________________
Dvyāśrayas, his illustrative verses in the Rāyaṇāvali (or the Dešināmamālā) and the Chandoñuśāsana, the T.S.P.C. and the devotional hymns, throw a flood of light on his poetic faculty".300
Dr. S. P. Narang 307 is right when he sums up that "Hemachandra was an erudite Jain monk who not only digested and reproduced numerous branches of Sanskrit learning but also wrote new technical treatises and lucid poetry. Due to his multifarious productivity in language and literature, he was extolled with the epithet 'Omniscient of the Kali Age' (Kalikālasarvajña). His works comprise dictionaries, philosophical treatises, Sanskrit literery criticism, grammar, original poetry and commentaries." Dr. Narang provides an interesting analytical outline of Hemachandra's Dvyāśrayakavya and also refers to the several works ascribed to him (pp. 6-14) to which we refer the inquisitive reader. Learning was Hemachandra's first love, so much so that "even during the period of his greatest power, when his friendship with Kumārapāla claimed much of him, Hemachandra remained true to his literary aspirations. Besides the Yogaśāstra... and an exhaustive commentary thereon, he wrote between V. S. 1216 and 1229, the Trişaştis'alākāpuruşacarita, the life of sixty three best men."308 Thoug essentially a religious work, this work reveals "genuine poetic qualities of description, emotion and story-telling and proves Hemachandra to be a Mahākavi."'3 0 9
479
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
