Book Title: Comprehensive History of Jainism Volume II
Author(s): Aseem Kumar Chaterjee
Publisher: Firma KLM Pvt Ltd

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Page 233
________________ THE SVBTĀMBARA LITERATURE 223 of Hemacandra, although a few smaller works of this great master are also known. There is little doubt that Hemacandra was the wonder of that age, and his epithet kalikalasarvajña was fittingly bestowed on him by his admirers and disciples, many of whom were themselves great literary figures. And now we will have to review the works of some of the direct disciples of Hemacandra. The most prominent pupil of Hemacandra was the oneeyed Rāmacandra, who was popularly known as the author of hundred treatises (prabanchasatakarır)102. A very good number of his works are known, and they prove that he was not only a worthy disciple af a great guru, but also, at the same time, a successful poet-dramatist of the twelfth-century Gujarat. He was also a great authority on dramaturgy. We have his learned work on dramatic poetry called the Najyadarpaņa108, which he composed jointly with Guņacandra (another pupil of Hemacandra), in four chapters. A great number of Sanskrit plays, mentioned in this learned work, are now no longer available, and this includes DeviCandragupta and some of the plays of the author himself. Among the most important, available plays of Rāmacandra, we can mention Satya-Hariscandra104, Nalavilāsa 108, KaumuaiMitrānanda106 and Nirbhaya-Bhimavjāyoga107. The first two plays are directly based on the Mahabharata and the last play is obviously influenced by Bbāsa's Madhyama-Vj dyoga. The Nalavilása is probably the best play of Rāmacandra. The character of the heroine Damayanti has been treated with great care and artistry. Almost all the plays of Rāmacandra prove that he was a better poet than dramatist. The Mallikāmakar anda is another play of Rāmacandra, which is only known from the Națyadarpana of this playwright108. Ramacandra was also an accomplished poet. His Kumāravihārašataka109, which gives a description of the famous Jina temple, built by Kumārapāla at Patan, is a well-known poem. His Dravjalankara110, which he com

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