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and similarly the Trisashațiśalâkâpurushacharitra was also composed at Kumarapala's request1. Hemachandra died in Samvat 1229, at the mature age of 84, only six months before Kumarapala.
King Kumarapâla. Kumârapâla was the second son of Tribhuvana pâla, son of Devapâla, son of Kshemarâja, the elder brother of Siddharâja's father Karṇadeva. Tribhuvanapâla had loyally stood by Siddharaja during his minority. Siddharaja had no son and it was predicted by prophesiers that Kumârapâla will succeed him but Siddharâja did not like him on account of the low caste of his mother Kaśmîrâ Devi and hence tried his best to see him away from the world. Kumârapâla had to quit his house and wander under the guise of a तापस in distant lands. Frequently his life was in serious danger but he managed somehow to escape. After Siddharâja's death the ministers, finding him the fittest claimant, put him on the throne. Kumarapala was born in Samvat 1149 and was anointed as king in 1199 at the mature age of fifty. The first ten years of his reign were occupied in overcoming internal enemies. Kumarapala was a great warrior and he extended the kingdom of Gujarat. It is mentioned in the Mahaviracharita of Hemachandra that the conquest of Kumarapala will extend to Turkistan in the North, the Ganges in the East, Mount Vindhya in the South and the ocean in the West.
The most
(1) जिष्णुश्चेदिदशार्णमालव महाराष्ट्रापरान्तान्कुरून्
सिन्धूनन्यतमांश्च दुर्गविषयान् दोर्वीर्यशक्त्या हरिः । चौलुक्यः परमाईतो विनयवान् श्रीमूलराजान्वयी
तं नत्वेति कुमारपालपृथिवीपालोऽब्रवीदेकदा ! पापर्द्धिद्यूतमद्यप्रभृति किमपि यन्नारकायुर्निमित्तं
तत्सर्वं निर्निमितोषकृतिकृतधियां प्राप्य युष्माकमाज्ञाम् । स्वामिन्नुय निषिद्धं धनमसुतमृतस्याथ मुक्तं तथार्ह -
चैत्यैरुत्तंसिता भूरभवमिति समः सम्प्रतेः सम्प्रतीह ॥ पूर्व पूवर्जसिद्धराजनृपतेर्भक्तिस्टशो याच्या
साङ्गं व्याकरणं सुवृत्तिसुगमं चक्रुर्भवन्तः पुरा । मद्धेतोरथ योगशास्त्रममलं लोकाय च द्वयाश्रय
च्छन्दोऽलङ्कृतिनामसङ्ग्रहमुखान्यन्यानि शास्त्राप्यपि ॥
लोकोपकारकरणे स्वयमेव यूयं सजा: स्थ यद्यपि तथाऽप्यहमर्थयेऽदः ।
माहग्जनस्य परिबोधकृते शलाका पुंसां प्रकाशय वृत्तमपि त्रिषष्टेः ॥
तस्योपरोधादिति हेमचन्द्राचार्यः शलाका पुरुषेतिवृत्तम् ।
धर्मोपदेशैकफलप्रधानं न्यवीविशच्चारुगिरी प्रपञ्चे || त्रिषष्टिशलापुरुषचरित्रप्रशस्ति
(2) स कौबेरीमातुरुष्कमैन्द्रीमात्रिदशापगाम् |
याम्यामा विन्ध्यमावाधि पश्चिमां साधयिष्यति ॥ IV - 52.
" Aho Shrutgyanam"