Jagannatha Panditaraja

Jagannātha (1590-1670), also known as Jagannātha Paṇḍita or Jagannātha Paṇḍitarāja, or Jagannatha Pandita Rayalu, was a poet, musician and literary critic who lived in the 17th century. He was a Telugu Brahmin from Khandrika (Upadrasta - Supervisor of the sacrificial rites) family and a junior contemporary of Emperor Akbar. As a literary theorist or rhetorician, he is known for Rasagaṅgādhara, a work on poetic theory. at whose court he received patronage.

Birth and personal life Jagannatha was born (in 1590 AD or 1572 AD ) in an Andhra Veginadu Brahmin family and there is a belief that he belongs to Munikhanda Agraharam (present-day Munganda), Amalapuram Taluk, Andhra Pradesh, India. His parents were Perambhatta (Perubhatta) and Laxmi.

Jagannatha married his close cousin, Kameswari Cherukuri (d.1625) of Bellampudi Village, (P. Gannavaram mandal, East Godavari) and had a son by name Madhava Bhattu. He lost his wife at an early age.

As per Prof. Sriramachandrudu, there is another tradition that Jagannatha was born near the village Davuluru, Tenali taluk of Guntur District, modern Andhra Pradesh. It is claimed that Ramachandrabhattu, the younger brother of Jagannatha received the village Davuluru as an inam in 1660 AD from Ajahassen Qutub Shah of Golkonda who ruled from 1658-1687. There are many people from the Upadrasta family residing near Davuluru and they claim that those in the Godavari district were emigrants from this village.

Prof. Athavale cites a biography named Sampradaya Kalpadruma authored by some Vitthalanatha (Manaranjana Kavi), in which it has been mentioned that Jagannath Panditaraja was the grandson of Vitthalanatha(Gusainji) who in turn was the son of Vallabhacharya, the founder of the Krishna-centered Pushtimarg sect of Vaishnavism in the Braj (Vraja) region of India and the philosophy of Śuddhādvaita.

Based on the above accounts, it is difficult to fix the birthplace of Jagannatha and he might not have lived in Andhra at all or would have migrated at a very young age to Varanasi.

In the introductory verse of Rasagangadhara, Jagannatha named his father Perubhatta as his teacher who was proficient in all branches of learning. Except for Vyakarana, which he studied under SesaViresvara, Jagannatha studied all other Sastras under his father. Bhaṭṭabhaṭṭāraka Perubhatta studied Vedanta under Jnanendra Bhiksu, Nyaya, and Vaisesika under Maheswara Pandita, and Mimamsa under one Deva ( who according to Nagesabhatta was none other than Khandadevamisra(d.1665) and Vyakarana under SesaVireswara, the son of SesaKrsna and the classmate of Bhaṭṭoji Dīkṣita(1550-1630).

Perubhatta is also referred to as Raghunadhabhatta in Pranabharanam and as Jogesvarasuri in a commentary on Bhaminivilasa by Jagannatha's grandson Mahadeva Suri(son of Madhava Diksita). "Ganga Lahari" is a composition of 52 Sanskrit Shlokas by Jagannath Pandit and has historic importance.

Jagannatha Pandita had a love affair with Lavangi, a Muslim woman, and wrote about her in his poetry.

Relationship with the Mughals

Jagannatha Pandita spent time at the Mughal courts of Jahangir and Shah Jahan. The Mughals valued his knowledge of Sanskrit texts and Shah Jahan's historians called Jagannatha Pandita maha-kab-ray (great king of poets). Jagannatha was also a Hindustani singer for the Mughals.

Work Bhaminivilasa - a collection of miscellaneous verses composed on different occasions. "Rasa Gangadharam" (Alankara Sastram), Ganga Lahari, Five Vilasams

The Bhāminī-vilāsa The Bhāminī-vilāsa is divided into four chapters, each called vilāsa, and containing about a hundred verses (in the manner of a śataka). of whom he wrote disparagingly.