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Hymns in Prakrit
Ajitasäntistava in 17 Gāthās and a host of others. The Pañcavi-mśatigunastavanam describes the 25 excellences of the preachings of the Tirthankara, while a panegyric is addressed to the present period of time in Duṣamākālasamstavanam.
More well-known as a scholar is Jinaprabha who calls himself a pupil of Jinasimhasūri, who lived at the beginning of the 14th century. His Rsabhadevajñā-stava in 11 Gāthās is a hymn which describes the importance of following the rules laid down by Rsabha and its praise. More artistic and full of elaborate puns is his Pärśvanäthalaghu-Stava in which Pārsva is compared with the 9 different planets by the use of paranomistic adjectives, each verse thus yielding two senses. His Gautama-Stotra bestows praise on the first Ganadhara while the Pañcaparamesthi-Stava eulogises the five divinities so often praised in Jainism.
About Dharmanidhāna we know next to nothing. The concluding words. of his hymn would make us believe that he was possibly one of the pupils. of Udayaprabha and so lived in the 14th century. His hymn is called Caturvimsikastavana having 27 verses in Śärdülavikrīḍita metre and gives in a schematic form the lives of the 24 Tirthankaras while at the end he collects together in 3 verses their emblems. On the whole the hymn shows no great merit. At about this period lived one Devendra who calls himself a pupil of Sanghatilaka of the Rudrapalliya Gaccha and wrote two hymns, one the Adideva-Stava giving the praise of Ṛsabha in 9 Gäthās and another called Sāśvata Caitya-stava in 24 Gāthās.
Jinabhadra, the author of the Dvādaśängipadapramāṇakulaka is to be distinguished from the more famous and ancient Jinabhadra, the celebrated author of the Viseṣävasyakabhäşya. The present writer belonged to the Kharataragaccha and lived upto A. D. 1418. The hymn contains 21 Gäthās and is devoted to the description of the 12 Angas including the 14 Purvas now lost to us. The information adds nothing to our knowledge of these works and he follows the tradition with strict adherence.
In the 15th century lived Somasundara a very famous and prolific writer in Jain literature. Besides commentaries and other independent works he has written five Stotras addressed to Rṣabha, Nemi, Säntinätha, Pärśva and Mahavira. The chief characteristic of these short hymns is the variety of languages used therein, which are Sanskrit, Präkrit, Śauraseni, Mägadhi, Paiśācī, Cülika-Paiśăci and Apabhramśa, a feature found in many Jain Stotras and they show a considerable amount of metrical variety. A similar feat is