Bhattakalanka Deva
Encyclopedia
Bhattakalanka Deva was the third and the last of the notable Kannada grammarians from the medieval period. In 1604 CE, he authored a comprehensive text on old-Kannada grammar called Karnataka Sabdanusasana in 592 Sanskrit
sutras
(a literary form written for concision) with glossary (vritti) and commentary (vyakhya). The work contains useful references to prior poets and writers of Kannada literature
and is considered a valuable asset to the student of old-Kannada language. A native of South Canara
and a student of the Haduvalli monastery, the Jain grammarian was learned in six languages including Kannada, Sanskrit, Prakrit
and Magadhi.
in the mid-12th century and the second by Keshiraja in the mid-13th century. The grammar containing 592 sutras is subdivided into 4 chapters (padas) and each sutra has a glossary and a lengthy commentary. The authorship of entire work has been settled with the full credit going to Bhattakalanka Deva.
The Karnataka Sabdanusasana is modelled mostly on the earlier Sanskrit grammars written by Pāṇini, Sakatayana
, Saravarma, Pujyapada
and others, though some sutras have been borrowed from earlier Kannada grammatical works; one or two sutras from the Karnataka Bhashabhushana by Nagavarma II and about fifteen from Shabdamanidarpana
by Kesiraja. The first chapter (up to 101 sutras) consists of euphonic combinations, technical words, signs of nouns and verbs, numbers and indeclinables. The second chapter (101–299 sutras) consists of gender classification of indigenous Kannada nouns and those inherited from Sanskrit (tadbhava–naturalised and samasamaskrita–non-naturalised). The third chapter (291–441 sutras) consists of compound words and the fourth chapter (442–592 sutras) focusses on verbal roots and verbal nouns.
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
sutras
Sutra
Sūtra is an aphorism or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. Literally it means a thread or line that holds things together and is derived from the verbal root siv-, meaning to sew , as does the medical term...
(a literary form written for concision) with glossary (vritti) and commentary (vyakhya). The work contains useful references to prior poets and writers of Kannada literature
Kannada literature
Kannada literature is the corpus of written forms of the Kannada language, a member of the Dravidian family spoken mainly in the Indian state of Karnataka and written in the Kannada script....
and is considered a valuable asset to the student of old-Kannada language. A native of South Canara
South Canara
South Canara was a district under the British empire, located at . It was bifurcated in 1859 from Canara district. It was the undivided Dakshina Kannada district...
and a student of the Haduvalli monastery, the Jain grammarian was learned in six languages including Kannada, Sanskrit, Prakrit
Prakrit
Prakrit is the name for a group of Middle Indic, Indo-Aryan languages, derived from Old Indic dialects. The word itself has a flexible definition, being defined sometimes as, "original, natural, artless, normal, ordinary, usual", or "vernacular", in contrast to the literary and religious...
and Magadhi.
Karnataka Sabdanusasana
It is believed that Bhattakalanka Deva may have undertaken the work of writing exhaustively on old-Kannada grammar as there may have existed some contempt from Sanskrit scholars of the day towards Kannada language despite its rich literary tradition. His writing is the third authoritative grammar on old-Kannada, the first of which was authored by Nagavarma IINagavarma II
Nagavarma II was a Kannada language scholar and grammarian of the 11th or 12th century Western Chalukya court centred in Basavakalyan, modern Karnataka state, India. He was the earliest among the three most notable and authoritative grammarians of Old-Kannada language...
in the mid-12th century and the second by Keshiraja in the mid-13th century. The grammar containing 592 sutras is subdivided into 4 chapters (padas) and each sutra has a glossary and a lengthy commentary. The authorship of entire work has been settled with the full credit going to Bhattakalanka Deva.
The Karnataka Sabdanusasana is modelled mostly on the earlier Sanskrit grammars written by Pāṇini, Sakatayana
Sakatayana
' is a Sanskrit grammarian of Iron Age India . His work is referred by scholars such as Yaska and Pāṇini ' is a Sanskrit grammarian of Iron Age India (fl. roughly 8th c. BCE). His work is referred by scholars such as Yaska (around 7th c. BCE) and Pāṇini ' is a Sanskrit grammarian of Iron Age...
, Saravarma, Pujyapada
Pujyapada
Ācārya Pūjyapāda who lived in the 5th century of the Common Era was a renowned grammarian and saint belonging to the Digambara tradition of Jains. Before initiation as a Jain ascetic, he was known as Devanandi. Since it was believed that he was worshiped by demigods on account of his vast...
and others, though some sutras have been borrowed from earlier Kannada grammatical works; one or two sutras from the Karnataka Bhashabhushana by Nagavarma II and about fifteen from Shabdamanidarpana
Shabdamanidarpana
Shabhamanidarpana , also spelled Śabdamaṇidarpaṇa, is a comprehensive and authoritative work on Kannada grammar authored by Kesiraja in 1260 CE. This work, which literally means "Jewel-mirror of Grammar", remains till now as the comprehensive and early authoritative work on Kannada grammar...
by Kesiraja. The first chapter (up to 101 sutras) consists of euphonic combinations, technical words, signs of nouns and verbs, numbers and indeclinables. The second chapter (101–299 sutras) consists of gender classification of indigenous Kannada nouns and those inherited from Sanskrit (tadbhava–naturalised and samasamaskrita–non-naturalised). The third chapter (291–441 sutras) consists of compound words and the fourth chapter (442–592 sutras) focusses on verbal roots and verbal nouns.