Ranna Gadayuddham The Duel of the Maces

Dramatic classical Kannada kavya vividly stages a duel of maces, reflecting on war’s costly impact.

The Gadayuddham (The Duel of the Maces) is a kavya composed in classical Kannada literary style at the turn of the eleventh century CE. It is written in campO, a genre that developed in the tenth century as a mixture of poetry and prose. Rannas poem is remarkably dramatic in nature and is a meditation on the cost of war. Crisp dialogue, body gestures and imagery fill the poem. It is as if the poet were giving us directions for a play. Ranna employs flashbacks, a technique called simhavalokana, that is, a lion turning casually to glance behind him. Ranna builds up to the duel through characters recalling episodes of injury or through lamentation. The duel occupies only a short space in the eighth canto, but Ranna takes this time to fill in past episodes and reflect on the impact of war. This thousand-year-old poem will interest scholars as well as lay readers.

Table of Contents

• A Note from the Kannada Language Chair ix
• A Note on Transliteration xi
• Introduction xiii
• Canto One 3
• Canto Two 39
• Canto Three 67
• Canto Four 107
• Canto Five 141
• Canto six 173
• Canto seven 201
• Canto Eight 233
• Canto Nine 265
• Canto Ten 289
• Notes to the Translation 303
• Bibliography 317
• Appendix 319