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Sanskrit Literature / 63
4.2.1. Ravikirti's composition of poetic - excellence has been acclaimed as a Khanda-kavya, a short poem of historical improtance. His intimacy with the king reminds of similar close association that Pampa had with Arikēsari-II, that Ranna had with Satyāśarya Iṛivabeḍanga, and all of them were poet-laureates. Ravikirti founded an excellent Jaina shrine. His mention of the name of Kālidāsa has helped the Sanskrit scholars to suggest a probable and positive upper limit in fixing the date of Kalidāsa.
4.2.2. To counter balance the traditional Jaina denial of a theistic creation and Brahmanic supremacy, in either spiritual or secular realm, 'Jaina teachers had to develop a system that would not violate these basic tenets. This feat was accomplished largely through the ingenuity and literary skill of the ācārya Jinasena, whose massive Adipurāņa was nothing less than a Jaina version of the history of the world. Exploiting the rich potentialities in the tale of Rṣabha, the first king and the first Tirthankara, Jinasena made of this figure a virtual "Jaina Brahmā", one who pronounced a set of "Jaina Vedas", and, most germane to the present discussion, instituted the division of castes. Rṣabha's status, reflected in such epithets as prajapati (lord of creatures) and ādi-deva (first lord), became that of "creator" in a sense acceptable to Jaina tradition; he was not held to have made the world, but he did supposedly create the organisation of human society" [Padmanabh S. Jaini: 288].
4.2.3. Adipurāṇa, based on vast canvas, has wide spectrum covering the pros and cons of Jaina church, is an integrated net-work, Adoration and worship of Jinas and recitation of hymns, followed with rites, rituals, was sanctified in Mahāpurāṇa. To strengthen the force of lay disciple, Jinasena described that the Jinas do grant the desired results : 'A man who wants wealth and prosperity should concentrate his mind on the Jinas who are described
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