Jyotirishwar Thakur

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Jyotirishwar Thakur (1260–1340) was a Maithili poet, playwright, musician, and an early writer in Maithili and Sanskrit. He is best known for Varṇa Ratnākara, an encyclopedic work in Maithili. He was the son of Rāmeśvara and the grandson of Dhīreśvara, and served as the court poet to King Harisimhadeva of Mithila’s Karnat dynasty (r. 1300–1324).

Varṇa Ratnākara (1324) is a long prose work that describes many subjects and aspects of life in medieval India. It is divided into seven sections called Kallolas: Nagara Varṇana (city life), Nāyikā Varṇana (portraits of women), Asthāna Varṇana (places), Ṛtu Varṇana (the seasons), Prayāṇa Varṇana (life’s stages), Bhaṭṭādi Varṇana (priests and scholars), and Śmaśāna Varṇana (funerals). The text also contains an incomplete list of 84 Siddhas, giving 76 names. A manuscript is kept at the Asiatic Society of Bengal in Kolkata (ms. no 4834).

His major Sanskrit play is Dhūrta Samāgama (The Meeting of the Knaves), written in 1320. It is a two‑act comedy (prahasana) about a contest between a holy mendicant, Viśvanagara, and his disciple Durācāra over a beautiful courtesan, Anaṅgasenā, whom a Brahmin arbitrator, Asajjāti miśra, tries to keep for himself. In the play, superior characters speak Sanskrit, inferior ones speak Prakrit, and the songs are in Maithili.

Another Sanskrit work, Pañcasāyaka (Five Arrows) in five parts, deals with topics similar to the Kamaśāstra.