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132 / The Rāstrakūțas and Jainism
who heralded a new era by opening a flood-gate for a rich harvest in all genre. Under the prevailing circumstances, where the beginnings of Kannada literature are enveloped in dusk, Kavirājamārga proclaims that a considerable volume of prose and poetry existed before C. E. 850. It is astonishing that he has not mentioned the names of Virasēna and Jinasēna-II, his senior contemporaries or the name of Asaga and Guņabhadra, his contemporaries. Chronology of his composition could easily be traced in the sequel of Candraprabha-purāņa, Raghuvamsa-purāņa and Kavirājamārga. Amõghavarşa, after a careful perusal of the early two works, commissioned Srivijaya to author the third work. Srivijaya was the first Jaina author to depart from the traditional tract of composing commentaries. Instead, he preferred to write creative poems.
5.5.3.1. Srivijaya's interests cover a wide spectrum, from religion to literature and socio-culture, from politics to ancient history. An all-embracing quintessence of the anthology of Kannada people over centuries has been brilliantly recorded in the frame of just a few stanzas, poetlaureate commends the heriosm of Karnātaka and Răstrakūta warriors who were more virulent but never cruel, ferocious but generous, daredevil but compassionate. This vivid description of the Karņāțaka fighters largely and neatly agrees with the statement of Rajasekhara, a north Indian Sanskrit litterateur, complimenting the Karņāțas as born veterans in the craft of fighting in the theatres of war, and dexterous in military strategy.
5.5.3.2. Kavirājamārga is compendium of encyclopaedic nature, dealing on prosody, poetics, grammar, linguistics, dialects, stylistics, folk-lore, socio-culture, philosophy, religion, the people, important cities and rivers, geography, politics et cetera, on varied subjects of human interest.
5.5.3.2. Kavirājamārga, a Tolkāppiyam of Kannada literature, is widely quoted more for its stanzas speaking of
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