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{{Short description|9th-century Indian Jain poet}}
{{for|the village in Samoa|Asaga, Samoa}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Asaga
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| birth_date = c. 800 CE
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| occupation = poet
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| period = [[Rashtrakuta literature]]
| genre = [[Jain literature]]
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| notableworks = ''Vardhaman Charitra'' (Sanskrit, c. 853);<br />''Karnataka Kumarasambhava Kavya'' (Kannada, about c.850)
| signature =
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'''Asaga,''' was a 9th-century<ref name="SinghBaruah2004">{{citation|last1=Singh|first1=Nagendra Kr|last2=Baruah|first2=Bibhuti|title=Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Pali Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VGxKTDT0h2kC&pg=PA96|year=2004|publisher=Global Vision Publishing|isbn=978-81-87746-67-6|page=96}}</ref> [[Digambara]] Jain poet who wrote in [[Sanskrit]] and [[Kannada language]]. He is most known for his [[Extant literature|extant]] work in Sanskrit, the ''Vardhamana Charitra'' (Life of [[Mahavir|Vardhamana]]). This [[epic poem]] which runs into eighteen [[canto]]s was written in 853 CE. It is the earliest available Sanskrit biography of the last [[tirthankara]] of [[Jainism]], Mahavira. In all, he authored at least eight works in Sanskrit.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Jains-Library of religious beliefs and practices |last= Dundas |first=Paul |year=2002 |publisher=Routledge|isbn=0-415-26606-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ialKAbIyV4C&q=%22Asaga%22+9th+century+poet&pg=PA19 }}</ref> In Kannada, none of his writings, including the ''Karnataka Kumarasambhava Kavya'' (an adaptation of [[Kālidāsa|Kalidas]]'s epic poem ''[[Kumārasambhava]]'') that have been referenced by latter day poets (including [[Nagavarma II]] who seems to provide a few quotations from the epic poem in his ''Kavyavalokana''<ref name="kavyalokana">R S Hukkerikar (1955), p.88, ''Karnataka Darshana'', Popular Book Depot, 1955</ref>) have survived.<ref>{{cite book |title=The language of the gods in the world of men- Sanskrit, culture, and power in premodern India |last=Pollock |first=Sheldon I. |author-link= Sheldon Pollock|year=2006|publisher=[[University of California]] Press |isbn= 0-520-24500-8|page= 341 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=0UCh7r2TjQIC&q=asaga+9th+century+poet&pg=PA341}}</ref><ref name=dic>{{cite book |title= A Dictionary of Indian Literature: Beginnings-1850|last= Mukherjee |first=Sujit |year=1999|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn= 81-250-1453-5|page= 27|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YCJrUfVtZxoC&q=%22Asaga%22+9th+century+poet&pg=PA27 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopaedia of Jainism |last=Singh |first=Narendra |year=2001 |publisher=Anmol Publications PVT. LTD. |isbn=81-261-0691-3 |page=1516 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oaEwpt00BXsC&q=Asaga&pg=RA1-PA1516 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="dig"/><ref>{{cite book |title=History of Kannada literature |last=Mugali |first=Ram Śri |year=1975 |publisher=[[Sahitya Akademi]] |page= 14}}</ref>

His writings are known to have influenced Kannada poet [[Sri Ponna]], the famous court poet of Rashtrakuta King [[Krishna III]], and other writers who wrote on the lives of Jain Tirthankaras.<ref name=naya/> [[Kesiraja]], (authored ''[[Shabdamanidarpana]]'' in c. 1260 CE), a Kannada grammarian cites Asaga as an authoritative writer of his time and places him along with other masters of early Kannada poetry.<ref>{{cite book |title=Kēśirāja's Śabdamanidarpana, Volume 25 of Rajata mahōtsavada prakataneh |last= Kulli|first=Jayavant S. |year=1976 |publisher=[[Karnataka University]] |page= 17}}</ref>

==Biography==
{{Kannada poets in Rashtrakuta Empire}}
Asaga's name is considered an ''[[Apabhramsha|apbramsha]]'' form of the Sanskrit name Aśoka or Asanga.<ref name="dig"/> A contemporary of [[Rashtrakuta]] King [[Amoghavarsha I]] (800–878 CE), Asaga lived in modern [[Karnataka]] and made important contributions to the corpus of [[Rashtrakuta literature]] created during their rule in southern and central India between the 8th and 10th centuries.<ref>{{cite book |title=A history of the Rāṣṭrakūṭas of Malkhēḍ and Jainism |last=Nāgarājayya |first=Hampa |year=2000 |publisher=Ankita Pustaka |isbn=81-87321-37-7 |page= 139}}</ref> Like Kannada writer Gunavarma, Asaga earned fame despite having received no direct royal patronage.<ref name=naya>{{cite book |title=South Indian studies |last= Nāyaka |first=Harōgadde Mānappa |year=1990|publisher= Geetha Book House|page= 836}}</ref>

In his ''Vardhamacharita'', Asaga mentions writing eight classics though the only one other work has survived, the ''Shanti purana'' in Sanskrit.<ref name="amaresh">{{cite book |title=Encyclopaedia of Indian literature. vol. 1, a-devo|last= Datta |first=Amaresh |year=1987|publisher= Sahitya Akademi|location= New Delhi |isbn= 81-260-1803-8|page= 619}}</ref> Asaga claims to have composed his writings in the city of Virala (Dharala), Coda ''Visaya'' ("Cola desa" or Coda lands), in the Kingdom of King Srinatha, who was perhaps a Rashtrakuta [[vassal]]. In ''Kaviprasastipradyani'', the epilogue to the ''Shanti purana'', Asaga claims he was born to [[Jain]] parents and names his three Jain teachers, including Bhavakirti.<ref name=dic/><ref name="dig">{{cite book |last= Warder|first= A.K.|author-link= A. K. Warder|title= Indian Kavya Literature|year=1988|publisher= Motilal Banarsidass|pages= 240–241|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kKD-v7tPc8EC&q=asaga&pg=PA161|isbn= 81-208-0450-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Upadhye papers |last=Upadhye|first=Adinath Nemināth |year= 1983|publisher=Prasārānga, [[University of Mysore]]|page=292}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopaedia of the Hindu world, Volume 3 |last=Garg |first=Ganga Ram |year=1992|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=81-7022-376-8 |page=670 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0U2QRpDv2KMC&q=%22asaga%22+poet&pg=PA670 }}</ref>

Much of what is known about Asaga has come down from references to his works made by later-day writers and poets. Kannada poet [[Sri Ponna]] (c. 950), who used one of his narrative poems as a source, claims to be superior to Asaga.<ref name="rajaka">Warder A.K. (1988), p. 248</ref> Asaga's writings have been praised by later-day poets and writers, such as Kannada writer Jayakirti (''Chchandanuphasana''), who mentions Asaga's ''Karnataka Kumarasambhava Kavya''.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature (Volume One (A To Devo), Volume 1 |last= Datta |first=Amaresh |year=2006|publisher=[[Sahitya Akademi]] |isbn=81-260-1803-8 |page=619|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ObFCT5_taSgC&q=%22asaga%22+poet&pg=PA619}}</ref> Several of its verses have been quoted by later authors of Kannada literature such as [[Durgasimha]], Nayasena and Jayakirti (a Kannada language theorist of the early 11th century) who refer to Asaga as the best writer of ''desi'' Kannada, which may be considered as "traditional" or "provincial" form of the language.<ref>{{cite book |title=International encyclopaedia of Indian literature, Volume 4 |last=Garg |first=Gangā Ram |year=1987 |publisher=Mittal Publications |isbn=978-81-7099-027-7 |page=10}}</ref> The Indologist [[A. K. Warder]] considers this unique because Asaga was also famous for classical Sanskrit. The 11th century Kannada grammarian [[Nagavarma II]] claimed Asaga to be an equal to Sri Ponna, and 12th century Kannada writer Brahmashiva refers to Asaga as ''Rajaka'', a honorific that means "one among the greats" of Kannada literature. His writings appear to have been popular among later Kannada writers up to the decline of the Vijayanagara Empire in the 16th century.<ref name="rajaka"/> Though his Kannada writings are deemed lost, his name is counted among noted poets of [[Kannada literature]] from that period, along with the likes of [[Gajaga]], Aggala, Manasija, Srivardhadheva and Gunanandi.<ref>{{cite book |last= Warder|first= A.K.|author-link= A. K. Warder|title=Indian Kavya Literature|year=1988|publisher= [[Motilal Banarsidass]]|page= 161|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=kKD-v7tPc8EC&q=asaga&pg=PA161|isbn= 81-208-0450-3}}</ref> The 10th century [[Apabhramsha]] poet Dhaval praised Asaga's writing ''Harivamsa-purana''.<ref name=dic/>

==Works==
* {{cite book |title=Vardhamānacaritam: Hindi anuvada (Hindi translation), ālocanātmaka prastāvanā (Critical Review), ādi sahita |last= Asaga|author2=Pannalala Jaina|year=1974|publisher=Jain Sanskriti Samraksha Sangha }}
*''Śāntipurāṇa''<ref name="SinghBaruah2003" />

==See also==
{{portal|Poetry}}
*[[Rashtrakuta literature]]
* [[Extinct Kannada literature]]

==Bibliography==
*Asaga. ''Vardhamānacarita'', ed. P. Jain, Sholapur, 1974.

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="SinghBaruah2003">{{cite book|last1=Singh|first1=Nagendra Kr|last2=Baruah|first2=Bibhuti|title=Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Pali Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VGxKTDT0h2kC&pg=PA96|year=2003|publisher=Global Vision Publishing House|isbn=978-81-87746-67-6|page=96}}</ref>}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Karnataka topics}}

[[Category:9th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:Indian male poets]]
[[Category:Kannada poets]]
[[Category:Sanskrit poets]]
[[Category:9th-century Indian Jain writers]]
[[Category:Indian male biographers]]
[[Category:Rashtrakuta people]]

Asaga - Revision history

LavadaDonald013 at 20:38, 17 December 2024