Dvyasrayakavya

Author(s): Satyapal Narang
Publisher: Munshiram Manoharlal Publisher's Pvt Ltd New Delhi

Page 48

IV. HEMACANDRA'S ERUDITION
(GENERAL)
Hemacandra had a command on all the fields of Sanskrit learning and that is why he was called the omniscient of the Kali Age (Kalikālasarvajña). It has been observad before that Hemacandra digested and reproduced various branches of Sanskrit scholarship consisting of Lexicography, Grammar, Metrics, Philosophy, Literary criticism and original poetry. Thus, his scholarship is thoroughly reflected in the Dvyāśrayakāvya. Besides his mature expression and deep thinking, he has a wonderful command on diction. He immediately comes across the vocabulary adjustable to his sense, sound and metre. Various allusions to orthodox and heterodox systems of philosophy, mythology and Dharamaśāstra can be frequently observed in the Dvyāśrayakāvya. Here some of his erudite allusious as reflected in the Dvyāśrayakāvya are given.
VEDAS: Brahma is another synonym for the Veda (I, 82). Hemacandra has referred to three Vedas called chandas also (VII. 24; X11.8). Elsewhere, he speaks of the four Vedas as catuh-chandas or catuhśruti ( I. 191; 11. 2). The Vedas are specified as the Řk, Yajus, Sāman and Atharvan (1 182). Those who recite the Vedas orally are called Sumantrasnuț (II. 55). The process of teaching the Vedas by recitation is called Vedāpayana (VII. 111). The Vedas are specified by the name Samhitā, Padaka (having Pada-pāțha) and Kramaka (having Krama-pātha) (V. 120). Moreover, Hemacandra has