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Studies in Jainology, Prakrit
241
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LITERARY STYLE OF THE
VADDĀRĀDHANE
If one considers the Vaddārādhane as an Arādhanā Kathākosa, its literary style is a type hy itself. Harisena's and Nemidatta's, and also Sricandra's works are in verse; while Prabhācandra's work, though in prose does not stand comparison with the Vaddaradhane, for its stories are given in brief : Prabhacandra's work is just one-fifth of Harisena's', and the stories in the Vaddarādhane are generally far longer than those in Hariscna. And in Kannada literature it has no extant parallel.
A conspicuous feature of this Kannada prose narrative work is that it has some tendencies of the prose narrative texts of the Ardhamagadhi canon, like Nayadhammakahão, Antagadadasão, Anullatovavaiyadasão, Nirayavaliyao clc., and of some of the narrative parts of its cxegetical literature, where strict adherence to the Jaina cosmographical setting for each story, emboxment of sub- tales in the main or frame story', stereotyped descriptions, synonymous repetitions etc., are liberally used. In the canonical prose works arc found stenographic devices, like the varnakas“, where only the first and the last words are given for a particular description and the remaining part is suggested by the word vannao or jāva inscrted between the two. In the Vaddaradhane, however,
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