Kavirajamargam

The Way of the Poet-King

by

Śrīvijaya

E

edited and translated by

andrew ollett ⁕ sarah pierce taylor

the text the edition the manuscripts the project

the text

The Way of the Poet-King (ಕವಿರಾಜಮಾರ್ಗಂ, Kavirājamārgaṁ) is the oldest Kannada text to survive in manuscript form.

It was composed around 870 CE, probably by a poet named Śrīvijaya (ಶ್ರೀವಿಜಯ), who attributed it to the ruling king of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa dynasty, Amōghavarṣa, or as he is often called in the text, Nr̥patuṅgadēva (ನೃಪತುಂಗದೇವ).

It is a “road map” for writing literature in Kannada, which at the time was just coming to be used for literature. Its three chapters give a conspectus of the language and its relationship to the transregional languages of literature, Sanskrit and Prakrit (chapter 1), as well as detailed definitions and examples of various figures of sound (chapter 2) and figures of sense (chapter 3). The last chapter, in particular, is modeled on Daṇḍin’s Mirror of Literature (Kāvyādarśaḥ), composed around 700 CE.

More information:

the edition

We are currently working on a critical edition and translation of the text.

A critical edition means a readable version of the text that is based on all of the available witnesses to it: this includes the manuscripts on which the text is written (of which we know of four), as well as other texts that quote from it or adapt its verses, and finally modern printed editions of the text. We record all variation between these different sources.

Our translation is the first scholarly translation of the work into English.

Table of Contents

manuscripts and other sources

Manuscript A

Manuscript A: Kuvempu Kannada Studies Institute, Mysore, K125

Manuscript B

Manuscript B: Kuvempu Kannada Studies Institute, Mysore, K110

Manuscript C

Manuscript C: Government Oriental Manuscripts Library, Chennai, K1250

Manuscript D

Manuscript D: Dharmasthala, No. 168, 2

Other editions

Pathak (1898)

K. B. Pathak (ed.). Nṛipatuṅga’s Kavirâjamârgga: A treatise of the 9th century on Alaṅkâra (The oldest Kannaḍa work of which manuscripts have been found). Bangalore: Mysore Government Press, 1898. Bibliotheca Carnatica (Published under the direction of B. Lewis Rice).

Madras Edition (1930)

A. Venkata Rau and H. Sesha Aiyangar (eds.). Karnataka Kavirajamargam. Madras: University of Madras, 1930. Madras University Sanskrit Series.

Republished in 1973.

This edition is based primarily on the manuscript at the Government Oriental Manuscript Library in Chennai.

Seetharamaiah (1968)

M. V. Seetha Ramiah (ed.). Kaviraajamaargam: A Treatise in Kannada on Alamkarasastra by Sri Vijaya, Poet and Scholar at the Court of Amoghavarsha Nrupatunga, Rashtrakuta Emperor (814–877 A.D.). Bangalore: B. M. Sri Smaraka Prathistana, 1994.

ಎಂ. ವಿ. ಸೀತರಾಮಯ್ಯ (ಸಂಪಾದಕರು). ಶ್ರೀ ನೃಪತುಂಗದೇವಾನುಮತಮಪ್ಪ ಶ್ರೀವಿಜಯಕೃತ ಕವಿರಾಜಮಾರ್ಗಂ. ಬೆಂಗಲೂರು: ಬಿ.ಎಂ. ಶ್ರೀ. ಸ್ಮಾರಕ ಪ್ರತಿಷ್ಠಾನ, ೧೯೯೪.

Published first in 1968; second edition 1975; republished numerous times since.

Krishnamurthy (1983)

K. Krishna Murthy (ed.). Nripatunga’s Kavirajamarga: with original Text together with translation in modern prose, descriptive commentary and critico-analytical introduction. Bangalore: IBH Prakashana, 1983.

ಕೆ. ಕೃಷ್ಣಮೂರ್ತಿ (ಸಂಪಾದಕರು). ನೃಪತುಂಗದೇವಾನುಮತಂ ಶ್ರೀವಿಜಯಪ್ರಭೂತಂ ಕವಿರಾಜಮಾರ್ಗಂ (ಕನ್ನಡದ ಪ್ರಪ್ರಥಮ ಲಕ್ಷಣಗ್ರಂಥ). ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು: ಐಬಿಎಚ್ ಪ್ರಕಾಶನ, ೧೯೮೩.

Venkatachala Sastry (2011)

T. V. Venkatachalashastry (ed.). Srivijayaprabhutam Kavirajamargam. Tumkur: Tumkur University, 2011.

ಟಿ.ವಿ. ವೆಂಕಟಾಚಲಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಿ (ಸಂಪಾದಕರು). ಶ್ರೀವಿಜಯಪ್ರಭೂತಂ ಕವಿರಾಜಮಾರ್ಗಂ. ತುಮಕೂರು: ತುಮಕೂರು ವಿಶ್ವವಿದ್ಯಾನಿಲಯ, ೨೦೧೧.

about the project

principals

This project is led by Sarah Pierce Taylor (University of Chicago Divinity School) and Andrew Ollett (University of Chicago, Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations). We have been working together on The Way of the Poet-King since about 2016.

funding

This project is supported by a NEH Scholarly Editions and Translations Grant.

credits

With special thanks to:

  • Government Oriental Manuscripts Library, University of Madras, Chennai
  • Kannaḍa Adhyayana Saṁsthe, University of Mysore, Mysore
  • Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara Oriental Library, Dharmasthala
  • Dr. T. V. Venkatachala Sastry
  • Dr. N. S. Tharanatha

The image at the top is the Jaina Nārāyaṇa temple at Pattadakal, from the user Shivajidesai29 at Wikimedia commons.

licenses

Everything on this website is published under a Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution-NonCommerical-NoDerivatives license.

technical details

All of the textual data we have collected (including manuscript transcriptions) is available in TEI-XML format.

This website was build with the static site generator Jekyll by Andrew Ollett.