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commentators have quoted profusely in their commentaries on ancient literature and grammar, it is called 'Mahākāviam' which set up certain conventions as have served as a model for the later poets when composing their epics (Puranas) " As Father Beschi puts it, "Tiruttakkatevar is a prince among the Tamil poets", and as G. Pope says, "Givakacintamani is the greatest existing Tamil literary monument; the great romantic epic which is at once the Iliad and Odyssey of the Tamil language, and one of the great epics of the world."42
It is no wonder that in the Tamil area, the Givakacintamani was read in every house as it covered all the fourfold human goal of Dharma, Artha, Käma and Mokşa respectively-called Aram, Porul, Inpam and Vitu respectively in Tamil13. Not only that the Periyapurana came to be composed, because the Saivas used to read. the Cintamani of rough, false and theivish Jainas; which only shows that the Cin:ămani had become popular even outside the Jaina circles. The Tamil text is more exhaustive, and it is not surprising that Odeyadeva thought of giving a Sanskrit adaptation of it in ornate style following the models of Subandhu and Baṇa; this is most probably hinted by the lesa in "Loke cintamanir ivä parah" in the concluding verse, and was expected to gain matching popularity and state patronage.45
Moreover, the significance of the expressian "Jivandhara-prabhava-punya-puraṇa-yogad vākyam mama'pyubhaya-loka-hita-pradāyi by Vadfbhasimha cannot be caught unless we realise that the word 'Purana' stands for a major Epic (Mālākappiam) in Tamil and a mythological history (Purana) in Sanskrit; thus Vadibhas mha seems to hint that since his work is connected with the mythological history (purana) of JIvandhara's excellent life (pre bhava).-such as it is preserved in Gunabhadra's Uttarapuraṇa etc., his work will earn profuse merit calculated to help him attain divine status after death; and since his classic is connected with the major epic. (purana) treating the excellent life (prabhava) of Jivandhara, like the Tamil Cintamani of Tiruttakkatevar so much held in reverence, -it will fetch him matching por u larity among the classics of his age! This situation reveals the motive that inspired Vadībhasimha to name his work in the out-of-the-way manner.
The above conclusion is confirmed when we consider the second question as to why the poet composed yet another classic based on the same old story and the same old theme of preaching the Jaina ideal of human life, and again named it as 'Ksatra-cuḍāmani' in the similar uncustomary manner.
Just as, as we have seen above, the Cilappatikaram, the Manimekalai, the Cintamani etc. are considered the five major epics or Perunkappiams in Tamil, one other set of five works, namely the Utayaṇakumāra Kāviyam, Natakumāra Kāviyam, Yacotara Kāviyam, Culāmaṇi and Nilakeci, are named as minor epics or Cirukappiyams. Here again these works, except for the Culamani, lack epic characteristics; only the Culamani deserves to be called an epic. It is written in the epic style in Viruttam verses. Its author is said to be Tolamolittevar. Since Jaina philosophy is found in
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