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Dr. Charlotte Krause : Her Life & Literature
conclusion that Siddhasena did address his Gunavacanadvātrimśikā to Samudragupta, it is a question of minor importance whether or not the word 'Candra' or its synonyms occurring therein are meant to be taken as references to Prince Candragupta, the later Emperor Candragupta II. If, as has already been hinted at, the poem was written during the last years of Samudragupta's reign, Kumāra Candragupta must then have been in the prime of his life, and his proverbial valour must have made him conspicuous even then in the military enterprises of his illustrious father. On the other hand, it is not improbable that they may refer to Samudragupta himself, who, according to V. A. Smith198, “in his youth must have borne the titles of both Candraprakāśa ( -prabhāva ) and Bālāditya or Parāditya.”
Just as doubtful it is whether the comparison of the hero's splendour with that of the sun (St. 24 ) is meant to imply an allusion to the title of Vikramāditya.
8. Conclusion From the whole atmosphere which the Guņavacanadvātrimśikā, supplemented by epigraphical records, depicts as surrounding the poet and his illustrious patron, one cannot help inferring that the above referred-to episodes which the Prabandhas and Kathānakas have handed down re Siddhasena and Vikrama do reflect a good amount of historical truth, with Siddhasena's 'disciple' Vikrama safely identified as Samudragupta !
Thus the boldness, the profound erudition and independence of mental outlook which Siddhasena displays in his poem make it easy to understand how he could make to his co-religionists the unheard-of proposal to translate the Jaina canon into Samskrta, the honoured language of the Gupta Court, whose Golden Age was led in by his patron Samudragupta, known to have been a Saṁskṛta poet himself. On the other hand, the zeal for his religion which he betrays makes one understand how, ex-communicated by way of expiation for this 'offence', he made good by serving his beloved religion in his own way, viz., by enlisting the interest of the greatest
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