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THB śVETĀMBARA II CBRATURE
225
larity of Jainism of those days and also refers to other sects. The Prakrit used in this play, follows the Prakrit rules of Hemacandra, and the Sanskrit language of this drama, is both attractive and simple. It was first enacted, according to the testimony of the drama itself, in the Kumāravihāra (the Jina temple, built by Kumārapāla) at Thårāpadra, during the Rathayātrā festival of the Tirthařkara Mahāvira.
Another well-known play of the 12th century, was the Draupadisyayamvara118, by Vijayapāla, the son of Siddhapāla and the grandson of the poet Śrīpāla. It was enacted before the Caulukya king Bhima II, probably during the closing years of the 12th century, during the spring-festival. Vijayapāla was a scion of an established and affluent Svetā nbara family of Apabilapura. The dramatist Vijayapāla is called a mahākavi in this play, which probably suggests that he was the author of some other works. However no other poem or play of Vijayapāla, is known. The play Draupadisvayanvara runs to two Acts only; but it is a beautiful play, written in an unaffected language. The poet's father Siddhapāla was also a good poet, as we learn from Somaprabhasūri110. The poet Śrīpāla was a friend of Jayasinha Siddharāja.
The play Mudritakumudacandra120, in five Acts, describes the defeat of the Digambara Kumudacandra at the court of Jayasimha in 1124 A.D., at Anabilapura. This play indirectly proves that there was no love lost between the Digambaras and the Svetāmbaras in the 12th-century Gujarat. As we know, the two sects were sharply divided on the question of emancipation of women. And this was precisely the subject matter of this play, in which the king Jayasimha is represented as the judge. However there is some doubt regarding the historical existence of Digambara Kumudacandra 121. The author Yaśascandra belonged to sākambhari and he also wrote another play called the Rājimatiprabodhanāțaka122, Two other dramas, written by the Śvetāmbara writers,
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