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154 / The Rāstrakūtas and Jainism
soaring aspiration, deals with the biography of Sāntinātha, the sixteenth Tirthankara. It contains twelve cantos in campūstyle. It is the earliest and also the best of the purāņas on the life of Sāntinātha in Kannada literature, and is by no means dull. For its choice diction, sustained harmony between metres employed, the work has been a splendid masterpiece. The incidents of Anantavirya and Aparājita, Barbara Kirātas, Kapila the out cast who was brilliant in grasping knowledge - are portrayed in a unique way.
5.6.3.4.1. The main objective of Ponna, in this classic, is the propogation of Jaina tenets and ethics which has been successfully achieved. When trouble was simmering in the Rāstrakūta administration, towards the last years of Krsna-III, Ponna was patronised by Mallapa and Punnamayya, brothers from a prestigeous Jaina marshal family. The pious brothers requested Ponna to compose Sāntipurāṇam in Kannada for the merit of Jinacandra, ascetic of Krānūr-gaņa, and preceptor of their house. Jinacandra was held in high regard by the monarchs of the period in Vāņiyavādi (was it Tardavādi where Tailapa-II was the governor of high rank?). Ponna has exclusively devoted thirty stanzas to panegyrize the austere life of seer Jinacandra. The composer has also set apart twenty six verses to eulogize the historical accomplishments of Mallapa and Punnamayya, brothers of idealism personified, like the legendary figures of Bhimārjuna and Nakula-Sahadēva.
5.6.3.5. In the prologue to śāntipurāṇam, Ponna has given a list of Kānūrgana a band of Jaina preceptors. This list verily agrees with inscriptional and literary evidences. As noted above, a full blown hagiography of the pontiff Jinacandra reflects the glory and superiority of the friar who had the members of the family of Nāgamayya and his two sons, Mallapa and Punnamayya as his fore most lay followers. Ponna has recroded the life time achievements of
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