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Prakrit Literature / 173
northern region in search of a better shelter. He faced bad days. For him it was a hand-to-mouth existence. At last he reached the suburbs of Malkhēd, royal seat of the Rāstrakūtas.
6.4.1. When Puspadanta was relaxing in a grove of trees in the environs of the statehouse, he was approached by Indrarāja and Annayya, two Jaina citizens, who persuaded the poet to meet Bharata, cabinet officer of the Rāstrakūta emperor (Krsna-III). Happiness had smiled on him. Bharata, a devout Jaina householder son of Ayyana and Dēvi became the esteemed supporter of Puspadanta. Bharata, a minister and general of the vast kingdom and a benevolent patron, solicited him to author an epic of his faith. Bharata's house was a coterie of the learned.
6.4.2. Puspadanta began composing TisatthiMahāpurisa-Guņālarkāra in C. E. 959. After completing the portion of Adipurāna, some how he could not progress. By the benediction of goddess of learning and by the animation of Bharata, his patron, Puspadanta resumed his composition.
6.4.3. When he completed the epic in C. E. 965, he himself was much delighted with his poetic accomplishment. He, in his ecstacy, proudly declared that 'what is not here can not be found elesewhere in the same vein of the illustraious Vyāsa.
Later, the Rāstrakūta empire suffered a set back and fell into very bad days. Puşpandanta's poetic pixy was nurtured, amidst adversity by Nanna, son of Bharata, who stepped into his father's office. At the petition of Nanna, an ardent Jaina votary, Puşpadanta authored two more resplendent classics, Jasahara-cariu (Sk. Yasõdhara-carita) and Nāyakumāra-cariu (Sk. Nāgakumāra-carita). For the simple reason, that after completing a mahākāvya, a fullfledged epic, Puspadanta supplemented it with two Khandakāvyas, epic fragments, the poet was nicknamed as Khanda!
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