Baladev Rath

Kavisurya Baladev Rath (c. 1789 – 1845) was an Oriya poet and litterateur. He wrote in both Sanskrit and Oriya and is remembered for his devotional songs and as the founder of the dhumpa sangita.

Early life

Rath was born at Badakhemundi of the Ganjam district in 1789. His father, Ujjwal Rath, was a well known Sanskrit scholar and was a poet laureate.

Literary works

Rath was a musician and scholar in his own right. He wrote in the Vaishnavite tradition and the group of writers including Dinakrushna Das and Abhimanyu Samantasinghar to which he belonged have been criticised for their verbosity and convoluted diction but also credited for their emotionally rich and alliterative poetic works that continue to appeal to the masses even today. Among his important works are the Kavisurya Granthavali, Kavisurya Geetabali and the Kishore Chandrananda Chaupadi Chautisa which combines the two literary forms of chaupadi, a quatrain, and the chautisa- a 34 stanza poem where every stanza begins with a new letter of the Oriya alphabet. The Kishore Chandrananda Chaupadi Chautisa is noted for its emotional tenderness and the role it played in infusing the riti school of Sanskrit writing with a new style and aesthetic sensibility. He was also the author of several champus including the Ratnakar champu and the Kishore Chandrananda Champu. The Kishore Chandrananda Champu has been written in a mixture of Oriya and Sanskrit and the Oriya part of the work has been credited with cementing his literary reputation in the language.

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Ratha

Ratha (Sanskrit: रथ, rátha, Avestan raθa) is the Indo-Iranian term for a spoked-wheel chariot or a cart of antiquity.

The Rigvedic word rá-tha does not denote a war-chariot like those of Andronovo, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. The word is from √ṛ ‘go’ giving primary rá-tha ‘a goer, car, vehicle’. Similar formations exist with the suffix -tha: ártha ‘goal’, ukthá ‘saying’, ǵāthā ‘song’ etc. The rigvedic ratha is described as pṛthu ‘broad’ 1.123.1; bṛhat ‘tall, big’ 6.61.13; variṣṭha ‘widest’ 6.47.9. It has space not for 1 only or 2 (i.e. the driver and the warrior with his spear and bow) but for 3: it is said to be trivandhurá (1.41.2; 7.71.4) and then to carry 8 aṣṭāvandhurá (10.53.7)

Textual evidence

Chariots are also an important part of Hindu, with most of the deities in their pantheon portrayed as riding them.

Chariots figure prominently in the Rigveda, evidencing their presence in India in the 2nd millennium BCE. Among Rigvedic deities, notably Ushas (the dawn) rides in a chariot, as well as Agni in his function as a messenger between gods and men.

Rath (Odia surname)

Rath or Rathasharma (Odia: ରଥ, ରଥଶର୍ମା, Sanskrit: रथ, रथशर्मा) are Utkala Brahmins having Atreya or Krishnatreya gotra. The surname in ancient days were given according to gotra and the speciality of the job done by Brahmin scholars. They especially specialise the Vikriti Paatha of Shukla Yajurveda and Rigveda which is Ratha Patha. The Veda can be recited in eleven different ways among which three are Prakruti and remaining seven are Vikruti. These are Samhita (Richa), Pada, Krama (3 Prakruti) and Jataa, Rekha, Maala, Dhwaja, Shikha, Danda, Ratha and Ghana (Vikrutis). So the surname holders once mastered the Ratha tradition of chanting Veda. Sometimes they are called Rathatreya(रथात्रेय).

Etymology

"Rath" is a word from the Sanskrit language meaning: