Varna Ratnakara Explained

Varna Ratnakara Maithili: वर्ण रत्नाकार
Location:	Asiatic Society of Kolkata^[1]
Type:	Encyclopedia^[2]
Date:	1324
Place Of Origin:	Mithila
Language(S):	Maithili
Author(S):	Jyotirishwar Thakur
Material:	Palm leaf
Size:	12.7 × 5 cm; 77 leaves; 17 missing
Condition:	preserved
Script:	Tirhuta
Discovered:	Pandit Hara Prasad Shastri (1885-90) in Nepal

The Varna Ratnakara, Maithili: वर्ण रत्नाकर, (IAST: Varṇa Ratnākara), literally "Ocean of description", is the oldest prose work of Maithili language, written in 1324^[3] CE by the Maithil scholar, priest and poet Jyotirishwar Thakur.^{[4] [5] [6]} The author was a part of the court of King Harisimhadeva (r. 1304–1324) of the Karnat dynasty whose capitals were in both Simraungadh and Darbhanga.^[7]

This work contains descriptions of various subjects and situations. This work provides valuable information about the life and culture of medieval India.^[8] The text is divided into seven Kallolas (waves):,,,,, and . An incomplete list of 84 Siddhas is found in the text, which consists only 76 names. A manuscript of this text is preserved in the Asiatic Society, Kolkata^{[9] [10]}

The word Abahattha was used for the very first time in this encyclopedic work.^[11] Later the Maithili poet Vidyapati wrote his poem Kīrttilatā in Abahatta.^[12]

Author

was written by, also spelled Jyotirishwar Thakur. Thakur was born in a Brahmin family. He was son of and grandson of . He was the court poet of King Harisimhadeva of Karnata dynasty of Mithila.

Notes and References

1. Book: Jyotiśvara. . Varṇa-ratnākara of Jyotiriśvara of Kaviśekharācārya . 1998 . Sahitya Akademi . 81-260-0439-8 . New Delhi . ix . 40268712.
2. Book: Mukherjee, Sujit. . A dictionary of Indian literature . 1998 . Orient Longman . 81-250-1453-5 . Hyderabad . 153 . 42718918.
3. Book: Chatterji, Suniti Kumar . The People, Language, and Culture of Orissa . 1966 . Orissa Sahitya Akademi . 19 . en.
4. Sharma . R.K. . International Sanskrit Conference, New Delhi, March 26th-31st, 1972, Volume 2, Part 1 . The Ministry, 1972 . 2 . 141.
5. Book: Choudhary, Indra Kumar . Some Aspects of Social Life of Medieval Mithila, 1350-1750 A.D.: With a Special Reference to Contemporary Literatures . 1988 . Kashi Prasad Jayaswal Research Institute . 187 . en.
6. Book: Mukherjee, Ramkrishna . Understanding social dynamics in South Asia : Essays in memory of Ramkrishna Mukherjee . 26 February 2019 . 978-981-13-0387-6 . Singapore . 205 . 1088722592.
7. Web site: Political Thinkers in Mithila . 7 January 2018 . 192. Jha . Sureshwar . 2005 .
8. Book: Majumdar . Ramesh Chandra . R. C. Majumdar . Pusalker . A. D. . Majumdar . A. K. . 1960 . The History and Culture of the Indian People . The History and Culture of the Indian People . VI: The Delhi Sultanate . Bombay . Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan . 515 . "The Varṇa Ratnākara of Jyotirīśvara Ṭhākura ... was written about 1325. This is a work of set descriptions of various subjects and situations, to supply ready-made cliché passages to story-tellers ... [it] is important, not only because it gives us specimens of pure Maithilī prose ... but also because it is a store-house of information, conveyed through words, about the life and culture of early Medieval India in all their aspects.".
9. MS. No. 4834 of Asiatic Society of Bengal
10. Book: Shastri, Haraprasad Ed . Hajar Bachorer Purano Bangla Bhashay Bouddha Gan O Doha . 1916 . 35–36.
11. Book: Jyotiśvara. . Varṇa-ratnākara of Jyotiriśvara of Kaviśekharācārya . 1998 . Sahitya Akademi . 81-260-0439-8 . New Delhi . 126 . 40268712.
12. Book: Jha, Pankaj . A political history of literature : Vidyapati and the fifteenth century . 2019 . 978-0-19-948955-8 . First . New Delhi . 4–7 . 1083625313.