Censured then, celebrated now

Of the many masterpieces in Jain literature, Adipurana by Mahakavi Pampa is deemed the magnum opus of the time.

It documents the story of Bharata and Bahubali, the sons of Adinatha, the first Teerthankara of Jainism.

The infamous war between the brothers for a kingdom is the turning point in Jain history, which gives the world the Prathama Mokshagaami Bahubali, ‘the first to attain moksha’. Bahubali is hence a prominent Jain deity, and symbolises peace, sacrifice and non-violence.

Even today, Adipurana is taught to children along the lines of Mahakavi Pampa’s narration. In a way, his story is unaltered and unquestioned.

However, there exists a parallel crafted during the 16th century by a poet who hailed from Moodbidri in coastal Karnataka.

He is Ratnakaravarni, belonging to the royal durbar of Bhairava Arasa of Karkala. He attempts the retelling of the story from a different perspective, which is unaccepted during his time.

In every story about Bharata and Bahubali, Bahubali is the hero who defeats his older brother, but lays down his crown with the realisation that material world is a trickster, and then attains moksha, the very definition of righteousness in Jainism. Ratnakaravarni, however, gives the story another perspective by assigning the lead role to Bharata. His manuscript Bharatesha Vaibhava, then, translates to ‘The Glory of Bharata’.

He narrates the story using 10,000 songs of four lines each — which constitute

‘Amshagana’ — a complex factor in Kannada poetry known as Sangatya. It’s said his mastery earned him the title ‘Sangatya Chakravarthy’ or ‘Emperor of Sangatya’.

Here, Bharata is an illustrious ruler, true to his duties, exceptionally talented in the arts, and loved by his subjects.

More so, the weapon Chakra Ratna, which yearns the conquest of the world, chooses Bharata’s weaponry. Bharata hence becomes Bharata Chakravarthy or the emperor of the world. He now has to fight his brother because the chakra will not rest unless every ruler surrenders or is defeated.

When Bharata fights his younger brother Bahubali, according to Pampa’s version, he is defeated. Devastated by the humiliation, he orders Chakra Ratna to chop off the Bahubali’s head, leading to his renunciation instead.

Another angle

Ratnakaravarni reinterprets this to say the duel between the brothers

never happens.That the brothers must not have been naive to fight each other in front of the world and forgo the ideals of Jainism.

Instead, the poet replaces the war sequence with a strategic conversation between Bharata and Bahubali.

He narrates: Bharata offered to surrender and gently pushed the chakra towards Bahubali. It returned to the Bharata as it chose him in the first place. Embarrassed by this, Bahubali chooses renunciation.

History says this interpretation faced criticism and was rejected by the Jain community because it crowned the samsaari and war-starter Bharata a hero, in conflict with the principles of Jainism.

For this, Ratnakaravarni is in fact banished from the kingdom.People and literary experts now see the intensity in expression and the purpose of the poet in Bharatesha Vaibhava.

The manuscript is studied, recreated and digitised by experts.

One of the experts of Bharatesha Vaibhava, Muniraja Renjala, says, “A possibility for Ratnakaravarni choosing Bharata as the hero could be the influence of Dasa parampare, which began to thrive during his time. The Vaishnava community sang stories about Lord Krishna and his endeavours, and Ratnakaravarni spotted Bharata Chakravarthy to be a heroic personality in Jainism. No one had described the legend of Bharata before, and he must have decided that Bharata deserved to be portrayed as the hero he was. What it has resulted in is a brilliant manuscript a scholar can spend an entire lifetime studying. Ratnakaravarni is not much of a specialist in description, but he is a master of elaborate storytelling.”

The poet from the small town of Karnataka is today considered a parallel to Mahakavi Pampa. And Bharatesha Vaibhava is among the most studied and discussed works of Jainism.