The Varna Ratnakara, Template:Lang-mai, (IAST: Varṇa Ratnākara), literally "Ocean of description", is the oldest prose work of Maithili language, written in 1324[1] CE by the Maithil scholar, priest and poet Jyotirishwar Thakur.[2][3][4] The author was a part of the court of King Harisimhadeva (r. 1304–1324) of the Karnat dynasty whose capitals were in both Simraungadh (now in Nepal) and Darbhanga (now in Bihar, India).[5]
This work contains descriptions of various subjects and situations. This work provides valuable information about the life and culture of medieval India.[6] The text is divided into seven Kallolas (waves): Script error: The function "transl" does not exist., Script error: The function "transl" does not exist., Script error: The function "transl" does not exist., Script error: The function "transl" does not exist., Script error: The function "transl" does not exist., Script error: The function "transl" does not exist. and Script error: The function "transl" does not exist.. An incomplete list of 84 Siddhas is found in the text, which consists only 76 names. A manuscript of this text is preserved in the Asiatic Society, Kolkata[7][8]
The word Abahattha was used for the very first time in this encyclopedic work.[9] Later the Maithili poet Vidyapati wrote his poem Kīrttilatā in Abahatta.[10]
Author[edit | edit source]
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References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Chatterji, Suniti Kumar (1966). The People, Language, and Culture of Orissa. Orissa Sahitya Akademi. p. 19.
- ↑ Sharma, R.K. "International Sanskrit Conference, New Delhi, March 26th-31st, 1972, Volume 2, Part 1". The Ministry, 1972. 2: 141.
- ↑ Choudhary, Indra Kumar (1988). Some Aspects of Social Life of Medieval Mithila, 1350-1750 A.D.: With a Special Reference to Contemporary Literatures. Kashi Prasad Jayaswal Research Institute. p. 187.
- ↑ Mukherjee, Ramkrishna (26 February 2019). Understanding social dynamics in South Asia : Essays in memory of Ramkrishna Mukherjee. Singapore. p. 205. ISBN 978-981-13-0387-6. OCLC 1088722592.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ↑ Jha, Sureshwar (2005). "Political Thinkers in Mithila". p. 192. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
- ↑ Majumdar, Ramesh Chandra; Pusalker, A. D.; Majumdar, A. K., eds. (1960). The History and Culture of the Indian People. Vol. VI: The Delhi Sultanate. Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. 515.
The Varṇa Ratnākara of Jyotirīśvara Ṭhākura ... was written about 1325. This is a work of set descriptions of various subjects and situations, to supply ready-made cliché passages to story-tellers ... [it] is important, not only because it gives us specimens of pure Maithilī prose ... but also because it is a store-house of information, conveyed through words, about the life and culture of early Medieval India in all their aspects.
- ↑ MS. No. 4834 of Asiatic Society of Bengal
- ↑ Shastri, Haraprasad Ed (1916). Hajar Bachorer Purano Bangla Bhashay Bouddha Gan O Doha. pp. 35–36.
- ↑ Jyotiśvara. (1998). Varṇa-ratnākara of Jyotiriśvara of Kaviśekharācārya. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi. p. 126. ISBN 81-260-0439-8. OCLC 40268712.
- ↑ Jha, Pankaj (2019). A political history of literature : Vidyapati and the fifteenth century (First ed.). New Delhi. pp. 4–7. ISBN 978-0-19-948955-8. OCLC 1083625313.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)