Mallinātha Sūri

Mallinātha Sūri was an eminent critic, known for his commentaries on five mahakavyas (great compositions) of Sanskrit. During his times, he is said to have received the titles of Mahamahopadyaya and Vyakhyana Chakravarti. He lived during the reigns of Racakonda king Singabhupala and Vijayanagara king Deva Raya I. Based on the evidence from the inscriptions, it is estimated that he lived between 1350-1450 CE.

Early life

Mallinātha's surname was Kolachala, Kolachela, Kolichala or Kolichelama. The village Kolichelama (currently known as Kolchāram) is near Patancheruvu, a small village in the Medak District of Telangana. When Kākatīya rule ended, the scholars of Kolachelama family migrated to Rāchakonḍa, the capital of Singabhūpāla. From the colophons of Sanjīvani, it is known that Singabhūpāla honoured Mallinātha with the title of Mahāmahopādyāya, and Mallinātha's son with the title of Mahopādyāya.

Works

Mallinātha is well known as a commentator who has written glosses on Classical epics of Sanskrit, besides his commentaries on Śātric works. His Sanjivani commentary on Meghasandesa is the most popular one. He is also known as a poet, the fact which is rather unknown, though the names of his creative compositions are known to the scholars of Sanskrit literature.

Commentaries

The following is the list of his commentaries on Classical Epics of Sanskrit-

1. Sanjīvanī - Commentary on Kalidasa's Raghuvamsa, Kumarasambhava and Meghaduta
2. Ghaṇṭāpatha - Commentary on Bharavi's Kiratarjuniya
3. Sarvaṅkaṣa - Commentary on Magha's Sisupalavadha
4. Jivātu - Commentary on Sriharsa's Naisadhiyacarita
5. Sarvapathīnā - Commentary on Bhaṭṭikāvya

The following is the list of his commentaries on Śāstric works-

1. Tarala - commentary on Vidyadhara's Ekavali - alamkara Sastra
2. Niskaṇṭakā - commentary on Varadaraja's Tarkikaraksa tika

Creative works

1. Raghuvīracaritā
2. Vaiśyavamśa Sudhākara
3. Udara Kavya

Interestingly, in Marathi Language, there is a word 'Mallinathi', which means 'a comment or criticism' done by somebody. For example, Mr. Jadhav doing "Mallinathi" on statement issued by Mr. Pawar said that, Mr. Pawar is misguiding the people.