Sangita Ratnakara

Tungabhadrā A major river in Southern India there is the city called Vidyānagari (Vijayanagar)¹ where there ruled the king Devarāya, son of Vijaya of the Yadava dynasty.² Devarāya’s son was Immaḍi Devarāya.³ Kallinātha lived there at that time.⁴ His grandfather was Vallabhadeva;⁵ his mother was Nārāyaṇī⁶ and father Lakṣmīdhara.⁷ He belonged to the Ṣāṇḍilya Gotra A traditional Brahmin lineage or clan tracing its descent to the ancient sage Shāndilya.⁸ Under the orders of the king, he commented on the Sangītaratnākara The "Ocean of Music," a definitive 13th-century treatise on Indian musicology.⁹

Vijaya I, mentioned by Kallinātha, reigned from 1418 to 1423; his son Devaraya II reigned from 1423 to 1446.¹⁰ Immaḍi Devarāya reigned from 1446 to 1465. Thus Kallinātha must have lived in the second half of the fifteenth century.

¹ original: "पुरीह विद्यानगरी चकास्ति तुङ्गतरङ्गैरभित: पवित्रा" — In this world, the city of Vidyānagari shines, purified on all sides by the high waves [of the river]. verse 6.
² original: "एतां शास्ति . . . प्रौढ: श्रीदेवरायो विजयनृपसुतो यादवानां वरेण्य:" — The mighty Sri Devarāya, son of King Vijaya and the most excellent among the Yadavas, rules this city. verse 7.
³ original: "तस्यास्ति पुत्र: . . . इम्मडिदेवराय:" — His son is... Immaḍi Devarāya. verse 8.
⁴ original: "सुधर्मेव सभा यस्य" — Whose royal assembly is like the assembly of the gods, verse 9 and original: "तस्यामस्ति . . . कल्लिनाथार्यवर्य:" — and in that assembly is... the most eminent and venerable Kallinātha. verse 10.
⁵ original: "वल्लभेश्वरदेवो हि यस्य साक्षात् पितामह:" — Whose direct grandfather was indeed Vallabheshvaradeva. verse 11. The Anandasrama edition A famous series of printed Sanskrit texts from Pune reads the name as Tuttuleśvaradeva.
⁶ original: "माता नारायणी यस्य" — Whose mother was Nārāyaṇī. verse 12.
⁷ original: "पिता लक्ष्मीधर: स्वयम्" — His father was Lakṣmīdhara himself. Ibid.
⁸ original: "शाण्डिल्यगोत्रज: सोऽयम्" — He was born of the Shāndilya lineage. Ibid.
⁹ original: "तमाह कल्लिनाथार्यं स राजा बहुमानत: । रत्नाकरं व्याकुरुष्व लक्ष्यलक्षणकोविद ॥" — With great respect, the King said to the venerable Kallinātha: "O expert in both musical practice and theory, explain the Ratnākara." verse 13.
original: "अत: स कल्लिनाथार्यो रत्नाकरनिबन्धनम् । कलानिधिं निबध्नाति ।" — Therefore, the venerable Kallinātha composes the 'Kalānidhi' [The Treasure of Art], a work based on the Ratnākara. verse 14.
¹⁰ Inscriptions about Vijaya are available from 1418–1426; but Devarāya began to reign from 1423. So there must have been a joint rule by father and son for three years.