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{{use dmy dates|date=April 2016}}
{{use Indian English|date=April 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Adikavi Pampa
| image =
| image_size =
| birth_date = 9th century
| death_date = 10th century
| occupation = Poet
}}
'''Pampa''' ({{circa|10th century}}), called by the honorific '''Ādikavi''' ("First Poet") was a [[Kannada literature|Kannada]]-language [[Jain]] poet whose works reflected his philosophical beliefs.<ref>{{cite book |title=Merriam-Webster's encyclopedia of literature |publisher=Merriam-Webster|year=1995|isbn=0-87779-042-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/merriamwebsters00merr/page/853 853] |url=https://archive.org/details/merriamwebsters00merr|url-access=registration }}</ref> A court poet of [[Chalukyas of Vemulavada|Chalukya]] king [[Arikesari II]], who was a feudatory of the [[Rashtrakuta dynasty]] king [[Krishna III]], Pampa is best known for his epics ''[[Vikramarjuna Vijaya|Vikramārjuna Vijaya]]'' or ''Pampa Bharata'', and the ''Ādi purāṇa'', both written in the ''[[champu]]'' style around c.939. These works served as the model for all future ''champu'' works in Kannada.

The works of Jain writers Pampa, [[Sri Ponna]] and [[Ranna (Kannada poet)|Ranna]], collectively called the "Three gems of [[Kannada literature]]", heralded the 10th century era of [[medieval Kannada literature]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Students' Britannica India, Volumes 1-5|publisher=Popular Prakashan |year=2000|isbn=0-85229-760-2 |page=78 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AE_LIg9G5CgC&q=Adikavi+Pampa&pg=PA78 }}</ref>

==Early life==
{{Kannada poets in Rashtrakuta Empire}}
There are varying opinions about the early life and native language of Pampa. While it is commonly believed Pampa belonged to a Brahmin family that took to Jainism, their actual place of origin and native language (Kannada or Telugu) is debated. According to the trilingual inscription (in [[Sanskrit]], [[Telugu language|Telugu]] and [[Kannada]]) installed by Pampa's younger brother Jinavallabha at Bommalamma Gutta in Kurikiyala village, Gangadharam mandal (in modern [[Telangana]]), his father was Abhimanadevaraya (also known as Bhimappayya) and mother was Abbanabbe. It also indicated that his grandfather was Abhimanachandra who belonged to the [[Brahmin]] caste and hailed from Vangiparru in [[Kammanadu]], Guntur district, Andra Pradesh.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.deccanchronicle.com/140926/nation-current-affairs/article/bommalagutta-cries-attention|title=Bommalagutta cries for attention|date=2014-09-26|newspaper=[[Deccan Chronicle]]|access-date=2016-10-28}}</ref><ref>Kevala Bodhi: Buddhist and Jaina Kistory of the Deccan, Vol. 2, Bharatiya Kala Prakashan, 2004; p. 292</ref><ref>Epigraphia Andhrica, Vol. 2, p. 27; Government of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, 1969</ref><ref>Samskrti sandhana, Rāshṭrīya Mānava Saṃskr̥ti Śodha Saṃsthāna, 2000; Vol. 13, p. 152</ref> According to the modern Jain scholar [[Hampa Nagarajaiah]] ("Hampana"), Pampa was born in Annigeri, spent his early childhood on the banks of the nearby [[Varada|Varada river]] and his mother Abbanabbe was the grand daughter of Joyisa Singha of [[Annigeri]] in the modern [[Dharwad district]] of Karnataka state. Frequent descriptions of the beauty of the [[Banavasi]] region (in the modern [[Uttara Kannada district]]) and even the sprinkling (''abhishek'') of water from the Varada river on Arjuna's head during his coronation in Pampa's epic ''Vikramarjuna Vijaya'' testifies to the poet's attachment to the [[Banavasi]] region.<ref name="varada">Hampana in K. E. Radhakrishna, p.21 (2010), ''KANNADA : PAMPADYAYANA'', Chapter: "Pampa: Apogee of Kannada literature", {{ISBN|978-81-280-1192-4}}</ref> However, according to the [[Sheldon Pollock]], Pampa is believed to have come from a [[Telugu language|Telugu]]-speaking family or region.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ak9csfpY2WoC&pg=PA329|title=Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia|last=Pollock|first=Sheldon|publisher=University of California Press|year=2003|isbn=0-520-22821-9|page=329|quote=Pampa wrote in Kannada, though he is thought to have come from a Telugu-speaking family, or at least a Telugu speaking region.}}</ref> Through the lines ''aarankusamittodam nenevudenna manam banvaasi deshamam'' and ''puttidirdode maridumbiyaagi men kogileyaagi nandanavanadol banavaasideshadol'' he has expressed his deep attachment towards Banavasi.

It is very evident from his works that he had mastered [[Sanskrit]] and [[Prakrit]] and that he must have had a good all-round education including [[Vedas|Vedic literature]] and [[Jain philosophy]]. He may have studied and mastered various subjects like music, philosophy, dance, economics, medicine, ''kamashastra'' (the science of sensual pleasure). He is said {{By whom|date= November 2012}} to have studied under a guru by name Devendra Muni of [[Shravanabelagola]].

Sensitive, modest and imaginative, Pampa has earned a veritable place in the world of [[Kannada literature]], which has remained unquestioned even today.{{Citation needed|date= November 2012}}

==Poetic life==
A well-travelled man, he settled down as the court poet of King Arikesari II. Flattered by his knowledge and poetic abilities, Arikesari (who possessed the title Gunarnava) conferred on him the title ''Kavita Gunarnava''. At the age of 39 he wrote his first masterpiece, ''Ādi purāṇa'', in 941, and a little later he completed Vikramarjuna Vijaya popularly known as Pampa Bharata. These two works have remained unparalleled works of classic Kannada composition.{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2016|p=29}}

Though there were several Kannada poets centuries prior to him, the quality of their works does not seem to have matched his. Such was the greatness of his literature that Pampa himself proudly proclaims that his works stamped and crushed all the other existing literature in Kannada. Rightly so, he is called the ''Ādikavi'' "first/original poet" of Kannada literature. He is also first of "the three pearls" of Kannada poetry. A later poet Nagaraja says of him, ''pasaripa kannadakkodayanorvane satkavi pampan'' "the virtuous poet Pampa is the lone master of the famed Kannada."

==Adipurana==
The ''Ādi purāṇa'', written in the ''champu'' style, a mixed form of prose and verse, is a Kannada version of the Sanskrit work by [[Jinasena]] and details in sixteen cantos the life of the first [[Tirthankara]] of [[Jainism]], [[Rishabha]]. The work focuses in his own unique style the pilgrimage of a soul to perfection and attainment of [[moksha (Jainism)|moksha]]. In the work, Pampa describes the struggle for power and control over the entire world of two brothers ''[[Bharata Chakravartin|Bharata]]'' and ''[[Bahubali]]'', sons of Rishabha. While Bahubali wins, he renounces the worldly pursuits in favour of his brother. Many Jain ''puranas'' of Middle Ages found a role model in this work.

==Vikramarjuna Vijaya==
{{main|Vikramarjuna Vijaya}}
''Vikramarjuna Vijaya'', also known as ''Pampa Bharata'', is a Kannada version of the [[Mahabharata]] of [[Vyasa]]. Several poets prior to Pampa had composed poetry based on parts of the epic but had not translated it in its entirety. Pampa's work was written in praise of his patron king Arikesari. He compares the king with [[Arjuna]]'s character in the epic and centers his work around Arjuna. He says this himself in the 51st verse of the first chapter,
"{{lang-kn|ಕಥಾನಾಯಕಂ ಮಾಡಿ ಸಂದರ್ಜುನನೊಳ್ ಪೋಲ್ವೀ ಕಥಾಭಿತ್ತಿಯನನುನಯದಿಂ ಪೇಳಲ್...}}." Vyasa's original work, however, does not portray any particular character as the hero of the epic.

Pampa made several modifications to the original story. While some of his modifications seem absurd and even erroneous, some others seem to blend perfectly and add shine to the original story. In Pampa's version, Arjuna is the only husband of Draupadi. As polyandry is not considered a virtue, this goes well with the story. On the other hand, to please his king, he refers to Arjuna with the titles of Arikesari at some places. The titles ''Chalukya Vamshodbhavam'' "of the Chalukyas" and ''Samanta Choodamani'' "jewel among the feudatories" among others to the greatest archer of the world from the Kuru clan does not seem to go well. After the war of Kurukshetra, it is not [[Yudhishthira]] who is crowned king but Arjuna, and his wife Subhadra becomes the queen royal. It is said that [[Bhima]] who played such a big role in Vyasa's epic and Draupadi who suffered much humiliation are not given much credit in Pampa's work.

==Further reading==
* {{cite web|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/jainism/database/ARTICLE/south.doc|author=T.K. Tukol|title= Jainism in South India|format=DOC}}
* {{cite book|author=Amaresh Datta|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Devraj to Jyoti|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zB4n3MVozbUC&pg=PA1180|year=1988|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-260-1194-0|page=1180}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book|last=Kamat|first=Suryanath U|title=A Concise history of Karnataka from pre-historic times to the present|year=2002 |orig-year=1980|publisher=Jupiter Books|location=Bangalore|isbn=81-206-09778}}
*{{cite book|last=Sastri|first=K.A. Nilakanta|title=A history of south India : from prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagar|year=1999|publisher=Oxford Univ. Press|location=Oxford [u.a.]|isbn=0-19-560686-8|edition=4. ed., 17 impr. (with introduction).}}
* {{citation |last=Singh |first=Upinder |author-link=Upinder Singh |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pq2iCwAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Pearson Education]] |date=2016 |isbn=978-93-325-6996-6 |ref={{sfnref|Upinder Singh|2016}} }}

==External links==
{{wikisourcelang|kn|ಪಂಪಭಾರತ|Vikramarjuna Vijaya}}
* {{internetarchive|Adipurana|Adipurana|lang=kn}}

{{authority control}}

{{Karnataka topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pampa, Adikavi}}
[[Category:Poets from Karnataka]]
[[Category:History of Karnataka]]
[[Category:Kannada poets]]
[[Category:10th-century Indian Jain poets]]
[[Category:Kannada people]]
[[Category:Indian male poets]]

Adikavi Pampa - Revision history

Tijusacademy: improve layout per sources and corrected details

>SilkTork: /* External links */Remove Britannica template from External links per WP:ELNO#1