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at his best when he describes his ( Jaina ) holy places. For example his description of Satruñjaya Hill in Ch. XV 30 ff should be read in the original. The epic thus fulfills most of the traditional characteristics of a Mahākāvya.
THE AUTHOR The author of this beautiful religious epic is Deva -Vimala Gaņi ( 1). V.). In the concluding stanza of each Canto (af) DV states that he is the son of Śivā Sādhu or Śivā Sāha and Saubhāgya-1 jevī. In designating this epic as Hīra-Saubhāgyam, he has immortalised his mother's name by incorporating it in the title of the poem, though it must be conceded that it was then a fashion '1o bring " Saubhāgya” in the title of poem. For example, Soma-Saubhāgyam on the life of Soma-Sundara-Sūri...
The name of DV's preceptor is Sīnha-Vimala-gaņi. In the Prasasti verses at the end of book, he gives the genealogy of his teachers as follows :
Sripati sitafa, Jagarsi Fofo, Sinha-Vimala-gaņi atafaha af. Emulating tne example of Acārya Hemacandra sūri, he wrote a commentary on his own work (SvopajnaVrtti स्वोपवृत्ति ) called Sukhāvabodha सुखावबोधा on his epic poem Hīra-Saubhāgyam (HS), the present text. In its Praśasti he acknowledges that the (Ms. of his ) epic was completely corrected ( handslips rectified ?) by Dhana-Vijaya (galaga) the disciple of Kalyaņa - Vimala (TTTTTHS). He concludes the Prasasti by extending the same request (of correcting the slips) to his readers 1. 1. यत्किञ्चिदप्यवद्यं भवेदिहानुग्रहं प्रणीय मयि ।
संशोध्यं तद् विबुधैः साधिममुखगुणमणिनिधिमिः ॥ प्रशस्ति २२ ॥
