| Durvinita | |
|---|---|
| 7thWestern Ganga King | |
| Reign | c. 529 – c. 579 CE |
| Predecessor | Avinita |
| Successor | Mushkara |
| Dynasty | Western Ganga |
| Father | Avinita |
| Religion | Jainism |
| Western Ganga kings (350–999) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Durvinita (r. 529 – 579 CE) is seen[by whom?] as the most successful ruler of theWestern Ganga dynasty. He is remembered for his military prowess, literary achievements, and strong patronage ofJainism. He was a son of the preceding kingAvinita.
Durvinita's accession to the throne was disputed by his brother, who had gained the support of thePallavas andKadambas. There areNallala andKadagattur inscriptions that refer to this dispute. However, Durvinita managed to grab the throne by virtue of his valour.
During Durvinita's rule, thePallava andGanga kingdoms fought several battles. Durvinita defeated the Pallavas in thebattle of Anderi. Though the Pallavas sought the assistance of theKadambas to the north to tame Durvinita, theGummareddipura inscription hails that Durvinita overcame his enemies atAlattur,Porulare andPernagra. It is possible that these victories enabled him to extend his power overKongudesa and Tondaimandalam regions of Tamil country.[citation needed]
Durvinita was a clever king. In order to keep the Pallavas at bay, he gave his daughter toChalukyaVijayaditya or from the Nagara record toPulakesi II, though the latter is unlikely owing to the difference in their eras.[1] The Chalukyas were an emerging power at this time. When the Pallavas attacked the Chalukyas, he fought on the Chalukya side and cemented a long lasting friendship with the Chalukyas that lasted through the rule of both the Badami Chalukyas,Rashtrakutas and Kalyani Chalukyas, covering a period of over 600 years. The Gummareddipura and theUttanur plates describe Durvinita as theLord of Punnata.[citation needed]
Durvinita was a devout follower ofJainism. Inscriptions suggest he patronized Jain monks of the Desiga-gana andKundakunda traditions. SeveralJain temples were established or supported under his reign.[2] His religious generosity is attested in records like the Madikeri copper plate inscription, where a Jain lineage tracing back to Gunachandra Bhattara is honored.[3]
Durvinita was a disciple of the JainPujyapada, and his court had several Jain scholars. Such tolerance was common among later Ganga kings, who were Jains from the beginning[4]
A 977 CE inscription states that Durvinita commissioned the construction of a Jain temple (basadi); the inscription records a grant by Indrakirti Munindra to this temple.[5]
Durvinita was a scholar and patronized several learned men, including his tutor Pujyapada.[6] According toAvanti-sundari-katha-sara, a work attributed toDandin, Durvinita's court hosted the Sanskrit poetBharavi for some time.[7] The Nallala grant inscription, issued during the 40th year of his reign, states that he was an expert at composing poetry, stories, dramas, and commentaries.[6]
During his reign, Durvinita is said to have engaged in public philosophical debates, where he reportedly defeatedBuddhist scholars, reaffirming Jain philosophical dominance in the region. According to epigraphic sources, Durvinita’s court upheld Jain doctrines and he is the disciple of Pujyapada, who is believed to have led these debates. His victories in religious disputations further strengthened the status of Jainism in the Western Ganga kingdom and contributed to the gradual decline of Buddhist influence in parts of Karnataka.[8]
Durvinita was well-versed inSanskrit andKannada languages.[6]Amoghavarsha's Kannada-language textKavirajamarga hails Durvinita as one of the early writers in Kannada prose, though no Kannada works by him survive.[7] According to multiple Ganga grant inscriptions, such as the Gummareddipura inscription, Durvinita wrote a Kannada-language commentary on Canto 15 of Bharavi'sKirātārjunīya.[9]
The Gummareddipura inscription and other Ganga inscriptions also suggest that he composed a Sanskrit version ofBrihatkatha (Vadda-katha). These inscriptions also describe him asShabdavatara-kara, suggesting that he composed theShabdavatara (a work on grammar[10]). However,Shabdavatara is a work of his tutor Pujyapada.[9] He also translated Gunadhya'sBrihatkatha into Sanskrit.[11]
{{citation}}:Check|isbn= value: checksum (help){{citation}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)| Preceded by | Western Ganga dynasty 529–579 | Succeeded by Mushkara |
