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good of all the creatures, it is natural for this apostle of the Jaina church to dwell on the simplicity, beauty and miraculous powers of the Jaini speech with deep reverance and meditation.
The Object of the Work and its Title
Having introduced the name and qualifications of the author, the title and subject-matter of the work and having meditated upon the miraculous powers of the Jain speech, the author has prepared a proper background for the present work to get off to a good start. It is, therefore, but proper now that the author should proceed to deal with the practical aspects of the study of this work or the four requisities of a literary work. As per the practice of the writers of scientific treatises it is necessary to state the subject of the treatise, the aim of the treatise, their inter-connection or relationship and the qualified reader of the work.3 So, with a view to introduce the subject of the treatise and to show its purpose, Hemachandra states in the next verse (1. 2) that the nature of 'correct speech' having been fully explained by him in his preceding treatise on Grammar, called the Sabdānuśāsana, he now proposes to scientifically and systematically deal with the subject of the poetic speech or the theory of literature. To elaborate this statement, Hemachcndra adds in the gloss of this verse that prior to the composition of the present work, he composed a work on Grammar entitled the 'Siddhahema' in which he distinguished 'correct words' from 'incorrect words' and, now, in this work, composed by himself, he plans to discuss the nature and the different aspects of poetry in a scientific and thorough manner. This is possible because, when the correctness of speech is determined, it is easy to impart instructions about poetry which has the speech for its medium. And, due to the identity of the authors of the two works, he, himself being the author of both the works, and moreover, as both the works are complementary to each other, it is not necessary to deal with what has been explicity taught in the Sabdānuśāsana.
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