Literary Achievements of King Krishnadevaraya

Authored by Nagaranjitha S, . Published by Noopura Bhramari IKS Centre, Edited by Dr Manorama B N; titled as 'Understanding the Literary Achievements of King Krishnadevaraya'[1]–, As a part of Śāstra ranga Internship programme.

Introduction

The Vijayanagara Karnāṭa Empire witnessed the rule of mighty leaders whose capable administration propelled the province to global glory. People from all over the world engaged in trade within this empire, and renowned scholars contributed their wisdom, making it not only economically prosperous but also culturally rich. It stood as an epitome of Bhāratīya Samskṛti.. The Bhakti movement, social equality, women's empowerment, and various other aspects aimed at uplifting society were actively addressed throughout the entire southern subcontinent. Vijayanagar literature is one important factor that contributed to the might and renown of Vijayanagar empire. Different genres of literature like kāvya, nāṭaka, itihāsa, purāṇa, dāsa sāhitya, jaina sāhitya, were written and popularized under the patronage of Vijayanagar kings.

A country becomes progressive, prosperous, mighty, and great when its people enjoy equal opportunity, education, and liberty the people enjoy which equip and inspire them to give back to society. Their faith in the ruler's commitment to equal justice motivates them to make sacrifices for their nation, fostering a fearless society where the peace and privacy of every individual are respected. Krishnadevaraya was a multifaceted personality, distinguishing himself as a great ruler, administrator, and scholar. He stood apart from the rest due to his extraordinary political ventures and accomplishments.

Krishnadevaraya's poetical works

Krishnadevaraya authored numerous literary works, displaying a genius that allowed him to resonate with the contemporary mindset of his readers, audience, or spectators. Whether he was composing poetry, prose, drama, or musical compositions, his ability to connect with his audience was remarkable. Among his works, Āmuktamālyada and Jambavati Pariṇayam have been published and are available, while Madālasacaritam and Satyavadhū Pariṇayam remain unavailable.  

Krishnadevaraya stressed on women empowerment and promoted projects that empowered women in his empire. Inscriptional evidence shows us that he had constructed education institutions for women, gymnasiums, and dance halls for about four thousand dancers to learn, exercise and stay fit. He encouraged them in their practice of performing arts by constructing theatre schools called paṭṭada nāṭaka śāle in the royal households. Interestingly he has given more women centric titles to his works like Āmuktamālyada, Madālasa Caritam, Jāmbavati Pariṇayam, Satyavadhū Pariṇayam, whose target connoisseurs were the people of his country.

Jāmbavati Pariṇayam

In Jāmbavati Pariṇayam, he presented a puranic theme in a dramatic format suitable for theatrical performances. This proves that the values preached in the purāṇas and epics remain ever relevant. Jāmbavati Pariṇayam, woven from a story in the Bhāgavata, is a five-act drama in which Kṛṣṇa marries Jāmbavati during his expedition in search of the precious syamantaka maṇi. There are some significant aspects of this drama worth noting. First, this drama was specifically written to be performed during the Caitrotsava of Lord Virūpākṣa in Vijayanagar, as mentioned at the beginning of the conversation between naṭi and sūtradhāra in the prasthāvana following the nāndi:

'hemakūṭagirikatakavāstavyakuṭumbinaḥ karṇārājyarakṣāmaṇeḥ śrī virūpākṣadevasya caitrotsavāvalokanāya saṅgatāpariṣat.'

(Ramaraju, 1969)

The king referring to the entire empire as one family demonstrates his commitment to national unity. This play was composed exclusively for the festive gathering at the Virūpākṣa temple. The Caitrotsava at the Virūpākṣa temple was a grand festival where people from the entire empire congregated to witness the performance.

In the conversation mentioned above naṭi speaks in Prakrit while sūtradhāra in Sanskrit. Unlike the convention of the traditional nāṭaka the author has kept this part simple, specific, and confined to affirmatively explain the purpose of the play. Usage of both Sanskrit with Prakrit shows that they were commonly spoken languages. With the genius of a playwright, we constantly see a true patriot in Krishnadevaraya who has not left any stone unturned to install oneness, patriotism and the Bhāratīya sanātana samskṛti among his people through his works.

Madālasa Caritam

Theatre arts not only reaches the learned by also the mass audience who are not well-read. He has harnessed this strength of theatre arts by writing these different kinds of plays. Madālasa Caritam is a story from Mārkaṅḍeya purāṇa whose Madālasa Upadeśa is considered very important. Krishnadevaraya is one of the first playwrights among his contemporaries to write a play based on her. His vision to highlight the strong women while blending it with rasadṛṣṭi is clear through these works.

Āmuktamālyada

Āmuktamālyada is an epic poetry written on Godhādevi who offered worn garlands to lord Śrīnivāsa. This kāvya gives all the ingredients required to write up a play around the plot, which is socially relevant, as it is a story of a simple girl, daughter of a priest, who was true to her devotion. The eight verses in the beginning that narrate Krishnadevaraya’s dream are highlight of the work. This dream sequence itself could be developed as a beautiful plot and presented as a bhāṇa for the very potential that it holds. The king in the beginning of the poem describes a dream that he had where lord Vishnu himself came in his dream and asked to write about this story in Telugu language.

(Shastri, 1907)The verses go as “being well versed in all languages, you composed Madālasa Carita, Satyabhāmā Pariṇaya, Sakalakathāsārasaṅgraha, Jñānacintāmaṇi, rasamañjari and other śṛṅgāra kāvyas in Sanskrit and now can’t you in compose in Āndhra bhāṣa?” (Reddy, 2011) .

The dream sequence described here shows the king’s sensitivity to different cultures and intention of binding the two regional cultures. He has done his best to bring the core of Tamil culture into Telugu literature. He also states in the beginning that Vishnu asked in his dream to compose this poem to remove the revulsion or disgust that is attached to the fact that he accepted the used garlands; and to compose this in Telugu language particularly. This reflects the king’s social concern. On introspection it is understood that there is a keen intention to remove social discrimination. Here through this the king has also hit the right chords like women empowerment by choosing a female protagonist as his hero in the poetry. He did this by choosing Godhadevi’s narrative instead of creating some fictional story or abstract concepts in the name of social importance. It can be used by the playwrights of present day to write a nāṭaka of five acts, as the plot has got all the potential characteristics of a nāṭaka.

Conclusion

Overall, some important learnings that can be obtained from Krishnadevaraya’s writings is that it is not needed to bring an out-of-box context and theme to fantasize a literary work. Socially relevant theme doesn’t mean sarcasm or mockery of a cult, community, or practice. Social contributions through literature need not mean doing a documentary movie with recorded facts and without music, dance, or songs. It neither means vulgarity nor nudity. One need not create a new fictious story filled with unnatural characters or be the saviors of earth from or some superheroes. Writing a bestseller literature doesn’t mean glorification of violence or crime, where everybody is killed with a tragic end.

The purāṇas and epics give the utmost valuable education to the society and are ever relevant. When the theme is bound by natural human emotions those themes are ever relevant. The source of that theme doesn’t matter then. It could come from purāṇa, itihāsa, or a real incident any other means. When rasa is ever relevant, emotions are ever relevant, themes based on rasa are ever relevant to a society. Relevant themes when picked up and woven into beautiful plots it becomes a wonderful possibility towards rasa. That is what we see in the works of Krishnadevaraya. His intensions as a lyricist, poet, author have been bound towards society. He knew that performing arts was the best medium to utilize and establish social awareness, women empowerment, reinstalling patriotism, and to uphold dharma, break the language barrier, and harness the strength of regional diversity. Krishnadevaraya’s works focus largely on these lines.

Through his various works, the king Krishnadevaraya has shown that educating, uplifting, and uniting society and raising humans with compassion is possible. Empowering every sector of society, spreading love, harmony and establishing equality, patriotism, and national integrity are his literary achievements. Reproducing or reconstructing these plays, republishing these rare gems of literature would be a tribute to the king and must be encouraged at large.

Bibliography

Ramaraju, B. (1969). Jāmbavatī Pariṇayam by Krishnadevarāua. Hydrabad: Andhra Pradesh Sahitya Akademi.

Reddy, S. (2011). Giver of the Worn Garland KRishnadevarāya's Āmuktamālyada. United Kingdom: penguin Books.

Saletore, B. A. (1934). Social and Political life in the Vijayanagar Empire (Volume 2). Madras: B G Paul & Co Publishers.

Shastri, R. (1907). Amuktamalyada Andhra Vyakhyana Sametamu. Chennapattana: Ādi Saraswati Mudrākṣara Sāle.