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64
Arhat Parsva and Dharanendra Nexus
स्फुरत्फणाडम्बरभीमकाय ः फूत्कारभारैरुदयद्विषायः । उल्लालयन् क्रूरकृतान्तदंष्ट्राद्वयाभजिह्वायुगलं प्रकोपात् ॥ १०० ॥
And finally a hymn addressed to Arhat Pārsva, although composed in times as late as the 18th century by a disciple of Gunavijaya of Tapā-gaccha, is replete with poetic grace and apparently recaptures the style of the previous centuries:59
Jain Education International
कमठविहितज्जवालाजिह्वप्रतप्ततनुः फणिर्धरणपतितां यस्यालोकद्गतः परसंसृतौ । स्फुरति महिमा [ तत्रा ] ऽद्यापि प्रवृद्धकलौ युगे भवभयभिदो वामेयोऽसौ स एव भवे भवे ॥ ८ ॥
III
The above-cited portrayals of Arhat Pārsva canopied by the pentacephalous or septacepalous Dharanendra-in a few cases also noticing the upasarga of the demon Kamatha or Sambara or Meghamālī-are symptomatic of the authors' exalted visualization of the unshakable, dignified, and tranquilly awesome image of the Jina standing in deep trance, and its sharp reflection on their minds and consequently in their hymnal invocations, each of which is delineated in the personal style of the author concerned. If these medieval hymns succeed in conjuring up the highly emotive visions of Parśva, what the Nirgrantha poets of the Gupta-Vākāṭaka Age could have configured, if they had focused on this mythical episode, may be imagined. In default of such early compositions, in all fairness, let us pay tribute to and admire what the medieval and late medieval hymnists, with their profound devotion coupled with the poetic skills they commanded (which included sensitive control on the ornamental niceties in Sanskrit poetics) had created and is before us to see, sense, and feel. The sculptor-artists correspondingly had attempted, to represent concretely the resplendent imagery of Pārsva with Nāgarāja Dharaṇendra and in few cases in association with the upasarga-legend. They also occasionally, indeed faithfully as well as convincingly, captured the mythico-mystical vision of the hymnists as a tridimensional reality, following as they did the modular rules and employing the skills of their own sphere of craft: some of the extant examples, particularly of the postGupta and pre-medieval times, are witnesses that authenticate this conclusion.
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