Land of Lime

Here is a story of two great medieval Kannada poets and their competing visions of poetry. What (or who) is a proper subject for poetic imagination? What ought to be purpose of poetry? Harihara and Raghavanka, uncle and nephew, are the protagonists of our story.

Raghavanka (c. 1230) was born in a Saiva Brahmin family, to Mahadeva Bhatta and Rudrani in Hampe, the future capital of Vijayanagar kingdom (1336-1565 AD). After his initiation, his parents left him with his maternal uncle, Harihara, the great Kananda poet. From Harihara, Raghavanka learnt both Kannada and Sanskrit, became an accomplished poet and expert in rhetoric, grammar and drama. His first great poem was Hariscandra Kavya, the first major text on the life of king Hariscandra in any vernacular language. Raghavanka recited his kavya in the presence of scholar-poets who had assembled in the temple of Virupaksha at Hampe; all those assembed praised him and the local ruler felicitated him.

However, Harihara wasn’t pleased. He had resolved never to praise a mere mortal:
“with the tongue that praises the lord of Hampe, if I praise other gods or bhavis (non-saiva devotees), then I am not a devotee of Siva, the enemy of the god of desire, Kama.” Harihara ordered Raghavanka to take his kavya away since his mind would allow listening to only Siva’s praise and not of mortal kings. He suggested that Raghavanka recite it in the presence of ‘bad people’ (kujana) and be satisfied with their praise. For Harihara, the purpose of writing – indeed of literature – was to praise Siva alone. In his view, Hariscandra is neither truthful nor a devotee.

Raghavanka’s response is a stout defense of Hariscandra. Here is a young poet who had written the first ever full account of Hariscandra, praising latter’s commitment to truth at great cost to himself and his family. So Raghavanka disputes his uncle’s claim and suggests that Harihara appreciate the story of the king, who sacrificed himself, his wife and son, for the sake of truth and thus pleased even Siva. He argued that Hariscandra compared favorably with Chola kings, who were also human and on whom Harihara himself had written many kavyas. Harihara countered his nephew by saying even though Hariscandra pleased Siva, he cannot be regarded as a devotee, since he chose his kingdom instead of liberation and the company of Siva in Kailasa. Yet, when a defiant Raghavanka asserted that Hariscandra was greater than other Saiva devotees, Harihara hit Raghavanka in the face, knocking five of his teeth. Needless to say, Harihara, who took great pride in his nephew’s extraordinary talent and devotion towards his teacher, was disappointed with Raghavanka’s first kavya.

Immediately, Raghavanka too realized his mistake and repented, both for questioning his guru and for abusing Saiva devotees. He apologized to Harihara, who advised him: ‘You had to experiene this since you praised mere mortals. From now onwards do not praise human beings even in your dreams. Preserve your tongue to sing the laurels of Siva and his men.’ The legend goes on to suggest that as Raghavanka wrote five kavyas – Somanathacaritra, Viresacarite, Siddharamacaritra, Hariharamahatva and Sarabhacaritra – he regained his five teeth.

Beyond the truth and falsity of this story, this was a critical moment in the Kannada literary history. Until this moment, Jain (and occasional Brahmin) poets had written poetry in classical mode on epic and puranic themes, for pundits. Harihara wrote in blankverse and on the lives of ordinary devotees, thus liberating narrative poetry from the clutches of scholars and court. I will do a follow up on Harihara’s radical redefinition of poetry and its purpose along with more postings on Hariscandra Kavya itself. In Raghavanka - 2, I will focus on Raghavanka’s career and adventures. It seems to me that his ambitions and quest for wordly recognition may have offended his uncle, more than the writing of a kavya on a mortal. We see some evidence of such desire to please the world in many places in Hariscandra Kavya itself. Well, more on all that later this week.