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{{Short description|Kannada classic work on poetics, rhetoric and grammar}}
{{italic title}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2020}}
[[File:Stanza from Kavirajamarga.svg|thumb|right|A Stanza from ''Kavirajamarga'' which praises the people for their literary skills]]
'''''Kavirajamarga''''' ({{langx|kn|ಕವಿರಾಜಮಾರ್ಗ}}) (850 C.E.)<ref>{{cite news | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/8th-century-book-delights-Sudha-/articleshow/5709600.cms | newspaper=The Times of India | date=22 March 2010 | title=8th-century book delights Sudha Murthy | access-date=5 January 2020 }}</ref> is the earliest available work on [[rhetoric]], [[poetics]] and [[grammar]] in the [[Kannada]] language.<ref name="poetics">Kamath (2001), p 90</ref><ref name="poetics1">Narasimhacharya (1988), p 2</ref> It was inspired by or written in part by the famous [[Rashtrakuta]] King [[Amoghavarsha]] [[Amoghavarsha I|I]], and some historians claim it is based partly on the [[Sanskrit]] text ''[[Kavyadarsha]]''. Some historians believe ''Kavirajamarga'' may have been co-authored by a poet in the king's court, the Kannada language theorist Sri-vijaya.<ref name="poetics"/><ref name="coauthor">Sastri (1955), pp 355-356</ref>

The name literally means "Royal Path for Poets" and was written as a guide book for poets and scholars (''Kavishiksha''). From references made in this writing to earlier [[Kannada poetry]] and literature it is clear that a considerable body of work in prose and poetry must have existed in the preceding centuries.<ref name="century">Sastri (1955), p 355</ref>

==Early life==
The pre-coronation name of Amoghavarsha I was Sharva. He was born in Sribhavan in 800 to Rashtrakuta King [[Govinda III]] during the king's return from his successful northern campaigns in [[Kanauj]]. This is known from the Manne records (803), Sirur plates and Sanjan records (871) of Amoghavarsha I.<ref name="sharva">Kamath (2001), p 77</ref><ref name="sharva1">[[Bisheshwar Nath Reu|Reu]] (1933), p 67</ref> Amoghavarsha I came to the throne in 814 at the age of 14 and took great interest in the Kannada language, culture, country and its people, and his writing ''Kavirajamarga'' goes into these details as well.<ref name="interest">Narasimhacharya (1988), p 17</ref> The work describes the entire region between the [[Godavari River|Godavari]] river in the north and [[Kaveri River|Kaveri]] river in the south as "Kannada country", which includes large territories north and east of modern Karnataka where Kannada is now not spoken.<ref name="century"/> An English translation of a quote from the writing goes as follows,<ref name="quote">E.P Rice in Das (2005), p 141</ref>

{{cquote|In all of the earth 
No fairer land you'll find 
Than that were rich sweet Kannada 
Voices the people's mind 
'Twixt sacred river twain it lies- 
From famed Godavari 
To where the pilgrim rests his eyes 
Only holy Kaveri... 
The people of that land are skilled 
To speak in rhythmic tone, 
And quick to grasp a poet's thought, 
So kindred to their own 
Not students only, but the folk 
untutored in the school, 
By instinct use and understand 
The strict poetic rules.

~ Translateed from Kavirājamārga, 36-40
}}

===Early writers and literary styles===
''Kavirajamarga'' makes important references not only to earlier Kannada writers and poets but also to early literary styles that were in vogue in the various written dialects of Kannada language. The aim of this writing was to standardize these written styles. The book dwells on earlier styles of composition; the ''Bedande'', the ''Chattana'', and the ''Gadyakatha'', and indicates that these styles were recognised by ''puratana kavi'' (''lit'', "earlier poets"). The term ''pruvacharyar'' (''lit'', earlier grammarians or rhetoricians) has also been used.<ref name="style">Narasimhacharya (1988), p 12, p 17</ref><ref name="mug">Mugali R.S. (2006), pp 173-175</ref><ref name="puratana">Sahitya Akademi (1988), pp. 1474–1475</ref> The book mentions several early Kannada writers who preceded Amoghavarsha I: Vimalachandra (777), Udaya, Nagarjuna, Jayabhandu and 6th century King [[Durvinita]] of the [[Western Ganga Dynasty]] as the best writers of Kannada prose; [[Srivijaya]], Kavisvara, Chandra Pandita and Lokapala as the best writers of Kannada poetry.<ref name="poetics1"/> But the works and compositions of these early authors are yet to be discovered. ''Kavirajamarga'' was formative in the literary growth of Kannada and is a guide book to the Kannada [[grammar]] that existed in that period. It laid the "royal path" for guiding many aspiring writers.<ref name="style"/><ref name="mug"/>

In his criticism, Amoghavarsha I writes that old Kannada is appropriate in "ancient poems" but is insipid in works of the present time, like an "association with an old woman". According to him, a mixture of Kannada with Sanskrit is "harsh to the ear" but a mixture of Kannada and ''Sama-Samskrita'' is pleasant to the ear like "music", while a mixture of Kannada and Sanskrit in compounds is disagreeable "like mixing drops of buttermilk (curdled milk) and boiling milk". He also condemned the usage of expletives such as ''ante'', ''matte'', and ''gadam''.<ref name="style"/>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin|2}}
* {{cite book |last= Sastri|first= Nilakanta K.A.|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= 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= Narasimhacharya|first= R|title= History of Kannada Literature|url= https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.489059|orig-year=1988|year=1988|publisher= Asian Educational Services|location= New Delhi, Madras|isbn= 81-206-0303-6}}

*{{cite book |last= Mugaḷi|first= Raṃ Śrī|title= The Heritage of Karnataka: in relation to India|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=KrICwjXaC3gC|orig-year=1946|year=2006|publisher= Read Books [Bangalore: Satyasodhama]|isbn=978-1-4067-0232-3}}
* {{cite book |last= Das|first= Sisir Kumar|title= History of Indian literature, 500-1399: from Courtly to the Popular|orig-year=2006|year=2005|publisher= Sahitya Akademi|location= New Delhi|isbn= 81-260-2171-3}}
*{{cite book |last= Various|title= Encyclopaedia of Indian literature – vol 2|orig-year=1988|year=1988|publisher= Sahitya Akademi|isbn=81-260-1194-7}}
* {{cite book |last= Reu|first= Pandit Bisheshwar Nath|title= History of the Rashtrakutas (Rathodas)|orig-year=1933|year=1997|publisher= Publication Scheme|location= Jaipur|isbn= 81-86782-12-5}}
* {{cite web|last=Kamat|first=Jyotsna|url=http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/deccan/deckings.htm|title=The Rashtrakutas|access-date=2007-02-03|work=Dynasties of the Deccan}}
* {{cite web |last=Kamat|first=Jyotsna|url=http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/deccan/rashtrakutas/literature_kannada.htm|title=Kannada Literature under the Rashtrakutas |access-date=2007-02-03|work=The Rashtrakutas}}
{{refend}}

[[Category:Kannada literature]]
[[Category:9th-century books]]
[[Category:Medieval Karnataka]]
[[Category:Books about poetry]]
[[Category:Earliest known manuscripts by language]]
[[Category:History of linguistics]]

Kavirajamarga - Revision history

XMC.PL-Master at 22:50, 27 February 2026