Jyotirishwar Thakur

Jyotirishwar Thakur or IAST|Kaviśekharācārya Jyotirīśvara Ṭhākura (1290 - 1350) was a Sanskrit poet and an early Maithili writer, known for the "IAST|Varṇa Ratnākara", his encyclopedic work in Maithili.

Life

His was son of IAST|Rāmeśvara and grandson of IAST|Dhīreśvara. He was the court poet of King Harisimhadeva of Karnata dynasty of Mithila (r. 1300 – 1324).

Major works

His most significant work in Maithili, the "IAST|Varṇa Ratnākara" (1324) is an encyclopedic work in prose. This work contains descriptions of various subjects and situations. This work provides valuable information about the life and culture of medieval India [Majumdar R.C. (ed.) (2006). "The Delhi Sultanate", "The History and Culture of Indian People", Vol.VI, Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, p.515] . The text is divided into seven "Kallola"s (waves): IAST|Nagara Varṇana, IAST|Nāyikā Varṇana, IAST|Asthāna Varṇana, IAST|Ṛtu Varṇana, IAST|Prayāṇa Varṇana, IAST|Bhaṭṭādi Varṇana and IAST|Śmaśāna Varṇana. 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 (ms. no 4834 of Asiatic Society of Bengal) [Shastri, Haraprasad (ed.) (2006). "Hajar Bacharer Purano Bangala Bhasay Bauddhagan O Doha" (in Bengali) Kolkata: Bangiya sahitya Parishad, pp.35-6] .

His major Sanskrit play, the "IAST|Dhūrta Samāgama" (The Meeting of the Knaves) (1320) is a two act "Prahasana" (comedy). The play relates the contest between a religious mendicant IAST|Viśvanagara and his disciple IAST|Durācāra over a lovely courtesan IAST|Anaṅgasenā whom the Brahmin arbitrator IAST|Asajjātimiśra keeps for himself [ Majumdar R.C. (ed.) (2006). "The Delhi Sultanate", "The History and Culture of Indian People", Vol.VI, Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, p.471] . Superior characters in this drama speak in Sanskrit, inferior characters speak in Prakrit and the songs are in Maithili [Jha, V.N. (2003). "Sanskrit Writings in Independent India", New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, ISBN 8126018127, p.179] .

His another Sanskrit work, the "IAST|Pañcasāyaka" (Five Arrows) in five parts deals with the same topics which are dealt in the other standard works on the "IAST|Kāmaśāstra" [ Majumdar R.C. (ed.) (2006). "The Delhi Sultanate", "The History and Culture of Indian People", Vol.VI, Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, p.488] .

Notes

References

#Chatterji S.K. and S.K. Mishra (ed.) (1940). "IAST|Varṇa Ratnākara of IAST|Jyotirīśvara", "Bibliotheca Indica", Calcutta: The Asiatic Society.

ee also

*Maithili language

External links

* [http://ignca.nic.in/sanskrit/dhurta_samagama.pdf The IAST|Dhūrta Samāgama text]