Haravijaya
Haravijaya is a Sanskrit mahākāvya written by Ratnākara. The poem narrates Śiva's victory over Andhaka.

 Authorship 
In the praśasti of Haravijaya, Ratnākara, its author, speaks of himself as the son of Amṛtabhānu, a descendant of Durgadatta from Gangāhrada. According to Kalhana's Rājataraṅgiṇī, he gained fame during the reign of Avantivarman (), but the colophons of Haravijaya suggest it was composed during the reign of Cippaṭa Jayāpīḍa, between 826 and 838 CE. From the theme of his poem, it can be assumed that he was a practitioner of Kashmiri Śaivism; Alexis Sanderson states that the poem's hymns to Śiva and Pārvatī in canto 6 and 47 respectively are the earliest dateable evidence of the presence of Mantramārgic Śaivism in Kashmir. He also authored the Vakroktipañcāśikā, containing fifty verses of dialogue between Śiva and Pārvatī, employing the device of vakrokti ("punning conversation"); this is possibly his only other preserved work.: "Another work called Dhvanigāthāpañjikā, according to [Warder(1988), pp. 157-158], appears to be by some later Ratnākara, also [Smith(1985), p.22] doubts the identy of its author with the one of the Haravijaya."

 Summary 
Haravijaya is the longest extant Sanskrit mahākāvya, containing a total of 4351 verses in fifty sargas (cantos). The poem narrates Śiva's victory over the Andhaka. In accordance with mahākāvya convention, the poem explores many aspects of life, including nature, seasons, love, and a battle. It also describes Śiva's iconographic features and gives an exposition of Śaiva philosophy in canto six. The poem belongs to a later phase of kāvya development, emphasising display of knowledge and command of poetical devices. The poet liberally uses concepts and technical terms from various śāstras on the fields described in the poem. 

 Reception 
Haravijaya has been praised in many Sanskrit anthologies and works on rhetorics and is also held in high esteem by modern Indian Sanskrit scholars. Rājaśekhara complemented Ratnākara with the following verse:

 Commentaries 
Peter Pasedach lists three commentaries on the poem: Viṣamapadoddyotā by Alaka, Laghupañcikā by Ratnakaṇṭha, and Haravijayasāravivaraṇa by Utpala.

 Editions 
An edition of the work was published in 1890, prepared by Pandit Durgaprasad and Kasinath Pandurang Parab for the Kāvyamālā series. It contains Alaka's commentary up to canto 46. Another edition of the text, from 1982, was prepared by Dr. Goparaju Rama for the Ganganatha Jha Kendriya Sanskrit Vidyapitha Text Series and published in two volumes. It is a critical edition based on six manuscripts without any serious variation, and only contains Ratnākara's verses, without any commentary.
 
 

 References 
 Notes 

 Bibliography 

 
 

 Further reading 
 

Category:9th-century poems
Category:Sanskrit poetry
Category:Ancient Indian poems
Category:Hindu poetry
Category:9th-century Sanskrit literature