________________
ગુજરાતી સાહિત્ય પરિષદ
to
little-known aspect of his life-work would not be complete without emphasising it. And so, after the Dewan, the representative of the State, expressed his appreciation of the work of the Sahitya Parishad under the leadership of Mr. MUNSHI, up rose that slim figure with small care-worn eyes, clad in snow-white khaddargarments, politely taunted the scholars who had stood up to pay a tribute to the memory of the great man by saying that he himself was not a savant but a novelist and a statesman that when at the Karachi session of the Sahitya Parishad Sammelan he moved a resolution celebrate the Jayanti of Hemacandra he had particularly in view not that great man's contribution to the development to the Sanskrit and Prakrit literatures but the foundation laid by him of the structure which we so dearly call our Gujarat, and which Narmad and Khabardar have acclaimed in sonorous and soul-stirring verses and that the said service was in his eyes greater than his literary contribution and therefore deserved to be emphasised more than the latter. It there at least remained a mystery from what historical source he had picked up that idea. It was enough for him to say that he had conceived it ever since he wrote his "Torch-bearers of Gujarat " and deserved to be broadcast in this manner. The inquisitive can find that idea somewhat elaborated and supported by broad references to Duyashraya and Kumarapalacarita in Section IV of Chapter IV
૫૮
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
