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<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}<br />
{{use Indian English|date=June 2016}}<br />
{{Infobox poet<br />
| name = Ranna<br />
| native_name = ರನ್ನ<br />
| native_name_lang = [[Kannada]]<br />
| birth_date = 949 AD<br />
| birth_place = [[Mudhol]], [[Bagalkot District]],<br />
[[Karnataka]]<br />
| death_date = 1020 AD (aged 71)<br />
| relatives = *Jinvallabh,father)<br />
*Abbalabbe(mother)<br />
| occupation = [[Poet]]<br />
| notable_works = Saahasabhima Vijaya,<br />
Ranna Kanda<br />
}}[[File:Handwriting (10th century) of Kannada poet Ranna at Shravanabelagola.jpg|thumb|right|280px|Inscrbed handwriting (in Kannada characters) of Ranna reads ''Kavi Ratna'' ("gem among poets") at [[Shravanabelagola]]]]<br />
<br />
'''Ranna''' ({{lang-kn|ರನ್ನ}}) was one of the earliest and arguably one of the greatest poets of the [[Kannada language]]. His style of writing is often compared to that of [[Adikavi Pampa]] who wrote in the early 10th century. Together, Ranna, Adikavi Pampa and [[Sri Ponna]] are called "three gems of ancient [[Kannada literature]]".{{sfn|Kamath|1980|p=114}}{{sfn|Sastri|1955|p=356}}{{sfn|Sen|1999|p=583}}<br />
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==Biography==<br />
Ranna was a 10th-century [[Kannada]] poet.{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2016|p=29}} He was born in 949 C.E. in ancient Belagali, known now as [[Mudhol|RannaBelagali]] in the [[Bagalkot district]] of the modern [[Karnataka]] state in India, to a family of bangle sellers.{{sfn|Sastri|2002|p=356}}<br />
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==Literature==<br />
During his early days as a writer, Ranna may have been patronised by [[Chavundaraya]] (or Chavundaraya), the famous minister of the [[Western Ganga Dynasty]].{{sfn|Kamath|2001|p=45}} With the rise of the imperial [[Western Chalukya Empire]], Ranna became an important poet in the court of King [[Tailapa II]] and his successor King [[Satyashraya]] who bestowed upon him the title ''Kavi Chakravarti'' (''lit'', "Emperor among poets").{{sfn|Sastri|2002|p=356}}<br />
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The writings of Ranna are in ''Halegannada'' (''lit'', "old Kannada"). Of the five known major works accomplished by him, two are available in full and one in part. They are: ''[[Ajitha purana]]'', ''Parashuramacharithe'' (extinct), ''Saahasabhima Vijaya'' (also known as ''Gadaayuddha''), ''Rannakanda'' and ''Chakresvaracharite'' (extinct).{{sfn|Kamath|2001|p=114}}{{sfn|Sastri|2002|p=356}}{{sfn|Kamath|2001|p=45}}{{sfn|Mukherjee|1999|p=324}}{{sfn|Datta|1988|p=1335}}<br />
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[[Ajitha Purana]] (993 C.E.) is a Jain ''[[champu]]'' (a form of composition) ''[[purana]]'' written in twelve sections on the life of [[Ajitanatha]], the second ''[[Tirthankar]]''. Ranna wrote this ''purana'' under the patronage of a Jain lady called [[Attimabbe]], the wife of general Nagavarma.{{sfn|Sastri|2002|p=356}} ''RannaKanda'' (990 C.E.), so called because it is written in the ''Kanda'' meter, is the earliest extant dictionary in the Kannada language. Only twelve sections of this writing are available.{{sfn|Sastri|2002|p=356}}{{sfn|Mukherjee|1999|p=324}} ''Parusharama Charite'' (around 980 C.E.) is a eulogy of the Ganga minister and commander Chamundaraya. The poet held his patron in such high esteem that he claims to have named his son "raya" in honor of his patron (who had the honorific ''Samara Parashurama'').{{sfn|Kamath|2001|p=45}}<br />
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''Saahasabhimavijaya'' or ''Gadayuddha'' (''lit'', "The duel of maces") is undoubtedly Ranna's [[Masterpiece|magnum opus]] that was accomplished in an age of writings on "heroism", that describe the valor of important personalities (''vira rasa'' and ''roudrarasa''). Written around 1000 C.E. (though some scholars believe it was a product of a more youthful Ranna), it is one of the enduring classics of the language where the poet compares the valor of his patron Chalukya King Satyashraya to the [[Pandava]] prince [[Bhima]] of the Hindu epic [[Mahabharata]].{{sfn|Datta|1988|p=1335}} Ranna keeps with the trend started by Adikavi Pampa who in 941 C.E. compared his patron Chalukya King Arikesari (a [[Rashtrakuta dynasty|Rashtrakuta]] vassal) to the Pandava prince [[Arjuna]] in the classic ''Vikramarjunavijaya'' (also called ''Pampa Bharata'').{{sfn|Datta|1988|p=1335}} While acknowledging that Ranna may have found some inspiration from earlier writings such as ''Urubhanga'' of Bhasa and ''Venisamhara'' or Bhattanarayana, scholars concede that ''Gadayuddha'' has an originality of its own. Modern scholars see similarities between Ranna's usage of the "adult imps" (called ''murulgal'') that stalk the battlefield of [[Kurukshetra]] and warn [[Kaurava]] prince [[Duryodhana]] (Bhima's adversary in battle) about his impending death, and the description of witches by latter day famed English playwright, [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]. Some scholars believe that ''Gadayuddha'' may have been conceived as a play before being completed as a ''champukavya'' (epic poem in ''[[kavya]]'' style and ''[[champu]]'' meter).{{sfn|Datta|1988|pp=1335-1336}}<br />
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While the theme of the narration centers around the battle of maces between Bhima and Duryodhana on the last day of the eighteen-day war, the poet uses a technique similar to flashbacks in modern cinema to enlighten the reader with important events that led to the war and those events that transpired on the battlefield.{{sfn|Datta|1988|p=1336}} Bhima is undoubtedly the hero of the day for slaying his foe and thus avenging the insult suffered by his wife [[Draupadi]] at the hands of Dushshasana (Duryodhana's brother) prior to the war. However, Ranna skillfully depicts Duryodhana as a "great soul" (''mahanubhava''), who despite his sins, was a brave ''[[kshatriya]]'' on the battlefield, and a true friend to [[Karna]] (another important character in the epic).{{sfn|Datta|1988|p=1336}}<br />
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==See also==<br />
{{commons category|Kannada language literature}}<br />
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==Notes==<br />
{{reflist|30em}}<br />
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==References==<br />
* {{citation |last=Kamath |first=Suryanath U. |author-link=Suryanath U. Kamath |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}}<br />
* {{citation |last=Nagaraj |first=D.R. |author-link=D.R. Nagaraj |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 |isbn=0-520-22821-9 |pages=323–383}}<br />
* {{citation |last=Sastri |first=K.A. Nilakanta |author-link=K.A. Nilakanta Sastri |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}}<br />
* {{citation |last=Datta |first=Amaresh |author-link=Amaresh Datta |title=Encyclopaedia of Indian literature&nbsp;– vol 2|orig-year=1988|year=1988|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=81-260-1194-7}}<br />
* {{citation |last=Mukherjee |first=Sujit |author-link=Sujit Mukherjee |title= Dictionary of Indian Literature One: Beginnings - 1850|orig-year=1999|year=1999|publisher= Orient Blackswan|location= New Delhi|isbn=81-250 1453 5}}<br />
* {{citation |last=Sen |first=Sailendra Nath |author-link=Sailendra Nath Sen |title=Ancient Indian History and Civilization |orig-year=1999|year=1999|publisher= New Age Publishers|isbn=81-224-1198-3}}<br />
* {{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}} }}<br />
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{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{Karnataka topics}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ranna}}<br />
[[Category:History of Karnataka]]<br />
[[Category:Kannada poets]]<br />
[[Category:949 births]]<br />
[[Category:1020 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:People from Bagalkot]]<br />
[[Category:10th-century Indian Jain poets]]<br />
[[Category:Poets from Karnataka]]<br />
[[Category:Indian male poets]]</div>imported>Ts12rAc