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Dr. Charlotte Krause : Her Life & Literature
humour which often elicits a smile even from the modern reader. Yet he is a devoted Jaina, and takes every occasion, no matter if he has to create it himself, to plead for the doctrines of his religion. This he does with conviction and fervour, yet without fanaticism, for his broad-mindedness allows him to utilize ideas of Hindu mythology whenever desirable, and his perfect poetic manners prevent him from transgressing the limits of polite polemics and good taste, even when tackling an opponent.
Being a Jaina Sādhu, and as such plighted to absolute poverty and abstinence from worldly enjoyments, it can only have been the love for his faith and zeal for its aggrandizement which prompted him to compose this secular panegyric, making no secret of his intention to please a royal patron and gain his favour, for ends which can only have been pure and selfless.
And yet, his tone betrays that he sincerely loved and admired that royal patron for those unusual qualities of intellect and character on which he so eloquently dwells. Sometimes, as though feeling shy of showing his admiration too freely, he disguises eulogy by apparent chiding and teasing, in a form which strikes the reader by its boldness, - obviously the boldness of a confidant and favourite, to whom such liberty was willingly conceded. On the other hand, the poet seems perfectly sure of his success in paying this unusual patron the most subtle compliment that could be thought of, viz., by weaving into nearly every line of this Dvātrimśikā the implication that, as a matter of course, his patron is all the time following him into the depths of erudition which he displays, and is able to appreciate the intricacies of poetic and polemic skill to which he treats him. 6. When was the Gunavacanadvātrimśikā Composed ?
There can be no doubt that this royal patron must have been a man of outstanding personality, and a person of high position, in fact a ruler likely to have left the imprint of his genius on the history of his time. Yet as his name is not given, his whereabouts cannot
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