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Vol. XVII
2. Sidha Haim Shabda
nushashan 3. Prakrit Vyakaran
4. Deshi Nammala
5. Chhandonushashan
The Jaina Antiquary
Acharya Hemchandra needs special reference because he was the first to write an Apbhransha Vyakaran and a book on prosody. Deshi Nammala contains a list of such words which were popular in public and were used in literature of that period. Besides these the names of Somprabhsuri, Vinayachand Suri, Acharya Meriting and Rajshekhar Suri are also worth remembering who decorated Hindi literature with different kinds of works on poems, dramas, short stories etc. We have not come across any Jain writer of lyric poems which has its artistic growth in Sur. But the art of lyric poetry was not foriegn to them. We find an unbroken chain of Jain poets right upto the end of the 15th century A. D.
Year 1586 is one of the most important dates, in this connection, for it celebrates the birth of a great genius Banarsidas Jain of Jaunpur, who was anxious for spreading the sphere of Hindi lite rature, so far limited within epics and lyrics only. He was one of the few early prose-writers of Hindi. His prose truely represents cur rent Brajbhasha of his time. His Ardhakathanak (autobiography) is the only work of its kind in old Hindi. He was a good poet and one an.ong the fast friends of Tulsidas. He also produced the Hindi version of Natak Samaysar of Kundkundacharya. Thus Banarasidas stands at a remarkable place in Hindi literature.
Even in the sphere of prose, we should not forget the importance of Pt. Daulatram Jain of Baswa (Madhya Pradesh who translated Jain Padma Purana of Ravishenacharya into Khari Boh in 1766 A, D. As Pt. R. C. Sukla notes, his language represents that character of Khari Boli which was prevalent among the majority of literate people, not influenced a little by foriegn languages like Urdu or Persian. His work proves that writing of prose in Khari Boli had begun long before the British tried to shape its outlines in the Fort William.
