Ranna Mahakavi is one of the great poets of the 10th century. He was a junior contemporer of Pampa. He was born in 949 A.D. in a village called Beluguli. It is now known as Ranna Belagali in Mudhol Taluk of Bagalkote district of Karnataka. His father was Jinavallabha and mother was Abbalabbe. Ranna’s elder brothers were Rechana and Maraiya. Ranna’s worldly life was good. He had two wives Shanti and Jakki. They had two children, Raya and Attimabbe. By naming his children Chavundaraya and Attimabbe, the poet has honored their benevolence.
Ranna belongs to the Jain family of “Balagara – people who sell bangles” clan. Ranna fought against adversity and became a poet. He was interested in reading since childhood and came to Bankapur to fulfill his desires. He got the shelter of Ganga general Chamundaraya. He himself has claimed that he was formed into a ‘Ratna’ by Chavundaraya, the Ganga General.
Ajitasena Acharya, who was the guru of Gangaraja, became his guru and helped to develop his religious interest. In this situation Rana was able to emerge as a poet and a scholar.
With the help of Chavundaraya, Ranna, who was fully educated, returned from Gangarajya and took refuge in Chalukya Tailapa. Tailapa’s son Satyashraya Irivabedanga gave him shelter. Thus Attimabbe’s influential personality must have been the reason for Rana’s return from Ganga Raj. The story of Attimabbe coming to Shravanabelagola and seeing the Bahubali idol is mentioned in his work “Ajitpurana”. When she visited Shravanabelagolas, Ranna must have been attracted by her personality and made up his mind to return to her kingdom. Rana got the title ‘Mahimonnati’ from Tailapa. He also earned the title of ‘Kavi Chakraborty’ from him.
Ranna has mentioned that Dandanayaka Keshi had reviewed his work ‘Gadayuddha’, it seems that it was Keshi who introduced Ranna to the emperor. Rannan’s chief patrons include Chavundaraya, Athimabbe as well as Tailapa. The poet says that Attimabbe is a Danachintamani, i.e. a great philanthropist and Tailapa is greatest among emperors.
Attimabbe was the one who motivated Ranna to write Ajitapurana. The poet has called this work equal to Adipurana and Shantipurana as Asrita Chintamanigattimabaigarthiye Pelvam. This shows his respect for Attimabbe.
The poet claims that he was born in a Sowmya Samvatsara, it corresponds to 949 A.D. So it is certain that Rana was born in 949 A.D.
It has been proved that his work “Gadayuddha” was written in 1005 A.D. The poet is believed to have died in 1020.
Ranna has titles like Kaviratna, Kavimukchandra, Kavichakravarti, Kavirajasekhara, Kavijanachudaratna, Kavichartumukha, Ubhayakavi etc.
Ranna remembers Vyasa, Valmiki and Kalidasa Bara in his poetry. There is a mention of Pampa in Ajitanath Purana.
Ranna’s works
It is curious to learn about the number of works written by Ranna, as the poet himself has said, Parashurama Charite, Chakrashwar Charite, Ajitanatha Purana, Sahasabhimavijaya, Rannakanda seems to have composed these five works. Since the first two works are not available, it has given rise to many conjectures.
Parashuramacharita – This might be a work on Chavundarayana (titled Samara Parashurama). Since it was Chavundaraya who first sheltered Ranna, he must have written his first work on his behalf. This should include the story of Purana Parasurama as well as the story of Chavundarayana.
Chakreshwar Charita – There are evidences to say that ‘Chakreshwar Charita’ is about Emperor Tailapa. Tailapa was Ranna’s cheif patron, the one who gave him the title of ‘Kavichakravarti’.
Rannakanda – ‘Rannakanda’ is a dictionary. Its specialty is that the meaning of the words is written in kandapadya form. It appears to be one of the ancient dictionaries.
Ranna’s works
It is curious to learn about the number of works written by Ranna, as the poet himself has said, Parashurama Charite, Chakrashwar Charite, Ajitanatha Purana, Sahasabhimavijaya, Rannakanda seems to have composed these five works. Since the first two works are not available, it has given rise to many conjectures.
Parashuramacharita – This might be a work on Chavundarayana (titled Samara Parashurama). Since it was Chavundaraya who first sheltered Ranna, he must have written his first work on his behalf. This should include the story of Purana Parasurama as well as the story of Chavundarayana.
Chakreshwar Charita – There are evidences to say that ‘Chakreshwar Charita’ is about Emperor Tailapa. Tailapa was Ranna’s cheif patron, the one who gave him the title of ‘Kavichakravarti’.
Rannakanda – ‘Rannakanda’ is a dictionary. Its specialty is that the meaning of the words is written in kandapadya form. It appears to be one of the ancient dictionaries.
Ajitha Tirthankara Purana – This is a religious work based on the story of second Tirthankara of Jainism Ajithanath. The poet himself claimed it as ‘Purana Tilak’. It is considered to be a work equivalent to Adipurana and Shantipurana. There are twelve assurances in it, and the first part is fully devoted to depict the image of Attimabbe, his patron. The last part is a concluding work and has details of the author and his works. Out of the other ten chapters, seven have the story of Ajitha Tirthankar and the other three have the story of Sagara Chakravarthi. The uniqueness of this work is that there is no confusion about the rebirths. The juicy parts of the book are the parts of Attimabbe and Sagarachakravarti stories. It is also a classical treatise on Jainism as it deals with matters related to Jainism without much difficulty.
Sahasa Bhima Vijaya – This is one of the very important works of Ranna. This is his only related to a topic of worldy matters. The story of the Gadha Souptika Parvas is its subject, and the work is complete by following the method of referring back to the previous story whenever the occasion warrants it (retrospection). The battle between Bhima and Duryodhana is the focal point of this poem spread over ten verses. Its causes and effects are indicated throughout the work.
This picture postcard of Ranna has been released by the Mangalore Postal Division, Department of Post, Government of India, on the occasion of “Kannada Rajyotsava – 2022” under the “Jina Ratna Bhushanaru” series. The picture postcard has been sponsored by Hombuja Jain Math. The entire project has been led by Mahavir Kundur, Hubli.