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Study of Civakacintāmaṇi
From the period of the Pallava reign, Tamil land was heading towards a state of progress and stability which culminated in the period of Tamil supremacy during the reign of the Colas in South India. The prosperity of the age was conducive to innovations and novel literary compositions. As trade and commerce flourished, merchants occupied a place next in importance only to that of the kings. The political and social ties which flourished between the merchant community and the royal family could be indicated from the circumstances that four among the eight brides of Civakan hail from the merchant community. The custom prevalent among the Tamil emperors of marrying princesses from various countries for diplomatic reasons could be seen in the narration of Civakan's marriage to the eight girls in the story. The principle that salvation could be achieved even through the normal existence of householder could be also illustrated by the example of Civakau. These presumably are the reasons why Tevar chose the Jivaka story from all the stories of Jaina Saints for his work. He probably had a source book in Sanskrit or Prakrit, as discussed in the first chapter. In chapter III we compare the story of Cc. with that of the earliest available Sanskrit book on the Jivaka story, the Up, in an attempt to assess the Sanskrit influence on the story of Cc.
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