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Prakrit Literature / 175
Apabhramśa literature. In his prolegamena to his three poems, Puşpadanta, without any embarassment, has narrated interesting details of autobiographical note, about himself, his patrons, the circumstances which made him to migrate to Maļkhēd etc.
6.4.7. Unquestionably Puspadanta is a born poet and occupies a high place in the galaxy of poets. In the introductory verses he declares that he does not possess the necessary qualifications to undertake the great purāņa. But that only shows his humility, characteristic of a really cultured and rich mind. That he was endowed with the divine gift called pratibhā and that he had acquired proficiency in various sciences (Vyutpatti) would be evident to even a casual reader of this Rāmāyaṇa portion. His command of language is simply marvellous. Words come to him as easily and naturally as leaves to a tree. His vocabulary is almost unlimited. He embellishes his work with a variety of Alankaras that possess strinkingness and originality, Utpreksa is his forte. His epic abounds in ‘rasas'such as the erotic, the heroic, the marvellous and 'karuņā”. His style is, on the whole, marked by ‘ojas' (vigour) but not rarely does he write in the graceful and elegant vaidarbhi style. His poetry reveals the excellence of 'Artha-gauravatva' - profoundity of meaning. He employs variety of metres (such as Duvai, Hela, Āvali, Ārņālam, Racita etc.) and thus his work is free from the fault of monotony, and his poem possesses the charming quality called 'geyata'. He uses a large number of Desi words and extends its attractiveness to the ‘masses'. He possesses a delightful sense of humour and at times entertains us at his own cost. He is indeed a Mahā-kavi although according to the strict rules of Alankārikas his Mahā-purāņa cannot be called a Mahākāvya' (Kulkarni, V. M. : The story of Rāma in Jain literature : 1990 : 170].
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