Ranna
Encyclopedia
Kannada language
Kannada or , is a language spoken in India predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas and number roughly 50 million, is one of the 30 most spoken languages in the world...
.
Ranna, Adikavi Pampa
Adikavi Pampa
Pampa , called by the honorific Ādikavi is one of the greatest Kannada poets of all time.He is very famous even today for his philosophical beliefs...
and Sri Ponna
Sri Ponna
Sri Ponna was a Kannada poet in the court of Rashtrakuta Dynasty king Krishna III . The emperor honoured Ponna with the title "emperor among poets" for his domination of the Kannada literary circles of the time, and the title "imperial poet of two languages" for his command over Sanskrit as well...
together are called "three gems 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....
".
Early days
Ranna was born on 949 C.E. in Muduvolalu (MudholMudhol
Mudhol is a town in the Bagalkot District in the Northern part of the state of Karnataka, India. It is about 60 km from the district headquarters of Bagalkot town on the left bank of the Ghataprabha River...
) Bagalkot district
Bagalkot district
Bāgalkot district is an administrative district in the Indian state of Karnataka. The district headquarters is located in the town of Bagalkot. The district is located in northern Karnataka and borders Belgaum, Gadag, Koppal, Raichur and Bijapur...
, Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
.
His ancenstors were from Balegara community (bangle sellers) of Jains
Jainism
Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state...
. He took up to learning Sanskrit, Prakrit and Kannada at a young age. He took education from Ajitsenacharya.
Literature
Ranna was perhaps the classmate of ChavundarayaChavundaraya
Chavundraya was a military commander, poet and a minister in the court of the Western Ganga Dynasty of Talakad . A person of many talents, in 982 he commissioned the Gomateshwara, a monolithic sculpture in Shravanabelagola, an important place of pilgrimage for Jains...
, the famous minister of the Western Ganga Dynasty during his youth. Later he came to be patronised by Chavundaraya when he became a Ganga minister.
Ranna was later a poet in the court of King Tailapa II
Tailapa II
Tailapa II had titles Nurmadi Taliapa and Satyashraya Kulatilaka. He re-established the Western Chalukya dynasty after a period of 220 years during which time they had been in eclipse. The revived Chalukya kingdom rose to its height of power under Vikramaditya VI. The revived dynasty came to be...
and his successor King Satyasraya
Satyasraya
Satyasraya , also known as Sattiga or Irivabedanga, was the king of the revived Western Chalukyas. Towards the end of his rule with the great Chola Rajaraja Chola I and had to face disastrous consequences of entering into a war with the Cholas which greatly endangered his own survival as well as...
of the Western Chalukya Empire. He was rewarded with the title of Kavi Chakravarti (Emperor of Poets).
The entire literature written by Ranna were in Halegannada (old Kannada, older version of Kannada language
Kannada language
Kannada or , is a language spoken in India predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas and number roughly 50 million, is one of the 30 most spoken languages in the world...
). There were four major literary works from Ranna.He is also attributed with writing the first extant Lexicons in kannada named Rannakanda. Three of his works are currently available.
Literary works
- Ajitanatha Purana TilakamAjitha puranaThe Ajitha Purana written by Ranna in 993 AD narrates the story of Ajithanatha, the second Tirthankara of Jainism. This is the shortest Jinapurana in Kannada...
- Parashuramacharitha (extinct)
- Saahasabheema Vijayam (also known as Gadaayuddha)
- Ranna-Kanda
- Chakresvaracharita (extinct)
Ajitanatha Purana Tilakam
Ajitha PuranaAjitha purana
The Ajitha Purana written by Ranna in 993 AD narrates the story of Ajithanatha, the second Tirthankara of Jainism. This is the shortest Jinapurana in Kannada...
is the shortest Jaina purana in Kannada and is written about Ajithanatha, the second Tirthankara. It is second only to Adhinatha purana written to Adikavi Pampa in greatness.
Given to emotional disturbances, Ranna was known to divert his emotional feelings into eloquent words of literature. The work describes in detail the life of the second Tirthankara.
Saahasabheema Vijayam
This is said to be his greatest work, a great pocession of Kannada literature and describes the final fight between BhimaBhima
In the Mahābhārata, Bhima is one of the central characters of Mahabharata and the second of the Pandava brothers...
and Duryodhana on the eighteenth day of the Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
war. The work is a eulogy of Satyasraya
Satyasraya
Satyasraya , also known as Sattiga or Irivabedanga, was the king of the revived Western Chalukyas. Towards the end of his rule with the great Chola Rajaraja Chola I and had to face disastrous consequences of entering into a war with the Cholas which greatly endangered his own survival as well as...
, Ranna's patron king and the king is compared to Bhima. Though the work is in some ways influenced by Pampa work Pampa Bharatha, historians feel the work in no way diminishes Ranna's brilliance as it raises to the level of originality of though and expression. Though the work praises Bhima and his dramatic victory in the setting moments of the evening, it in no way diminishes the valour of Duryodhana either.
Parashuramacharitha
Literary Works of RannaRanna wrote most of his works on a Jain theme. His most well-known works have been Parashuramacharitha, Ajitha Purana and Sahasa Bhima Vijaya or Gadaa Yudda. The first two are not yet come to light and the fame of Ranna as a poet rests on the other two, which are now extant. A fragment of a lexical work called Ranna-Kanda is also available.
The work the `Ajitha Purana`, completed in 993 AD, was about the traditional history of the second Jain Tirthankara. This is one of the shortest Jaina Puranas in the Kannada language. It recounts the stories of only two previous births of the Jina. It is about a prince who realizes how transitory life is by merely holding a few grey hairs to his cheek. He consequently renounces his life and goes on to meditate and live the life of an ascetic. He is reborn in the next life as the saint Ajithanatha. This is the first part of the work and shows the great talents of Ranna as a poet. The next part is the story of Sagara, the second Chakravarti of Jainism. Though initially reluctant to give up worldly pleasures, he eventually gave in after much persuasion by Maniketu and the death of his 60,000 sons when he realized his helplessness in the face of death. He finally took to a life of penance and found release.
The famous work, `Sahasra-Bhima-Vijayam` was written by Ranna. It was better known as Gada Yuddha around 1000 A.D, which was based on the Mahabharata of Vyasa. It is one of his greatest works which has secured him a permanent place in the history of Kannada literature. It is the story of the final fight between Bhima and Duryodhana towards the evening of the Kurukshetra war. The usual trend of identifying one`s patron with the hero of an epic is followed here by him too, when he sees his patron Iriva Bedanga Satyasharya as Bhima, the hero of the poem. Ranna has built up his work of ten chapters on the basis of the thirteenth chapter of the Pampa Bharatha. Ranna`s mind was essentially dramatic in quality, vigorous action; powerful dialogue, living characterization and emotional fire are some of its elements. The Gada-Yuddha contains with in itself a complete and most powerful drama. The poet mainly intended to glorify Bhima-Satyashraya-and he succeeded in it. He also managed to take the character of `Duryodhana`, the tragic hero to a great height without lowering the status of `Bhima`, one of the strongest `Pandava Putra`.
Ranna later became a poet in the court of Chakravarthi Tailapa II and also continued during the rule of his successor Satyasraya in the Western Chalukya court. He was also rewarded with the title of `Kavi Chakravarti`, which means `Emperor of Poets`. Ranna`s literature writings were all in `Halegannada`, which is an older version of Kannada language. Ranna wrote the first extant lexicon in Kannada named Ranna Kanda.
This work is said to be a eulogy of Chavundaraya
Chavundaraya
Chavundraya was a military commander, poet and a minister in the court of the Western Ganga Dynasty of Talakad . A person of many talents, in 982 he commissioned the Gomateshwara, a monolithic sculpture in Shravanabelagola, an important place of pilgrimage for Jains...
, the Ganga minister who also patronised Ranna.