Kēśirāja, also spelled Keshiraja ( kn, ಕೇಶಿರಾಜ), was a 13th-century

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

grammarian, poet and writer. He is particularly known for authoring '' Shabdamanidarpana'', an authoritative work on Kannada grammar. According to Dravidian scholar

Sheldon Pollock Sheldon I. Pollock (born 1948) is an American scholar of Sanskrit, the intellectual and literary history of India, and comparative intellectual history. He is the Arvind Raghunathan Professor of South Asian Studies at Columbia University. He was ...

, because of this work he is considered the "greatest theorist of Kannada grammar". He was also a scholar in Sanskrit as well and a court poet (''Aasthaana kavi'') in the

Hoysala The Hoysala Empire was a Kannadiga power originating from the Indian subcontinent that ruled most of what is now Karnataka between the 10th and the 14th centuries. The capital of the Hoysalas was initially located at Belur, but was later moved ...

Court.

Early life

Kesiraja was born in a literary family, comprising several well-known

writers. His father, Mallikarjuna (C. 1245 CE), was a Kannada poet and brother-in-law of the epic writer

Janna Janna (Kannada : ಮಹಾಕವಿ ಜನ್ನ) was one of the well-known Kannada poets of the early 13th century who also served in the capacity of a minister and a builder of temples. He graced the court of Hoysala empire King Veera Ba ...

. Kesiraja was also the grandson on his mother's side of another noted poet, Śankara (Sumanōbana), who was priest of the

Yadava The Yadava (literally, descended from Yadu) were an ancient Indian people who believed to be descended from Yadu, a legendary king of Chandravamsha lineage. The community was formed of various clans, being the Abhira, Andhaka, Vrishni, and ...

capital and poet laureate to

King Narasimha I. In some of his works, Kesiraja has referred to himself as ''Kesava''.

Shabdamanidarpana

'' Shabdamanidarpana'' ( kn, ಶಬ್ದಮಣಿದರ್ಪಣ), ("Jewel-mirror of Grammar") was authored by Kesiraja in 1260 CE. This work remains a comprehensive, authoritative work on Kannada grammar. The rules mentioned therein were penned in ''kanda'' metre and followed a ''vrutti'' style (illustrative commentary by the author himself). Though Kesiraja followed the model of Sanskrit grammar of the Katantra school, and that of earlier writings on Kannada grammar, his work has an originality of its own. The text of ''Shabdamanidarpana'' begins with poetry ehalting earlier generations of writer who are cited by Kesiraja as authoritative examples: An attempt at vocabulary building is provided in several parts of the work. There is a list of verbal roots and words containing ḷ and ḹ sounds. There is also a chapter called "PrayŌgasāra" where Kesiraja has quoted a number of rare words along with their meanings.

Passion for grammar

Kesiraja had a passion for grammar, which is evident from his writings through his work '' Shabdamanidarpana''.

Literary works

Apart from his extant grammar ''Shabdamanidarpana'', Kesiraja authored several other writings in Kannada, though they are deemed lost: * ''Prabodhachandra'' (ಪ್ರಬೋಧಚಂದ್ರ) * ''Chorapalaka Charitam'' (ಚೋರಪಾಲಕ ಚರಿತ) * ''Kiratam'' (or ''Kiratarjuniyam'') (ಕಿರಾತ) * ''Shubhadraharana'' (ಸುಭದ್ರಾ ಹರಣ) * ''Sri Chitramale'' (ಶ್ರೀ ಚಿತ್ರಮಾಲೆ)

Notes

References

* * * * {{authority control Kannada-language writers Linguists of Kannada 13th-century Indian writers Sanskrit poets Indian male writers