Sanskrit, Kannada, and poet Nayasena

Jaina classical poets of Kannada followed the puranic framework of 'Purvapurana' of Acharya Jinasena, but not any of Vaishnava /Shaiva /Shakta mythology in Sanskrit. Kannada Jaina poets, who usually were the followers of digambara tradition, created a sound poetic logic and sensibly responded to the socio-political situations prevalent in medieval Karnataka. The best example for this is the encyclopedic Kannada work of Nayasena.

Nayasena who was a digambara monk was originally from the village Mulagunda of today's Dharwad district of Karnataka. As is usual with Indian poets in general and Kannada poets in particular except for a few like Pampa and Ranna, he never reveals anything about himself. Scholars have opined that when he wrote 'Dharmamritam' he was a Jaina monk and this encyclopedic work of cultural significance was completed in the year A.D.1112.

But since Nayasena's objective and conceptual focus are different from early Jaina poets to him like Pampa, Ranna and Janna, he entered in to an entirely new area of mock poetry. Jaina poets understood the situation and cultural tensions of Kannada, took initiation and they became the forerunners in the intellectual development of Kannada. It is to be noted that they set a trend that largely embraced the sacred and profane aspects of daily life. Continuing the legacy of 9th and 10th century Jaina writers, Nayasena, for the first time, set a new model of analyzing other faiths based on Jaina religion and philosophy. He juxtaposed the Jaina standpoints about life, karma and worship of the Jina against other faiths/worldviews like Vedism, Buddhism and different shaiva sects.

Nayasena is particular about using Kannada of his times in replacement with Sanskrit. He mocks at those poets in these words: can they be called poets, who declared that they would create a good work (satkruthi) in modern Kannada and still use Sanskrit (sakkada)? , It doesn't mean that he hates Sanskrit; but only shows the wisdom of Nayasena in rejecting the use of heavy vocabulary of Sanskrit scholarship while creating a Kannada work for Kannada speaking and listening world. His commitment for the propagation of Jainism through Kannada and through his own poetry is remarkable and it is a characteristic of Jaina poets itself. His position suggests that one can use simple day- to - day Sanskrit words in a Kannada text but not the archaic use of Sanskrit for the sake of just using it. Perhaps his wit suggested him to differentiate between Kannada from Sanskrit. In this context, he uses the simile of oil and ghee to make his point:
If anyone wants to write in
Sanskrit let them, but is it right
if they bring Sanskrit into Kannada?
Is it right to mix ghee with oil? (1.42)

Thus the genius (Prathibha) of Nayasena is not tired of stating again and again that no amount of great Sanskrit can replace the beauty of Kannada. The most noteworthy aspect is that his own work 'Dharmamritam' is a testimony to his poetic theory and practice.