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KAVI PARAMEŚVARA OR PARAMEȘTHI
. Dr A. N. Upadhye, Kolhapur.
In the history of Indian literature, there are many celebrated authors who are repeatedly remembered in subsequent works; but neither their works are available to-day, nor do we know any biographical details about them. Kavi Parameśvara or Parameşthi is one of them. In this paper i propose to put together whatever bits of information have been available to me, especially from Kannada and Sanskrit literature.
Eminent Kannada poets like Adi Pampa (c. 911 A. D.), Abhinava rampa (C. 1100 A. D.), Nayasena (1112 A. D.) Aggaļa (1189) and Kamalabhava (c. 1235) respectfully refer to Kavi Paramesthi along with Samantabhadra, the logician poet and Pujyapāda, the grammarian.I Adi Pampa, it may be noted, calls him jagat-prasiddha. Their verses are given below.
श्रीमत्समन्तभद्र - स्वामिगळ जगत्प्रसिद्ध कविपरमेष्ठि-1 स्वामिगळ पूज्यपाद - स्वामिगळ पदंगळीगे शाश्वतपदमं ॥
Adipurāņa (Mysore 1900 ) I. 15. कविपरमेष्ठिगळ गुण स्तवनंगळ पूज्यपादयतिपतिय गुण -। स्तवनंगळोर्मे नालगे-- गे बंद मानवन वाङ्मलं निंदपुदे ॥
Rāmāyaṇa I. 11. श्रीमत्समंतभद्र - स्वामिगळ नेगळ्तेंवेत्त कविपरमेष्ठि -॥ स्वामिगळ पूज्यपाद - स्वामिगळ पदंगळीगे बोधोदयमं ।।
Dharmamrta (Mysore 1924) I.14.
___1_R. Narasimhachary: Karnataka-kavicarita Vol. I. (Bangalore 1924), pp. 2, 4-6.
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