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The Puranas written in Hindi are very important from the point of view of the History of Hindi literature, They indicate the stages of the development of styles of poetry and prose from the end of the Sixteenth century onwards.
The term Kavya means any thing produced by a poet. It includes poems, fables lyrics, dramas and all othere forms of literature. But its use is narrowed down generally to a class of poetry, although its use with reference to other types is not forbiddan. The classical definition of Kavya is
1
Bhamah
Though the name can be applied to some other forms of literature also. Some of the Kavyas produced by Jaina poets and which are of very high order are briefly described below
2.
Jaina Grantha Bhandars in Rajasthan.
KAVYA LITERATURE
धर्मार्थकाममोक्षेषु वैचक्षण्य कलासु च ।
प्रीति करोति कीर्ति च साधु काव्यनिबन्धनम् ॥
JINA SENĀCARYA the author of Adipurāņa wrote Pärśwābhyudaya1 which describes the life of Lord Pärswanath. It is divided into four cantos and regarded as one of the best poems written by the Jaina writers. In this work there are preserved 120 stanzas of the Meghasandesa.
3
HARICANDRA is the author of the work DHARMASARMABHUDAYA2 in 21 cantos The Kavya describes the life of Dharmanatha a Jaina Tirthankara. The work is quite well known and its copies found in Several Sastra Bhandars. HIS other work is JIVANDHARA CAMPU3, a manuscripts of which is preserved in the Grantha Bhandar of Jaina temple Terapanthi, Jaipur. It describes the life of Jivandhar. In the 11th century Viranandi composed CANDRAPRABHA CARITA in Sak Samvat 943 (1021 AD) The poem describes the life of Candraprabha a Ja na lirthankara. It is divided into 15 cantos
Bhattarkiya Sastra Bhandar, Nagaur.
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4. Amer Săstra Bhandar, Jaipur.
