Nijaguna Shivayogi

Nijaguna Shivayogi was an Indian poet and a prolific writer in the Kannada language. He lived in the 15th century. He was a follower of the Veerashaiva faith (devotee of the Hindu god Shiva), which he attempted to reconcile with the Advaita Hinduism of Adi Shankaracharya. Tradition has it that Shivayogi was a petty chieftain of Kollegal taluk in modern Mysore district of Karnataka state, India.

Writings The Vivekachintamani, written in ten chapters, characterises by subject over 1500 topics including astronomy, medicine, poetics, erotica, musicology and dance-drama (natya shastra). Each topic is divided into sub-topics and each sub-topic is further divided into items. For example, the topic of poetics includes a sub-topical description of alamkara (figures of speech) which includes 65 types of alamkaras. The writing was translated into Marathi language in 1604, and into Sanskrit language in 1652 and again in the 18th century, an indication of its importance among medieval Kannada language writings.

The Puratana Trividhi is a short work by him consisting of 77 tripadis (three-line verses) eulogising the 63 Nayanmars (devotee-saints of the Hindu god Shiva) of Tamil Nadu. His other compositions include Paramanubhava Bodhe, Paramartha Gita and Anubhavasara.