SHIVATATTVA RATNAKARA

  1. Shivatattva Ratnakara (ಶಿವತತ್ತ್ವ ರತ್ನಾಕರ)
  2. shivatattva ratnAkara
  3. Basavappa Nayaka-1, Basava Bhupala (Regime:1697-1714)
  4. 17th Century (1699 A.D.)
  5. Encyclopedia written in Sanskrit
  6. “Shivatattva Ratnakara’ is an encyclopedia written in Sanskrit by Basava Bhupala who was a king in the Keladi-Bidanur dynasty. His regime lasted from 1697 A.D. to 1714 A.D. He was an adopted son of the famous queen Chennammaji. He was a valiant and philanthropic king. He was also a great patron of art and culture. He has written two books named ‘suBASita suradruma’ (ಸುಭಾಷಿತ ಸುರದ್ರುಮ) and ‘sUkti sudhAkara’ (ಸೂಕ್ತಿ ಸುಧಾಕರ) in addition to ‘shivatattva ratnakara’. The last mentioned is in Kannada as well as Sanskrit, where as the first two are Sanskrit works. He has made it clear that he composed these works for the information, enlightenment and pleasure of scholars and the lay public. ‘Keladi Nrupa Vijaya’ by Linganna Kavi eulogizes the personality and erudition of Basava Bhupala.

‘Shiva Tattva Ratnakara’ is a huge compendium containing an astonishing amount of knowledge and information culled from various knowledge based and literary texts. The author has made extensive references to Works on fine arts such as painting sculpture and music. Many books used by him have now moved in to oblivion.

This work contains nine chapters called ‘kallOla’ and each of these contains many subdivisions aptly named as ‘taranga’s. In all, there are 108 tarangas in this work. The number of shlokas in the volume is 35000. This is a veritable source book of traditional and region specific knowledge. It deals with all fields of knowledge prevalent during his times such as philosophy, economy, royal administration, warfare, agriculture, history, geography, astrology, astronomy, erotics, sculpture, drama, construction of gardens, divination of water and hydrology, musicology, dance etc in detail. It also contains, possibly by way of introduction a detailed history of the Keladi dynasty. The whole work is written in the form of a dialogue. Somashekhara, a son of the king asks questions and the answers are provided by the king. This conversational mode awakens and perpetuates the interest and intellectual curiosity of the readers.

The information provided by this work on the topics of music, construction of a dancing hall and hydrology are particularly illuminating. For instance, he says that ‘white and yellow clouds bring only sparse rain where as black and red clouds yield good rains. A good scientist is capable of understanding the formation of clouds at least fifteen days earlier and he should guide the people. He treats lightning as the eyes of the clouds.’

            These are just samplings from the monumental work. The sections on music and dance are particularly illuminating.

  1. Publishing History: Benagal Rama Rao. Four manuscripts of this work are known. One of them is available in the Government Oriental Manuscript Library, Chennai. This book is published in its entirety.    

8.  References:      a. ‘Musical Aspects in the ‘SIVATATTVA RATNAKARA’   BY BASAVA BHUPALA-A STUDY’ by E.R. Saraswathi                          Venkateswaran.

 

                                      b.  A FORGOTTEN SCHOOL OF CARNATIC MUSIC

(An important article by Dr R.Nagaswami on the topics of musicology in ‘Shivatattva Ratnakara’)

                              c.   ‘History of Keladi based on “Shivatattva Ratnakara’ by

     R.Krishna Murthy.

                              d. ‘News Today  (Another article by Sri V.Sundaram)

 

 9.  The Ocean of Beneficial Knowledge. (‘Shiva’ also means beneficial, helpful)

 

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