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Lakshmisa (orLakshmisha) was a notedKannada language writer who lived during the mid-16th or late 17th century. His most important writing,Jaimini Bharata is a version of theHindu epicMahabharata. The writing focuses on the events following the battle ofIndraprastha between thePandavas andKauravas, using theAshvamedha ("horse sacrifice") conducted byYudhishthira as the topic of the epic narrative. The writing is in theshatpadi metre (hexa-metre, 6 line verse) and was inspired by theSanskrit original written by sageJaimini.[1][2]
The place, time and religious sect that Lakshmisa belonged to has been a subject of controversy among historians. Some historians believe he was a native of Devanur in modernKadur taluk,Chikkamagaluru district,Karnataka state. It is claimed that his family deity was Lakshmiramana (a form ofVishnu) to whom he dedicated his writing. Devanur was called by multiple names in his writing; Surapura and Girvanapura.[3] Other historians feel Surapura is located in the erstwhileHyderabad region. Some historians believe that Lakshmisa was anAdvaitin or aSmartha Brahmin (a believer ofmonistic philosophy) of theBhagavata sect because the poet invokes the names ofShiva, his consortParvati, and sonGanesha in the beginning of his writing.[3] However, despite these invocations, he may have been a Srivaishnava (a follower of theVisishtadvaita philosophy preached by 12th century philosopherRamanuja), there being examples of other Srivaishnava poets (who wrote in Kannada) who praised the deities Shiva, Parvati, and Ganesha in their writings.[4]
There is also controversy about when he wroteJaimini Bharata. Scholars have assigned him various dates, the earliest beingc. 1415,[4] but more generally mid–16th century,[5][6] and late 17th century.[1][4][7] The 16th century or earlier dating is based on similarities between Virupaksha Pandita's (1584 CE)Chennabasava Purana and Lakshmisa's work,[8] while the 17th century dating is based on the claim that no author, Brahmin or otherwise, has referenced his writing and directly mentioned his name in any literature during the period 15th century through the late 17th century. Authors who do mention Lakshmisa regularly in their writings are from the 18th century.[4]
TheJaimini Bharata, one of the most well known stories inKannada literature was written in the tradition of sageJaimini. It has remained popular through the centuries. In a writing full ofsimiles andmetaphors,puns andalliterations, Lakshmisa created a human tale out of an epic, earning him the honorific "Upamalola" ("One who revels in similes and metaphors") and "Nadalola" ("Master of melody").[5][6] The writing focusses on the events following the battle when the victorious Pandavas conducted the AshvamedhaYagna to expiate the sin offratricide. The writing differs entirely fromKumara Vyasa's rendering of the same epic (calledKarnata Bharata Kathamanjari) of c. 1430, both in metre and content. Kumara Vyasa had used the flexiblebhamini shatpadi metre and followed theVyasa tradition whereas Lakshmisa used thevardhaka shatpadi metre which is well suited for figures of speech.[5] The work has been criticised though, for failing to achieve the level of devotion towards Bhagavan (God)Krishna that Kumara Vyasa managed in the various stages of his story.[5]
However, Lakshmisa is considered a successful story-teller with an ability to narrate theUpakhyanas ("story within a story"), describe the physical beauty of a woman at length and to hold the reader with his rich Kannada diction and rhetoric. The writing has been considered an asset to the enlightened reader as well as those not so educated. Lakshmisa authored some poems reminiscent of theHaridasa poetry but without the same success.[5]
In 1852, the Wesleyan Mission Press published theJaimini Bharata with an English translation byDaniel Sanderson, a Wesleyan missionary at the Bangalore Wesleyan Canarese Mission.[2]
