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Chapter VI
THE DIGAMBARA LITERATURE
(1000_1600 A.D.)
Like the Svetāmbaras, the Digambaras have an exceedingly rich literature, and majority of the Digambara works, of our period, wore written in Sanskrit, although there are good number of non-Sanskrit works, particularly those in Kanarese. Although the Digambaras had no Hemacandra among them, there were quite a few competent writers, who have left a mass of second class literature, meant mainly for the consumption of ordinary readers.
One of the most important, and at the same time, a very pleasing work of literature, is the Kathākośal of Prabhācandra, who according to the testimony of the work itself?, was a resident of Dhårā and a contemporary of king Jaya. simha (2nd half of the 11th century)s. It has further been conjectured by Upadhye*, that this Prabhācandra is identical with the commentator of Pushpadanta's Uttarapurana', which was also completed at Dhārā. during the reign of Jayasimba. He also probably wrote a number of other commentaries, as claimed by Upadhye®. He was a disciple of Padmanandin and wrote a commentary, called the Prameyakamalamārtanda on the Parikshāmukhasūtra of Mānikyanandin', and was a resident of Dhārā and contemporary of the great Bhoja. He has also been mentioned as a great logician in a Sravana Belgola epigraphe,
The Kathākoša, unlike the Bșhatkathakośa of Harishena, is a much smaller work in easy Sanskrit prose, and it contains some of the stories of the earlier work. We should not forget that all the Kathakośas owe their origin to the original Bhagavati Ārādhana, which contained 2166 verses in Prakrito. However, as noted by Upadhye, Prabbäcandra was not much
