved Rati, is born as a mortal on earth but finally re-unites with Rati after a long separation.[1][3]

Notes

  1. Rao in Datta, Sahitya Akademi (1987), p. 169
  2. Rice E.P. (1921), p. 44
  3. Sastri (1955), p. 359
  4. Rao in Datta (1987). p. 170
  5. Rao in Datta, Sahitya Akademi (1987), pp. 169-170
  6. Narasimhacharya (1988), p. 65
  7. Nagaraj in Pollock (2003), p. 366

References

  • Sastri, K.A. Nilakanta (2002) [1955]. A history of South India from prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagar. New Delhi: Indian Branch, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-560686-8.
  • Datta, Amaresh (1987) [1987]. Encyclopedia of Indian literature - vol 1. Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 81-260-1803-8.
  • Nagaraj, D.R. (2003) [2003]. "Critical Tensions in the History of Kannada Literary Culture". In Sheldon I. Pollock (ed.). Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia. Berkeley and London: University of California Press. Pp. 1066. pp. 323–383. ISBN 0-520-22821-9.
  • Narasimhacharya, R (1988) [1934]. History of Kannada Literature. Mysore: Government Press. Reprinted by Asian Educational Services, New Delhi. ISBN 81-206-0303-6.
  • Rice, E.P. (1982) [1921]. A History of Kanarese Literature. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. ISBN 81-206-0063-0.

See also

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