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Works on anuprekşā in Kannada Literature
१७९
We have, in Kannada literature, two poets who have written independent major works on anu preksā. They are Bandhuvarma and Vijayanna.
Band huvarma and his works
Bandhuvarma (A. D. 1200) gives no information, except his clan, about his personal details at any point in his works. He has written two major works namely 'Jivasanbod hane' and 'Harivams bhyudaya'. Jiva: ambodhane is the first work in Kannada which is solely devoted to anu prekşās. Harivamsābhyudaya deals with the life of Tirtharkara Neminātha. Also their is a work called "Satid har masara' in Bandhuvarma's name, which deals with the duties of Jaina women. But there is controversy regarding the authorship of this work. The term 'yarma' ( 9 ) in his name makes our mind to suspect whether he comes from a Ksatriya class. But in the colophon of Jivasambod hane' the Poet says that it was composed by Bandhuvarma who was a da azala. By this we can say that he comes from the merchant class. Jivasambodhane's
Eandlurarma's Jivasambodkane' is the fiirst work in Kannada which is fully devoted to deal with anu prekşās. The name of his work itself is very different from other anu preksā works. This is an address to the souls which are in sorrow because of Knowledgelessness. This work is in cam pu style. There are in total 558 verses and also prose rendering of the same number. The noticable point here is that each verse has a prose part which almost explains what is said in the previous verse. In some places the poet says after the verse that the above verse was like a sutra and it could not be understood without special exposition. Then he explains it in simple language (Ex. PP. 122-20, 216-8). Sometimes his prose looks abridged summary of the corresponding previous verses; and at some places they explain the meaning of the verse with different examples and some other places give inore informations.
There is one significant feature in Band huvarma's 'Jivasombod hane'. He narrates most suitable stories to illustrate anu prekşās. So for I have not come across any work of this nature either in Prakrit or in Sanskrit. We know anu preksā is a dogmatic subject. But Band huvarma has made
5. Ed. by. H. Shesha Aingar, Madras, 1955
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