________________
404
Dr. Charlotte Krause : Her Life & Literature
विणयपरु जोडि कर वीनg", which passage the commentator explains in the following way : " aners dra faune 713 879 ist aucht 3". According to this interpretation, the poet would have remained anonymous. The interpretation is, in itself, unobjectionable, especially since the expression 'viņayaparu' ( here singular ) is reflected by the similar ‘sādaraparā' ( st. 7 : there plural ). Still, it appears likely that instead of 'viņayaparu', the archetypus read 'Vinayapahu', and thus contained the actual name of the poet ( with the Genitive singular ending -u, typical of Apabhraíśa ). Viņayapaha, generaly known by his Sanskritized name Vinayaprabha Sūri, was a famous Jainācārya and poet of the very period to which our poem belongs, who composed in the very same language.250 He was a direct disciple of the well-known Saint and poet 'Dādā' Jinakusala Sūri of the Kharatara Gaccha, was ordained as a monk in V.S. 1382 and raised to the rank of an Upādhyāya between V.S. 1394 and 1412. His famous 'Gautama-Rāsa', composed in V.S. 1412 at Cambay, is even now so popular that it forms part of the standing repertoire of recitation pieces of Śvetāmbara Sadhus and Sadhvis. Among his further creations are five hymns in honour of various Jinas, which are of approximately the same length ( 19-29 stanzas ), and, to judge from the scanty specimina reproduced by Mr. Nahta,251 of the same linguistic and poetical qualities as our hymn. Not only thus much, but in his Mahāvīra-stavana of 24 stanzas, the same metre seems to have been used in which the 20 first stanzas of the former are composed. In depth of religious sentiment, gracefulness of diction, and melodiousness of flow, our hymn is not inferior to the Gautama-rāsa either.
It is, therefore, quite possible that our hymn may represent another creation of this poet, whose authorship of the Gautama-rāsa too was long unknown, owing to a similar mutilation of that part of the text which contained the name, till older manuscripts with a more authentic text were found, and the truth revealed with their help. In the present case, the conjectured `Viņayapahu' makes
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
