________________
Sanskrit Literature / 101
known as Bommalaguṭṭa. Handiqui's identification of Gangadhara with Gangavati in the Raicur Dt of Karṇāṭaka is not correct.
4.9.2. Sōmadēva flourished as a court-poet of the Calukyas of Vēmulavāḍa olim Lēmulavāḍa (Sk. Lēmuļa pāṭaka/Lembulapāṭaka/Lēmuļavāṭaka) feudatories of the Rāṣṭrakūtas. Yaśastilaka, composed in campu style on the model of Prakrit Jaina works, stands unsurpassed in many respects. Exploiting the creative dimensions of campu style and form, the standard Yasastilaka, in prose and verse, Somadeva took it to sublime heights: 'It represents a lively picture of India at a time when the Buddhist, Jaina and Brahminical religions were still engaged in a contest that drew towards it the attention, and well-nigh absorbed the intellectual energies of all thinking men' [Peterson's Report, 1., p. 33]. It is said that his prose vies with Bāṇa and his poetry with that of Magha.
4.9.3. Yasastilaka, a mahā-kā vya, great-poem, portrayed on a broad canvas of eight parts dealing with various subjects. The story of prince Yasodhara and his cycle of births, most popular theme in Jaina narrative lore, is the nucleus of the epic. Befittingly, this portion is popular as Yasodhara-mahārāja-carita. The character of Amṛtamati, queen-consort of Yasodhara is portrayed in such a way that it turns out to be the core of the story. Ever since K. K. Handiqui published his researcher on the historical and cultural importance in his famous work Yasastilaka and Indian culture', Sōmadēvasūri is very often referred cum lande, with the highest praise, by the Sanskrit scholars and philosophers:
'Somadeva has shown an encyclopaedic genius that a scholar to-day could reconstruct all shades of Vedic, Agamic, Tantric and popular thought and wisdom current in the time by dint of patient research on this work. There is nothing secular or religious, social or political, that escapes the far
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
