Pālitta

Pālitta was one of the most important Prakrit poets. He was a Jain monk (often called by the title sūri) who composed a number of works in Prakrit. One, which survives only in a later abridgement, is a verse romance called Taraṅgavatī (or Taraṅgavaī). Another is a work on astrology called Jyotiṣkaraṇḍakam (Joikkaraṇḍayam), which does survive. References to a Prakrit grammar (pākata ilakkaṇam) called Pāḷittiyam (in Kuṇacākarar's Yāpparuṅkalakkārikaivirutti) also make it likely that he composed a Prakrit grammar as well. Legends associate him with the court of the Sātavāhana king Hāla, and indeed quite a few verses in the Saptaśatī (Sattasaī), an anthology of Prakrit poems said to have been compiled by king Hāla, are attributed to Pālitta by commentators. The introduction to the abridgement of his Taraṅgavatī, however, notes that he was originally a native of Kosala.

Because of Pālitta's importance in the history of Prakrit literature, and in the history of Jainism, a number of other monks have taken his name. Madhusudan Dhaky distinguished three authors named "Pādalipta," and Andrew Ollett revised his account slightly, so that we have (1) Pālitta, a first- or second-century author who wrote in Prakrit; (2) Pādalipta, a tantric adept who was associated with the pilgrimage site of Śatruñjaya, and probably lived in the eighth century; (3) Pādalipta, the author of a ritual manual (Nirvāṇakalikā), who probably lived in the later 11th century. "Pādalipta" is a false Sanskritization of Pālitta, probably inspired by the magical powers attributed to the second, tantric, Pādalipta, who is said to have been able to fly thanks to a special ointment he applied to his feet.