Janna

13th century Kannada poet

Janna

Born|

Janna (13th Century), Hoysala Empire, Halebidu, Karnataka, India

Occupation| Kannada Poet
Notable work| Yashodhara charite, Anantanatha Purana, Anubhava Mukura
Title| Kavichakravarti
Parents|

* Shankara (father)
* Gangadevi (mother)

Janna (c. 13th century CE) was a prominent Kannada poet in medieval Karnataka, India. He is widely regarded as one of the important Jain poets of the Hoysala period, known for his moral seriousness, philosophical depth, and refined literary style. He flourished under the patronage of the Hoysala king Narasimha I and possibly Veera Ballala II. Janna is best known for his classic Jain purana "Yashodhara Charite", as well as "Anantanatha Purana" and "Anubhava Mukhura".[1]

## Early life and background

[edit]

Little is known with certainty about Janna’s early life. He was a Jain by faith and is believed to have belonged to a scholarly Jain family in Karnataka. He served as a court poet and minister (Dandanayaka) under the Hoysalas, which enabled him to compose his major works in a refined courtly style.[2]

## Works

[edit]

Janna’s most famous work is "Yashodhara Charite", a Jain purana in Kannada that narrates the story of King Yashodhara, exploring themes of desire, sin, karmic consequence, and spiritual redemption with vivid and sometimes shocking imagery. He is also credited with "Ananthanatha Purana", which narrates the life of Anantanatha, the 14th Tirthankara of Jainism, and Anubhava Mukhura, which further showcases his poetic skill and moral depth.[3]

## Legacy

[edit]

Janna is remembered as one of the great Jain poets in Kannada literature, alongside adikavi Pampa,Ranna (Kannada poet), and Ponna (poet). His works reflect the strong Jain influence on medieval Karnataka’s literary culture, combining ornate poetic expression with serious moral and philosophical concerns.[4]

## Magnum opus

[edit]

Close up of Poetic Kannada inscription composed by Janna on a Hero stone at the Amrutesvara Temple, Amruthapura, Chikkamagaluru district, Karnataka state, India Noted Kannada poets and writers in Hoysala Empire
(1100-1343 CE)

Nagachandra | 1105
Kanti  | 1108
Rajaditya  | 12th. c
Harihara | 1160–1200
Udayaditya  | 1150
Vritta Vilasa  | 1160
Kereya Padmarasa  | 1165
Nemichandra  | 1170
Sumanobana  | 1175
Rudrabhatta | 1180
Aggala  | 1189
Palkuriki Somanatha | 1195
Sujanottamsa(Boppana)  | 1180
Kavi Kama  | 12th c.
Devakavi  | 1200
Raghavanka | 1200–1225
Bhanduvarma  | 1200
Balachandra Kavi  | 1204
Parsva Pandita  | 1205
Maghanandycharya  | 1209
Janna | 1209–1230
Puligere Somanatha  | 13th c.
Hastimalla  | 13th c.
Chandrama  | 13th c.
Somaraja  | 1222
Gunavarma II  | 1235
Polalvadandanatha  | 1224
Andayya | 1217–1235
Sisumayana  | 1232
Mallikarjuna  | 1245
Naraharitirtha | 1281
Kumara Padmarasa  | 13th c.
Mahabala Kavi  | 1254
Kesiraja | 1260
Kumudendu  | 1275
Nachiraja  | 1300
Ratta Kavi  | 1300
Nagaraja  | 1331
Noted Kannada poets and writers in the Seuna Yadava Kingdom

Kamalabhava  | 1180
Achanna  | 1198
Amugideva  | 1220
Chaundarasa  | 1300

Yashodhara Charite is a classic Kannada Jain poem by Janna, written during the 13th century when Jainism was facing challenges in Karnataka. It is an epic in the kandapadya metre, consisting of around 310 verses with a unique set of stories that use extreme, often gruesome imagery of lust, violence, and sin as cautionary moral lessons on the consequences of unchecked desire.[5][6]

The poem narrates the downfall and repentance of King Yashodhara, who under the sway of lust commits horrific sins including incest and cannibalism, but ultimately repents, illustrating the Jain doctrines of karma and spiritual liberation (moksha). Inspired in part by Sanskrit versions of the tale, Janna’s work emphasizes the moral seriousness and psychological complexity of the theme.[7]

In one of the stories, the king intends to perform a ritual sacrifice of two young boys to a local deity but, taking pity, releases them and abandons human sacrifice.[8] In another, he burns himself on the funeral pyre of a friend’s wife whom he abducted in desire and who dies of grief.[9] In yet another, the poem describes the queen Armutamati’s attraction to the ugly Mahout Ashtavakra. To expiate her sin, Yashodhara performs a symbolic cock sacrifice that becomes gruesome when the cock comes alive and crows at the time of death. He and his mother are reborn as animals, suffering for many rebirths before attaining redemption.[10]

## Other writings

[edit]

Janna's Anubhava Mukhura is a treatise on erotics and the science of lovemaking, a topic that was well established as a genre of Kannada literature by his time.[11]

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Narasimhacharya, R. (1988). History of Kannada Literature. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. pp. 28–30.
2. ^ Narasimhacharya, R. (1988). p. 29.
3. ^ Narasimhacharya, R. (1988). pp. 29–30.
4. ^ Sastri, K.A. Nilakanta (1955). A History of South India. Oxford University Press. p. 367.
5. ^ Sheldon Pollock (2003), The Language of the Gods in the World of Men. University of California Press, p. 377.
6. ^ Narasimhacharya, R. (1988). History of Kannada Literature. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. pp. 29–30.
7. ^ Sastri, K.A. Nilakanta (1955). A History of South India. Oxford University Press. p. 367.
8. ^ E.P. Rice (1921). A History of Kannada Literature. Oxford University Press. pp. 43–44.
9. ^ Sahitya Akademi (1988). A History of Indian Literature: 1100–1800. p. 181.
10. ^ Sahitya Akademi (1992). p. 4629.
11. ^ Nagaraj in Pollock (2003), p. 375

## References

[edit]

* Sastri, K.A. Nilakanta (2002) [1955]. A history of South India from prehistoric times to the fall of Vijayanagar. New Delhi: Indian Branch, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-560686-8.
* Shiva Prakash, H.S. (1997). "Kannada". In Ayyappapanicker (ed.). Medieval Indian Literature:An Anthology. Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 81-260-0365-0.
* Various (1988) [1988]. Encyclopaedia of Indian literature – vol 2. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 81-260-1194-7.
* Nagaraj, D.R. (2003) [2003]. "Critical Tensions in the History of Kannada Literary Culture". In Sheldon I. Pollock (ed.). Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia. Berkeley and London: University of California Press. Pp. 1066. pp. 323–383\. ISBN 0-520-22821-9.
* Kamath, Suryanath U. (2001) [1980]. A concise history of Karnataka : from pre-historic times to the present. Bangalore: Jupiter books. LCCN 80905179. OCLC 7796041.
* Various (1992) [1992]. Encyclopaedia of Indian literature – vol 5. Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 81-260-1221-8.

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