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Narrative Literature in Jain Mähäräştri
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teacher Virabhadra. The ruling King at the time was Vatsarāja of the family of Pratihāras.
This Prasasti gives rise to many problems of great historical importance, the solutions of which are of equal interest both to Jainism and Brahmanism. Toramāna is no doubt the well-known Hun conqueror, whose capital is here located in Punjab. But the case of the two Guptas remains doubtful. It is of great importance to know whether they belonged to the royal Gupta dynasty, which appears to be the meaning of the phrases used by our author, but without sufficient evidence to accept it as settled.
The Kuvalayamālā is also important on account of its use of so many Prakrits. It makes use of Paiśāci and Apabhramsa, besides the normal Jain Māhārāstrī, and gives much interesting information about earlier authors. It makes mention of Pādalipta, Sātavāhana, Satparņaka, Guņādhya, Vyāsa, Vālmīki, Bāna, Vimala, Ravişena, Jadila, Devagupta, Prabhañjana, and Haribhadra with their various works.
A'work dealing comprehensively with all the mythological persons and possibly forming the model for the still greater work of Hemacandra in Sanskrit, is the Mahāpurusacarita of Silācārya. The identity of this writer with śīlāňka, the commentator of the first two Angas of the Jain canon, is doubtful, even though their dates fall in the same period. Our author was a pupil of Mänadeva of the Nirvrtikulīnagaccha, and wrote the present work in A. D. 868. The work deals with 54 Salākā-purusas, the 9 Prativāsudevas being included in the lives of their opponents, and not counted separately. In A. D. 917 was written a romance called the Bhuvanasundari-Kathā of more than 8000 ślokas, by Vijayasimhasūri, a pupil of Samudrasuri of the Nāilavamsa which is identical with the Nāgendrakula.
In the 10th century or about that time is to be placed the small narrative in prose called the Kālakācāryakathānaka 10, of an unknown writer. It gives the story of the overthrow of Gardabhilla the King of Ujjayinī, who is said to have carried away with force into his harem Sarasvatī, the younger sister of the sage Kālaka. To take revenge on him, Kālaka goes to the Saka Satraps called the Sāhis, and with their help conquers the King of Avantī. The story may have got some historical truth in it. It shows that as early as the first century A. D. Jainism had its stronghold in the country of Mālavā, and appears to be on its course to Gujarat. The style of the work is elaborate and the writer makes fullest use of the few chances he gets of describing seasons and towns, in which he tries to show his poetic skill.