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66 / The Rāstrakūțas and Jainism
4.3. Kaviparamēşthi(C. 750 C.E.), a copiously credited Sanskrit author of the age of Rāstrakūtas, is known by two other aliases of Kaviparamēśvara and Kaviśvara. Though, applauds are profusely heaped on him, his work has not directly come down to us.
4.3.1. Cămundarāya (C.E. 978) categorically affirms that Kaviparamesthi was the third litterateur to author on the theme of Trişasti-salākapuruşa-purāņa or Mahāpurāna as it is familarly known. Kūcibhattārāka and Srinandi were the other two recognised predecessors to compose Mahāpurāņa in Sanskrit.
4.3.1.1. Unfortunately, except for the patchy statement of C'Rāya, nothing comes forth about the life, works and date of the last two men of letters. A solitary reference of Küciācārya, chief patriarch of Yāpaniya Nandisangha PunnāgaVỊkşamüla gana and preceptor of Vijayakirti, comes from an inscription of C. E. 812, a coeval record of svāmi Virasēna. Kūciācārya, revered by the assembly of learned monks, flourished in the mid eighth century C.E. The date and locality suit the identification of Küci-äcārya with Kūchibhattāraka, author of Mahāpurāņa, mentioned by C'Rāya.
4.3.1.2. Therefore, Śrinandi, second author in the sequence of Mahāpurāņa, and Kaviparamēști, third in the order, must have prospered in late eighth century. Srinandi can difinitely be recognised as the same scholar-monk, who was the preceptor of Ugrāditya (770-840) of Kalyāṇakāraka, treatise on the science of medicine. This possibility agrees and explains the chronological sequence of the authorship of Mahapurāņa, in temporal terms. Evidently, these three ācāryas were the protegee of the Ganga and Rāstrakūta monarchs.
4.3.2. Fortunately, Kaviparamēsthi (Kaviparamēs vara), who succeeded Kūcibhattāraka and Srinandi, is known through some later complimentary references.
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