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38
Damiraja-rşeś-caritram" in another place, 17 refers to his work as a 'Katha' in a couple of instances 18 and finally confirms that he has intended his work to be a 'Campū',19 adding further that a virtuous person could never get interested in a Katha' composed by others of alien faith.20 In spite of this confusion on the part of our author it is apparent that he had a certain aversion to the Kathas composed by authors of alien faith, that he was narrating a story based on the life of a saintly king called Nami canonized as a Pratyeka-buddha, that he had a liking for Sanskrit romance of a mixed species, and that he himself was sure that his was definitely a romance belonging to the species known as 'Campu', if also as anything else.
Although we have no means to ascertain whether the colophones of the five Ucchvāsas of the MRA were composed by Jinabhadrasūri himself or by the anonymous author of the marginal notes (tippani) in the Ms., it is most probable that they were from the pen of the author himself, since the author of the Tippant has not cared to conclude even his marginal comments with a colophone at the end of any of the Ucchrāsas. It is therefore not improper if we conjecture that the author might have wished to pass his work as a 'Katbā, Akhyāyikā, and Campū all at once while he was himself sure about having composed a 'Campū'.
While composing his MRA, Jinabhadrasuri seems to have had in his mind such worthy literary specimens like the Vāsavadattă of Subandhu, the Daśakumāracarita of Dandin, the Kādambari and the Harşacaritam of Bāna, the Nalacampū and the Madalasācampū of Trivikramabhata, the Yaśastilakacampū of Somadevasūri, the Jivandharacampū of Haricandra, the Udayasundari kathā of Soddhala, the Rāmāyaṇacampū of Bhoja, the Tilakamanjarı of Dhanapala, and perhaps a few others too. But of all these the Vasavadatta and the Nalacampū seem to be in his mind when he refers to 'Parakatha' (lit. a Katha composed by another; the best Katha) both of wbich are characterized by abundance of paronomastic passages with pun on almost every syllable in accordance with proper sentiment and involving the breaking up of the syllables of the word in a variety of ways and the dissolution of the compounds in different manners at the hands of people full of curiosity. 21 in points of style and content, he seems to have had the Nalacampü chiefly before his mind's eye as a worthy specimen to be emulated, since it is this work only which is called
17. Op. cit., Intro, vs. 37. 18. Op. cit., Intro. vs. 30, 31. 19. Op. cit., Intro. vs. 54. 20. Op. cit., Intro. vs. 55. 21. MRA, Intro. vs. 55.
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