Ratnakaravarni

Known to be a troubled and restless person, tradition has it that Ratnakaravarni converted from his religion Jainism to Veerashaivism when a less-meritorious poet superseded him. During this brief time, he wrote the Basavapurana, a biography of the 12th century social reformer Basavanna. Later, he returned to the Jain religion and penned classics in the shataka metre (string of 100 verses). His contributions to Kannada literature are considered trend setting.

• Name — Ratnakaravarni • Born — c. 1500 • Birthplace — Karnataka, India • Died — c. 1560 • Place of death — Karnataka, India • Religion — Jainism • Occupation — Poet, writer • Period — 16th century • Notable Works — "Bharatesha Vaibhava", "Ratnakarashataka"

Ratnakaravarni of Mudabidri (c. 1557) was a court poet under the patronage of Bhairasa Wodeyar at Karkala, modern coastal Karnataka, and is famous for successfully integrating an element of worldly pleasure into asceticism and for treating the topic of erotics with discretion in a religious epic, his magnum opus, the Bharatesha Vaibhava. One of the most popular poets of Kannada literature, his writings took to a fine line between the royal court and conservative monastery. His writings were popular across religions and sects for their secular appeal. In fact, an early 19th-century writing recognises him as an authority on erotics and the science of pleasure, rather than a poet with a spiritual bent. A radical and sensitive poet, he once claimed that spiritual meditation "was boring". Tradition has it that Ratnakaravarni converted to Veerashaivism when his magnum opus was initially scorned at (after a poet called Ravikirthi objected to a few verses in it) only to return to the Jain fold and pen other important writings. Written in epic proportions, the Bharatesha Vaibhava is in eighty cantos and runs into 10,000 verses. His other important writings are the 2,000 spiritual songs called Annagalapada ("Songs of the Brothers") and three shatakas: the Ratnakara sataka, the Aparajitesvara shataka, a discourse on Jain morals, renunciation and philosophy and the Trilokya shataka, an account of the universe as seen by Jains, consisting of heaven, hell and the intermediate worlds.