brings out a different perspective compared to the Adipurana written by Adikavi Pampa in c.941. Centered on the glorification of the enlightened Bharata, the son of the first Jain Tirthankar Adinatha, Ratnakaravarni cleverly focusses on those aspects that the original by Pampa ignored. Ratnakaravarni goes into minute details about prince Bharata, who according to the author serves as the ideal balance between detachment (yoga) and attachment (bhoga). Though married to "96,000 women", Bharata is depicted as one who at once can separate himself from worldly pleasures. Unlike Pampa who focussed on the conflict between the brothers, Bahubali and Bharata, ending with Bahubali's asceticism and Bharata's humiliation, Ratnakaravarni's eulogy of Bharata leaves room only for Bahubali's evolution towards sainthood. Eventually, Bharata attains moksha by burning himself in ascetic fire. The author showers encomium on Bharata in his various roles as a monarch, husband, son, friend and a devotee, a rare description of a "perfect human being" among Jain writings. Since details of the early life of Bharata as a young ruler did not exist in previous writings or in tradition, much of Ratnakaravarni's vivid description of that period was a product of his imagination. This work finds its pride of place in Kannada's epic poetry for being the lengthiest poem in the folk sangatya metre. Notes References History of Karnataka Kannada poets 16th-century Indian poets Tulu people People from Dakshina Kannada district Indian male poets Poets from Karnataka 16th-century Indian Jains Vijayanagara poets