{{short description|13th-century Kannada poet and writer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2016}} {{Use Indian English|date=February 2016}} {{Infobox person | name = Kesiraja | image = | birth_date = 13th century CE | death_date = 13th or 14th century CE | father = Mallikarjuna | family = Janna | occupation = Kannada grammarian, Jain poet and writer | works = ''Shabdamanidarpana'' }} '''Kēśirāja''', also spelled '''Keshiraja''', was a 13th-century Kannada grammarian, Jain poet and writer. and nephew of the famous Janna.<ref>Rice, E.P. (1921). ''A History of Kannada Literature''. Oxford University Press. p. 106.</ref><ref>Desai, P.B. (1957). ''Jainism in South India and Some Jaina Epigraphs''. Sholapur: Jaina Samshodhana Sangha. pp. 88–90.</ref> Kēśirāja is particularly known for composing ''Shabdamanidarpana'', an authoritative work on Kannada grammar. According to the Sanskritist Sheldon Pollock, because of this work he is considered the "greatest theorist of Kannada grammar".{{sfn|Pollock|2003|p=364}} He was also a scholar in Sanskrit as well and a court poet (''Aasthaana kavi'') in the Hoysala Court.
==Early life== Kēśirāja was born in a literary Jain family,<ref>Rice, E.P. (1921). ''A History of Kannada Literature''. Oxford University Press. p. 106.</ref><ref>Desai, P.B. (1957). ''Jainism in South India and Some Jaina Epigraphs''. Sholapur: Jaina Samshodhana Sangha. pp. 88–89.</ref> comprising several well-known Kannada writers. His father, Mallikarjuna (C. 1245 CE), was a Kannada poet. His maternal uncle was the epic writer Janna.{{sfn|Rice|1982|p=44–45}} Kesiraja's maternal grandfather was another noted poet,Sumanōbana (Śankara), who was a priest of the Yadava capital and poet laureate to Hoysala King Narasimha I. In some of his works, Kesiraja has referred to himself as ''Keśava''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Chapter 6: Chalukyas of Badami |url=http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/pdf/gazeetter_reprint/History-I/chapter_6.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110301213237/http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/pdf/gazeetter_reprint/History-I/chapter_6.pdf |archive-date= 1 March 2011 |work=Maharashtra State Gazetteer}}</ref>{{Kannada poets in Hoysala Empire}} ==Shabdamanidarpana== {{Main|Shabdamanidarpana}} ''Shabdamanidarpana'' ({{langx|kn|ಶಬ್ದಮಣಿದರ್ಪಣ}}), ("Jewel-mirror of Grammar") was authored by Kēśirāja in 1260 CE. This work remains a comprehensive, authoritative work on Kannada grammar.<ref name="History of the Kannada Literature -III">{{cite web |url=http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/kar/literature/history3.htm |title=History of the Kannada Literature -III |website=Kamat's Potpourri |first=Jyotsna|last=Kamat|access-date=2008-05-01}}</ref>{{sfn|Rice|1982|p=111}} The rules mentioned therein were penned in ''kanda'' metre and followed a ''vrutti'' style (illustrative commentary by the author himself).{{sfn|Rice|1982|p=111}}{{sfn|Sastri|2002|p=359}} Though Kēśirāja 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.<ref name="Sahitya Akademi">{{cite book |title= Encyclopaedia of Indian literature |volume=2 |year=1988|publisher= Sahitya Akademi|isbn=81-260-1194-7|page=1476}}</ref>
The text of ''Shabdamanidarpana'' begins with poetry ehalting earlier generations of writer who are cited by Kēśirāja as authoritative examples:
{{Blockquote|The expert way (sumārgam) of Gajaga, Gunanandi, Manasija, Asaga, Candrabhatta, Gunavarma, Srivijaya, Honna (Ponna), Hampa (Pampa), Sujanōttamsa{{spaced ndash}}these provide the illustrative instances (''lakshya'') in this work. In ''Shabdamanidarpana'', about twenty poets and thirty different works are cited, and almost every rule is explained with quotations. This work points out the Kannada language development through the preceding three centuries.|Kesiraja (translated)}}
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.<ref name="Mishra">{{cite book|title=Lexicography in India : Proceedings of the First National Conference on Dictionary Making in Indian Languages|author=Bal Govind Misra|page=82}}</ref>
==Passion for grammar== Kēśirāja had a passion for grammar, which is evident from his writings through his work ''Shabdamanidarpana''. {{Blockquote|Through grammar (correct) words originate; through the words of that grammar, meaning (originates); through meaning the beholding of truth; through the beholding of truth, the desired final beatitude; this (final beatitude) is the fruit for the learned.| sūtra 10 of the Preface, ''Shabdamanidarpana''{{spaced ndash}}Kesiraja{{sfn|Kittel|1903|p=4}}}}
==Literary works== Apart from his extant grammar ''Shabdamanidarpana'', Kesiraja authored several other writings in Kannada, though they are deemed lost:<ref name="Sahitya Akademi" /> * ''Prabodhachandra'' (ಪ್ರಬೋಧಚಂದ್ರ) * ''Chorapalaka Charitam'' (ಚೋರಪಾಲಕ ಚರಿತ) * ''Kiratam'' (or ''Kiratarjuniyam'') (ಕಿರಾತ) * ''Shubhadraharana'' (ಸುಭದ್ರಾ ಹರಣ) * ''Sri Chitramale'' (ಶ್ರೀ ಚಿತ್ರಮಾಲೆ)
==Notes== {{reflist}}
== References == {{refbegin|2}} *{{cite book |author-link=Ferdinand Kittel |first=Ferdinand |last=Kittel |title=A grammar of the Kannada language in English : comprising the three dialects of the language (ancient, mediæval and modern) |url=https://archive.org/details/grammarofkannada00kittuoft |publisher=Basel Mission Book and Tract Depository |location=Mangalore|year=1903|isbn=3-7648-0898-5}} *{{cite book |first=Sheldon|last= Pollock |author-link=Sheldon Pollock|title=Literary cultures in history: reconstructions from South Asia |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |year=2003 |isbn=0-520-22821-9}} *{{cite book |last= Rice|first=Edward P.|title=Kannada Literature|orig-year=1921|year=1982|publisher=Asian Educational Services|location=New Delhi|isbn= 81-206-0063-0}} *{{cite book |last=Sastri|first= Nilakanta K.A.|author-link=K. A. Nilakanta Sastri|title= A History of South India: From Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar |orig-year=1955|year=2002|publisher= Indian Branch, Oxford University Press|location= New Delhi|isbn= 0-19-560686-8}} {{refend}}
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Category:Kannada-language writers Category:Linguists of Kannada Category:13th-century Indian poets Category:Sanskrit poets Category:Indian male writers