________________
Siddhasena Divakara and Vikramaditya
assemblies, one of whom was the most famous of the Jaina logicians of all times. (St. 25)
(22) He was a great orator. (St. 25 )
( 23 ) The ideas of Hindu mythology which the poet resorts to repeatedly (vide his reference to Śrī Lakṣmī in St. 6, 9, 10, 19, 20, to the divine trinity of Śiva-Viṣṇu-Brahmā, or rather, in the poet's own words, to Maheśvara-Acyuta-Vidhātrī in St. 27, to the Viṣṇupada in St. 18, and to the Kali and Kṛta Yugas in St. 27: all ideas foreign to Jainism ), applying them in the very middle of pronounced Jinistic notions, can only be understood and justified under the assumption that the Jaina poet addresses himself to a Hindu patron.
( 24 ) That Siddhasena's patron, being a Hindu king, must have been distinguished by unusual broad-mindedness, religious tolerance and humaneness, can be inferred from the fact that he did not only allow the Jaina Sadhu to defend his heterodox faith and philosophy, but even to attack Hindu philosophy, and mock, with bold satire, at the most sacred idea cherished by the majority of Hindu Darśanas, viz., that of a personal Almighty Creator (St. 25 ). It seems that, like Akbar the Great, this unusual monarch found pleasure in seeing God and the world viewed from all the various standpoints which the learned disputants of his assemblies must have severally represented and defended with eloquent ardour.
147
( 25 ) At the time of the composition of the poem, the king seems to have been looking back on a long reign of peace and prosperity, following his victorious campaigns, and, consequently, he was in all probability of advanced age himself. (St. 5, 20, 26, 27) (26) His personality and achievements were high above the ordinary, making him appear as a kind of super-man, glorified by poetical apotheosis. (St. 10, 21, 23)
When comparing these points with what is known so far re the history and personalities of the individual Gupta rulers, it seems that they could not refer to Candragupta I, whose reign was neither distinguished by extensive campaigns and conquests in grand style,
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
