GarnetWelton89 at 19:49, 27 March 2026

2026-03-27T19:49:31Z

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{{Short description|13th century Kannada poet}}
{{use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{use Indian English|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Janna
| image =
| birth_name = Janna (13th Century), [[Hoysala Empire]], [[Halebidu]], [[Karnataka]], [[India]]
| occupation = Kannada Poet
| notable_works = Yashodhara charite, Anantanatha Purana, Anubhava Mukura
| title = Kavichakravarti
| mother = Gangadevi
| father = Shankara
}}

'''Janna''' (c. 13th century CE) was a prominent [[Kannada]] poet in medieval Karnataka, India. He is widely regarded as one of the important [[Jain]] poets of the Hoysala period, known for his moral seriousness, philosophical depth, and refined literary style. He flourished under the patronage of the Hoysala king [[Narasimha I]] and possibly [[Veera Ballala II]]. Janna is best known for his classic [[Jain]] purana "Yashodhara Charite", as well as "[[Anantanatha]] Purana" and "Anubhava Mukhura".<ref>Narasimhacharya, R. (1988). ''History of Kannada Literature''. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. pp. 28–30.</ref>

== Early life and background ==

Little is known with certainty about Janna’s early life. He was a [[Jain]] by faith and is believed to have belonged to a scholarly Jain family in Karnataka. He served as a court poet and minister (Dandanayaka) under the Hoysalas, which enabled him to compose his major works in a refined courtly style.<ref>Narasimhacharya, R. (1988). p. 29.</ref>

== Works ==

Janna’s most famous work is "Yashodhara Charite", a Jain purana in Kannada that narrates the story of King Yashodhara, exploring themes of desire, sin, karmic consequence, and spiritual redemption with vivid and sometimes shocking imagery. He is also credited with "Ananthanatha Purana", which narrates the life of [[Anantanatha]], the 14th Tirthankara of Jainism, and Anubhava Mukhura, which further showcases his poetic skill and moral depth.<ref>Narasimhacharya, R. (1988). pp. 29–30.</ref>

== Legacy ==

Janna is remembered as one of the great Jain poets in Kannada literature, alongside [[adikavi Pampa]], [[Ranna (Kannada poet)]], and [[Ponna (poet)]]. His works reflect the strong Jain influence on medieval Karnataka’s literary culture, combining ornate poetic expression with serious moral and philosophical concerns.<ref>Sastri, K.A. Nilakanta (1955). ''A History of South India''. Oxford University Press. p. 367.</ref>

==Magnum opus==

[[File:Amrutesvara Temple,Amruthapura- Large Stone Inscription.JPG|thumb|left|Close up of Poetic Kannada inscription composed by Janna on a [[Hero stone]] at the [[Amrutesvara Temple, Amruthapura]], [[Chikkamagaluru district]], [[Karnataka]] state, India]]
{{Kannada poets in Hoysala Empire}}
''Yashodhara Charite'' is a classic Kannada Jain poem by Janna, written during the 13th century when [[Jainism]] was facing challenges in [[Karnataka]]. It is an epic in the ''kandapadya'' metre, consisting of around 310 verses with a unique set of stories that use extreme, often gruesome imagery of lust, violence, and sin as cautionary moral lessons on the consequences of unchecked desire.<ref name="Pollock">Sheldon Pollock (2003), ''The Language of the Gods in the World of Men''. University of California Press, p. 377.</ref><ref name="Narasimhacharya">Narasimhacharya, R. (1988). ''History of Kannada Literature''. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. pp. 29–30.</ref>

The poem narrates the downfall and repentance of King Yashodhara, who under the sway of lust commits horrific sins including incest and cannibalism, but ultimately repents, illustrating the Jain doctrines of karma and spiritual liberation (moksha). Inspired in part by Sanskrit versions of the tale, Janna’s work emphasizes the moral seriousness and psychological complexity of the theme.<ref name="Sastri">Sastri, K.A. Nilakanta (1955). ''A History of South India''. Oxford University Press. p. 367.</ref>

In one of the stories, the king intends to perform a ritual sacrifice of two young boys to a local deity but, taking pity, releases them and abandons human sacrifice.<ref name="Rice">E.P. Rice (1921). ''A History of Kannada Literature''. Oxford University Press. pp. 43–44.</ref> In another, he burns himself on the funeral pyre of a friend’s wife whom he abducted in desire and who dies of grief.<ref name="Sahitya1988">Sahitya Akademi (1988). ''A History of Indian Literature: 1100–1800''. p. 181.</ref> In yet another, the poem describes the queen Armutamati’s attraction to the ugly [[Mahout]] Ashtavakra. To expiate her sin, Yashodhara performs a symbolic cock sacrifice that becomes gruesome when the cock comes alive and crows at the time of death. He and his mother are reborn as animals, suffering for many rebirths before attaining redemption.<ref name="Suffering">Sahitya Akademi (1992). p. 4629.</ref>

==Other writings==
Janna's ''Anubhava Mukhura'' is a treatise on erotics and the science of lovemaking, a topic that was well established as a genre of Kannada literature by his time.<ref name="anu">Nagaraj in Pollock (2003), p. 375</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==

* {{cite book |last= Sastri|first= K.A. Nilakanta|title= A history of South India from prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagar|orig-year=1955|year=2002|publisher= Indian Branch, Oxford University Press|location= New Delhi|isbn= 0-19-560686-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Shiva Prakash|first=H.S.|editor=Ayyappapanicker|title=Medieval Indian Literature:An Anthology |year= 1997|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=81-260-0365-0|chapter= Kannada}}
* {{cite book |last= Various|title= Encyclopaedia of Indian literature – vol 2|orig-year=1988|year=1988|publisher= Sahitya Akademi|location=New Delhi |isbn=81-260-1194-7}}
* {{cite book |last=Nagaraj |first=D.R.|editor=Sheldon I. Pollock|title=Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia |orig-year=2003|year=2003|publisher=Berkeley and London: University of California Press. Pp. 1066|chapter=Critical Tensions in the History of Kannada Literary Culture|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xowUxYhv0QgC&dq=critical+tensions+in+history+kannada+literary+culture&pg=PA323|isbn=0-520-22821-9 |pages=323–383}}
* {{cite book |last= Kamath|first= Suryanath U.|title= A concise history of Karnataka : from pre-historic times to the present|orig-year=1980|year= 2001|publisher= Jupiter books|location= Bangalore|oclc= 7796041 |lccn= 80905179}}
* {{cite book |last= Various|title= Encyclopaedia of Indian literature – vol 5|orig-year=1992|year=1992|publisher= Sahitya Akademi|isbn=81-260-1221-8}}

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{{Karnataka topics}}

[[Category:13th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:13th-century Indian Jain writers]]
[[Category:13th-century Jain poets]]
[[Category:Medieval Indian Jain poets]]
[[Category:Kannada poets]]
[[Category:Poets from Karnataka]]
[[Category:Indian male poets]]

Janna - Revision history

GarnetWelton89 at 19:49, 27 March 2026