Rashtrakuta literature (Sanskrit

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...

:राष्ट्रकूट, Kannada

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...

: ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಕೂಟ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ) is the body of work created during the rule of the Rastrakutas of Manyakheta

Manyakheta

Manyakheta on the banks of Kagina River in Gulbarga district, Karnataka state was the capital of Rashtrakutas from . It is 40 km from Gulbarga city. The capital was moved from Mayurkhandi in Bidar district to Mānyakheṭa during the rule of Amoghavarsha I...

, a dynasty that ruled the southern and central parts of the Deccan, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 between the 8th and 10th centuries. The period of their rule was an important time in the history of South Indian literature in general and 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....

 in particular. This era was practically the end of classical Prakrit and Sanskrit writings and a whole wealth of topics were available to be written in Kannada. Some of Kannada's most famous poets graced the courts of the Rashtrakuta kings. Court poets and royalty created eminent works in Kannada and Sanskrit that spanned such literary forms as prose, poetry, rhetoric, Hindu epics and Jain tirthankaras. Famous scholars wrote on secular subjects such as mathematics.

Kannada writings

Kavirajamarga

Kavirajamarga

Kavirajamarga is the earliest available writing on rhetoric, poetics and grammar in the Kannada language. It was written by the famous Rashtrakuta King "Nripatunga" Amoghavarsha I and some say that it is based partly on an earlier Sanskrit writing, Kavyadarsa...

(850) by King Amoghavarsha I and his court poet Srivijaya is the earliest extant

Extant literature

Extant literature refers to texts that have survived from the past to the present time. Extant literature can be divided into extant original manuscripts, copies of original manuscripts, quotations and paraphrases of passages of non-extant texts contained in other works, translations of non-extant...

 book on rhetoric and poetics but it is evident from this book that several styles of Kannada literature and poetry had already existed in previous centuries. Kavirajamarga is a guide to poets (Kavishiksha) that aims to standardize these various styles. The book references early Kannada writers such as the 6th century Western Ganga Dynasty King Durvinita

Durvinita

Durvinita is seen as the most successful ruler of the Western Ganga Dynasty. Son of the previous ruler, Avinita, Durvinita's assession to the throne was disputed by his brother, who had gained the support of the Pallavas and Kadambas. There are Nallala and Kadagattur inscriptions that refer to...

, an early writer of Kannada prose.

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...

, widely regarded as one of the greatest Kannada writers, became famous for Adipurana

Adipurana

Adipurana is a 10th century Kannada text written in Champu style, a mix of prose and verse, dealing with the ten lives of the first tirthankara, Adinatha, also known as Rishabhanatha . This work is known to be the first work of Kannada poet Adikavi Pampa . It is based on the story narrated by...

(941). Written in champu

Champu

Champu or Champu-Kavya is a genre in Sanskrit literature. It consists of a mixture of prose and poetry passages , with verses interspersed among prose sections...

 style, it is the life history of the first Jain thirtankara Rishabhadeva. In this unique work of spiritual heroism, the soul moves through a series of births before attaining emancipation

Emancipation

Emancipation means the act of setting an individual or social group free or making equal to citizens in a political society.Emancipation may also refer to:* Emancipation , a champion Australian thoroughbred racehorse foaled in 1979...

. The quest in this spiritual saga, as in many others, is the liberation of the soul from the cycle of life and death. Pampa's other classic Vikramarjuna Vijaya

Vikramarjuna Vijaya

Vikramarjuna Vijaya , also known as Pampa Bharatha is a classic work of the 10th century Jain poet Pampa . It is an Kannada version of the great epic, the Mahabharata of Vyasa. Pampa choose the Arjuna, the central figure of the Pandava Clan, as the hero of his epic...

(or Pampa Bharata, 941), is the author's version of the Hindu epic 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....

. The story differs from other earlier versions of the epic in that Arjuna

Arjuna

Arjuna in Indian mythology is the greatest warrior on earth and is one of the Pandavas, the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahābhārata. Arjuna, whose name means 'bright', 'shining', 'white' or 'silver' Arjuna (Devanagari: अर्जुन, Thai: อรชุน, Orachun, Tamil: Arjunan, Indonesian and Javanese: Harjuna,...

 alone is the hero, not the other Pandava

Pandava

In the Hindu epic Mahābhārata, the Pandava are the five acknowledged sons of Pandu , by his two wives Kunti and Madri. Their names are Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. Although, Karna is told by Lord Krishna that according to the laws and ethics he is the first son of Kunti making...

 brothers, and Draupadi

Draupadi

In the epic Mahābhārata, Draupadi, also known as ' is the "emerged" daughter of King Drupada of Panchāla and the wife of the five Pandavas. When Yudhisthira becomes the king of Hastinapura at the end of the war, Draupadi becomes the queen of Indraprastha...

 is solely Arjuna's wife. The author underplays the role of the Hindu god Krishna

Krishna

Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...

 and favourably compares his patron king Chalukya Arikesari (a Rashtrakuta feudatory) to Arjuna, while casting a lofty and noble image of Karna

Karna

Karna or Radheya is one of the central characters in the epic Mahābhārata, from ancient India. He was the King of Anga...

 and the Kaurava

Kaurava

The term Kaurava is a Sanskrit term, that means the descendants of Kuru, a legendary king who is the ancestor of many of the characters of the Mahābhārata.The term is used in the Mahābhārata with two meanings:...

 prince Duryodhana

Duryodhana

In the Hindu epic the Mahābhārata, Duryodhana is the eldest son of the blind king Dhritarashtra by Queen Gandhari, the eldest of the one hundred Kaurava brothers, Emperor of the world at that time which means Emperor of India or Bharatvarsha as it was known at that time, cousin and the chief...

. Pampa demonstrates such a command of classical Kannada that scholars over the centuries have written many interpretations of his work.

Another great writer in Kannada was 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...

, patronised by King Krishna III

Krishna III

Krishna III, whose Kannada name was Kannara , was the last great warrior and able monarch of the Rashtrakuta Dynasty of Manyakheta. He was a shrewd administrator and skillful military campaigner. He waged many wars to bring back the glory of the Rashtrakutas and played an important role in...

 and famed for his description of the life of the 16th Jain tirthankara Shantinatha entitled Santipurana. He earned the title Ubhaya Kavichakravathi (supreme poet in two languages) for his command over both Kannada and Sanskrit. His other writings in Kannada were Bhuvanaika-karamabhyudaya, Jinaksaramale and Gatapratiagata. Adikavi Pampa, Sri Ponna and Ranna

Ranna

Ranna was one of the earliest poets of Kannada language.Ranna, Adikavi Pampa and Sri Ponna together are called "three gems of Kannada literature".-Early days:Ranna was born on 949 C.E. in Muduvolalu Bagalkot district, Karnataka....

 (court poet of Western Chalukya 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...

) are called the "three gems" of Kannada literature.

The earliest extant prose work in Kannada is Vaddaradhane

Vaddaradhane

Vaddaradhane by Shivakotiacharya is the earliest extant prose work in Kannada. It is a didactic work consisting of nineteen stories and is based on Harisena's Brhatkathakosa. It gives a detailed description of the life of Bhadrabahu of Shravanabelagola. The work is dated to the 9th century but...

(900) by Shivakotiacharya

Shivakotiacharya

Shivakotiacharya , a writer of the 9th-10th century, is considered the author of didactic Kannada language Jain text Vaddaradhane . A prose narrative written in pre-Old-Kannada , Vaddaradhane is considered the earliest extant work in the prose genre in the Kannada language...

. The title means "worship of elders". The writing contains 19 stories mostly borrowed from the Sanskrit book Brihatkatha-Kosha and is about Jain tenets. The writing describes issues such as rebirth, Karma, plight of humans on earth, social issues of the time such as education, trade and commerce, magic, superstitions and condition of women in society. Other well-known writers from this era were Rudrabhatta of Banahatti

Banahatti

Banahatti is a medium sized town located very close to the Krishna river in northern Karnataka, India. It forms twin town along with Rabakavi Rampur & Hosur. It is the hub of the textile business for the surrounding districts...

, Ravinagabhatta who was patronised by King Govinda IV

Govinda IV

Govinda IV was the younger brother of Amoghavarsha II who became the Rashtrakuta emperor in 930 as described in the Kalasa record of Chikmagalur. He was a very unpopular ruler who indulged in licentious acts. Control over Kannauj was lost during his rule. The Chalukyas of Vengi defeated him and...

, Kavi Rajaraja who wrote the Kalasa record, Gajanakusha (also known as Gajaga or Narayana) who wrote on erotics and was a minister in the court of King Krishna III

Krishna III

Krishna III, whose Kannada name was Kannara , was the last great warrior and able monarch of the Rashtrakuta Dynasty of Manyakheta. He was a shrewd administrator and skillful military campaigner. He waged many wars to bring back the glory of the Rashtrakutas and played an important role in...

. Sri Vijaya, court poet of Amoghavarsha I wrote Chandraprabha-purana in early 9th century. Jinachandra, referred to by Sri Ponna as the author of Pujyapada Charita earned the honorific "modern Samantha bhadra", though his works have not been found. A contemporary of Amoghavarsha I was the Digambara

Digambara

Digambara "sky-clad" is one of the two main sects of Jainism. "Sky-clad" has many different meaning and associations throughout Indian religions. Many representations of deities within these traditions are depicted as sky-clad, e.g. Samantabhadra/Samantabhadrī in Yab-Yum...

 Jain poet Asaga

Asaga

Asaga was a mid-9th century Digambara Jain poet who wrote in Sanskrit and Kannada language. He is most known for his extant work in Sanskrit, the Vardhaman Charitra . This epic poem which runs into 18 cantos was written in 853 CE. It is the earliest available Sanskrit biography of 24th and last...

 (or Asoka), who wrote the Karnatakumarasambhava Kavya, Varadhamana Purana and other writings which have been praised by later day poets such as Jayakirthi, but none of which are available today.

Sanskrit writings

Many enduring works on religion and secular subjects were written in Sanskrit. In mathematics, ground breaking theories on Algebra

Algebra

Algebra is the branch of mathematics concerning the study of the rules of operations and relations, and the constructions and concepts arising from them, including terms, polynomials, equations and algebraic structures...

, Arithmetic

Arithmetic

Arithmetic or arithmetics is the oldest and most elementary branch of mathematics, used by almost everyone, for tasks ranging from simple day-to-day counting to advanced science and business calculations. It involves the study of quantity, especially as the result of combining numbers...

 and Geometry

Geometry

Geometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....

 were postulated by Mahaviracharya

Mahavira (mathematician)

Mahavira was a 9th-century Indian Jain mathematician from Gulbarga who asserted that the square root of a negative number did not exist. He gave the sum of a series whose terms are squares of an arithmetical progression and empirical rules for area and perimeter of an ellipse. He was patronised by...

, a native of Gulbarga

Gulbarga

Gulbarga is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the administrative headquarters of Gulbarga District. It was formerly part of Nizam's Hyderabad state...

 who belonged to the Karnataka mathematical tradition. He was patronised by King Amoghavarsha I. His greatest contribution was Ganitasarasangraha, a writing in 9 chapters that defined important axioms. These axioms state that a proper fraction is a sum of improper fractions, a negative number is not a square number and hence does not have a square root. He also defined formulae to calculate the sum of complex progressions and a measurement unit for the size of an atom. His other works are Chattisa Ganitha, a volumnous work that contains 9,000 Granthas (manuscripts) pertaining to mathematical collection. The Shlokas (verses) are in Sanskrit and the commentary is in Kannada language. His other writings are Shatrinshika and Jyotish Patal.

Trivikrama Bhatta was a noted scholar in the court of King Indra III

Indra III

Indra III was the grandson of Rashtrakuta Krishna II and son of Chedi princess Lakshmi. He became the ruler of the empire due to the early demise of his father Jagattunga. He had many titles such as Nithyavarsha, Rattakandarapa, Rajamarathanda and Kirthinarayana. He patronised Kannada poet and...

. His classics were Nalachampu (915), the earliest in champu style in Sanskrit, Damayanti Katha, Madalasachampu and Begumra plates. Legend has it that Goddess Saraswati

Saraswati

In Hinduism Saraswati , is the goddess of knowledge, music, arts, science and technology. She is the consort of Brahma, also revered as His Shakti....

 helped him in his effort to compete with a rival in the kings court. Jinasena was the spiritual preceptor and guru

Guru

A guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...

 of Amoghavarsha I. A theologian, his contributions are Dhavala and Jayadhavala (written with another theologian Virasena). These writings are named after their patron king who was also called Athishayadhavala. Other contributions from Jinasena were Adipurana (later completed by his disciple Gunabhadracharya who also wrote Atmanushasana), Harivamsha and Parshvabhyudaya. Halayudha patronised by King Krishna III

Krishna III

Krishna III, whose Kannada name was Kannara , was the last great warrior and able monarch of the Rashtrakuta Dynasty of Manyakheta. He was a shrewd administrator and skillful military campaigner. He waged many wars to bring back the glory of the Rashtrakutas and played an important role in...

 wrote Kavirahasya, a list of verbs with their meanings written in verse and a work on prosody called Mritasanjivini.

Somadevasuri of 950 wrote in the court of Arikesari II, a feudatory of Rashtrakuta Krishna III

Krishna III

Krishna III, whose Kannada name was Kannara , was the last great warrior and able monarch of the Rashtrakuta Dynasty of Manyakheta. He was a shrewd administrator and skillful military campaigner. He waged many wars to bring back the glory of the Rashtrakutas and played an important role in...

 in Vemulavada

Vemulavada

Vemulawada is a town 35 km from Karimnagar, in the Andhra Pradesh state, India. It is chiefly notable for the Sri Raja Rajeshwara Swamy Temple complex, a site of pilgrimage for both Hindu and worshippers.The city has a population of more than 50 thousand...

. He was the author of Yasastilaka champu, Nitivakyamrita and other writings. The main aim of the champu writing was to propagate Jain tenets and ethics. The second writing reviews the subject matter of Arthasastra from the standpoint of Jain morals in a clear and pithy manner. Well-known Advaita philosophers from present day Karnataka region were Padmapada and Sureshvara (also known as Visvarupa) who wrote commentaries such as Balakrida upholding the Advaita beliefs. Pushpadanta who was patronised by a minister of King Krishna III

Krishna III

Krishna III, whose Kannada name was Kannara , was the last great warrior and able monarch of the Rashtrakuta Dynasty of Manyakheta. He was a shrewd administrator and skillful military campaigner. He waged many wars to bring back the glory of the Rashtrakutas and played an important role in...

 wrote Mahapurana, Nagakumara charita and Yashodhara charita. King Amoghavarsha I himself a noted poet wrote Prashnottara Ratnamalika, a book of high value on religion, later translated into Tibetian language. Other well-known scholars were logicians such as Manikyanandin, Mallavadin and Prabhachandra. Sakatayana patronised by Amoghavarsha I wrote Sabdanusasana and Amoghavritti and 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...

wrote Charitrasara. Akalanka Bhatta wrote Rajavarthika, Nyayavinishchaya, Ashtashati and the Laghiyastraya, Lakshmidhara compiled Vyavahara Kalpataru, Khandana Khanda Khadya and others.

The Sanskrit writing on medicine Kalyanakaraka by a court poet, Ugraditya, relates that the king requested the poet give the court a discourse on the evils of a non-vegetarian diet and the need to avoid such a diet to treat illnesses.