>Mahaveer Indra at 14:44, 2 May 2021

2021-05-02T14:44:54Z

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[[File:Part of Lakshmisha's Kannada epic Jaimini Bharata (Ashvamedha parva-Horse sacrifice section).JPG|thumb|right|The ''Ashvamedha parva'' of Lakshmisha's Kannada epic ''Jaimini Bharata'']]
'''Lakshmisa''' (or '''Lakshmisha''', {{lang-kn|ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮೀಶ}}) was a noted [[Kannada language]] writer who lived during the mid-16th or late 17th century. His most important writing, ''Jaimini Bharata'' is a version of the [[Hinduism|Hindu]] epic [[Mahabharata]]. The writing focuses on the events following the battle of [[Indraprastha]] between the [[Pandava]]s and [[Kaurava]]s, using the [[Ashvamedha]] ("horse sacrifice") conducted by [[Yudhishthira]] as the topic of the epic narrative. The writing is in the ''shatpadi'' metre (hexa-metre, 6 line verse) and was inspired by the [[Sanskrit]] original written by sage [[Jaimini]].<ref name="time5">Sastri (1955), p. 365</ref><ref name="JaiminiBharataSanderson">{{cite book|last1=Sanderson|first1=Daniel|title=The Jaimini Bharata: A Celebrated Canarese Poem, with Translations and Notes|date=1852|publisher=Wesleyan Mission Press|location=Bangalore|url=https://archive.org/details/jaiminibharataa00sandgoog|access-date=3 March 2017}}</ref>

==Life==
[[File:The Kannada epics-Kumaravyasa's Mahabharata and Lakshmisha's Jaimini Bharata.JPG|thumb|upright|Parts of the Kannada epics: Kumaravyasa's ''Mahabharata'' and Lakshmisha's ''Jaimini Bharata'']]
The place, time and religious sect that Lakshmisa belonged to has been a subject of controversy among historians. Some historians believe he was a native of Devanur in modern [[Kadur]] taluk, [[Chikkamagaluru district]], [[Karnataka]] state. It is claimed that his family deity was "Lakshmiramana" (a form of Hindu God [[Vishnu]]) to whom he dedicated his writing. Devanur was called by multiple names in his writing; Surapura and Girvanapura.<ref name="sura">Narasimhacharya (1988), p. 58</ref> Other historians feel Surapura is located in the erstwhile [[Hyderabad State|Hyderabad]] region. Some historians believe that Lakshmisa was an [[Advaita|Advaitin]] or a [[Smartha]] Brahmin (believer of [[monism|monistic]] philosophy) of the [[Bhagavata]] sect because the poet has invoked the names of Hindu God [[Shiva]], his consort [[Parvati]] and son [[Ganapati]] in the beginning of his writing.<ref name="sura"/> However, despite these invocations, he may have been a Srivaishnava (a follower of the [[Visishtadvaita]] philosophy preached by 12th century philosopher [[Ramanujacharya]]), there being examples of other Srivaishnava poets (who wrote in Kannada) who praised the God Shiva, Parvati and Ganapati in their writings.<ref name="time3">Narasimhacharya (1988), p. 59</ref>

There is also controversy about when he wrote ''Jaimini Bharata''. Scholars have assigned him various dates, the earliest being {{circa|1415}},<ref name="time3"/> but more generally mid–16th century,<ref name="figure">Shiva Prakash (1997), p. 210</ref><ref name="time2">Sahitya Akademi (1988), p. 1182</ref> and late 17th century.<ref name="time5">Sastri (1955), p. 365</ref><ref name="time3"/><ref name="time4">Kamath (2001), p. 230</ref> The 16th century or earlier dating is based on similarities between Virupaksha Pandita's (1584 CE) ''Chennabasava Purana'' and Lakshmisa's work,<ref name="chenna">Narasimhacharya (1988), p. 60</ref> while the 17th century dating is based on the claim that no author, Brahmin or otherwise, has referenced his writing and directly mentioned his name in any literature during the period 15th century through late 17th century. Whereas, authors who do mention Lakshmisa regularly in their writings are from the 18th century.<ref name="time3"/>

==Magnum opus==
[[File:Jaimini Bharata, Wesleyan Mission Press, Bangalore, 1852.jpg|thumb|160px|Jaimini Bharata, Wesleyan Mission Press, Bangalore, 1852]]
The ''Jaimini Bharata'', one of the most well known stories in [[Kannada literature]] was written in the tradition of sage [[Jaimini]]. It has remained popular through the centuries. In a writing full of [[similes]] and [[metaphor]]s, [[pun]]s and [[alliteration]]s, Lakshmisa created a human tale out of an epic, earning him the honorific "Upamalola" ("One who revels in similes and metaphors") and "Nadalola" ("Master of melody").<ref name="figure"/><ref name="time2"/> The writing focusses on the events following the battle when the victorious Pandavas conducted the Ashvamedha [[Yagna]] to expiate the sin of [[fratricide]]. The writing differs entirely from [[Kumara Vyasa]]'s rendering of the same epic (called ''Karnata Bharata Kathamanjari'') of c. 1430, both in metre and content. Kumara Vyasa had used the flexible ''bhamini shatpadi'' metre and followed the [[Vyasa]] tradition whereas Lakshmisa used the ''vardhaka shatpadi'' metre which is well suited for figures of speech.<ref name="figure"/> The work has been criticised though, for failing to achieve the level of devotion towards Hindu God [[Krishna]] that Kumara Vyasa managed in the various stages of his story.<ref name="figure"/>

However, Lakshmisa is considered a successful story-teller with an ability to narrate the ''Upakhyanas'' ("[[story within a story]]"), describe the physical beauty of a woman at length and to hold the reader with his rich Kannada diction and rhetoric. The writing has been considered an asset to the enlightened reader as well as those not so educated. Lakshmisa authored some poems reminiscent of the [[Haridasa]] poetry but without the same success.<ref name="figure"/>

In 1852, the Wesleyan Mission Press published the ''Jaimini Bharata'' with an English translation by [[Daniel Sanderson]], a Wesleyan missionary at the Bangalore Wesleyan Canarese Mission.<ref name="JaiminiBharataSanderson" />

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{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=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= 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= 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}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Lakshmisa}}
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=_pttfhgqZ_AC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Jaimini+Bharata&source=bl&ots=q8M9h4-ZRr&sig=x8GAu2SXlYN1jAMB9i25-AoKbLo&hl=en&ei=FNivTN3ENY2lnQf5htTtBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false Kannada ''Jaimini Bharata'' by Lakshmisha Kavi and its English translation]

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{{Karnataka topics}}

[[Category:History of Karnataka]]
[[Category:Kannada poets]]
[[Category:People from Chikkamagaluru district]]
[[Category:Kannada people]]
[[Category:Indian male poets]]
[[Category:Poets from Karnataka]]
[[Category:16th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:17th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:17th-century male writers]]

Lakshmisa - Revision history

>Mahaveer Indra at 14:44, 2 May 2021