Mahavira his Times and his Philosophy of Life

Author(s): Harilal Jain, A N Upadhye
Publisher: Bharatiya Gyanpith

Page 48

cantos of which cover respectively the lives of Rşabha. Šānti, Nami, Pārśva and Mahāvīra. As an elegant kāvya, deserves to be mentioned the Vardhamāna-carita (Saka 913) of Asaga (Sholapur, 1931): here too sixteen cantos are given to the former births of Mahāvīra and only the last two for his present career. Sakala-kirti composed the Vardhamāna-purāna in nineteen cantos in the V.S. 1518. There are references to the Mahāvīra-caritra in Sanskrit attributed to Padma-nandin, Kesava and Vāņivallabha.
(c) Mahāvīra's Biographies in Apabhramsa The Mahāpurāņu (Saka 887) of Puşpadanta in Apabhramsa is a great poem, quite extensive and rich with all the poetic merits; and it deals with the lives of all the Tīrthakaras and other salākā-puruṣas. It has 102 sandhis. The life of Mahāvira is covered there from sandhi 65 onwards up to the end (Bombay, 1914). Sridhara has presented the life of Mahāvīra in an independent work. His other work, Pāsa-ņāha-cariu was completed in V.S. 1189; and some time about this period he might have composed this work too. Śrīdhara's Apabhramsa works hava a special attraction for us, because he has disclosed that he was a resident of Hariyāņā. The term Hariyāņā is the corrupt form of Ābhīrakāņām; so it is the land of the Abhira clan; and, according to Dandin, author of the Kāvy-ādarśa, it is from the speech of Abhiras and others that the Apabhramsa style developed. It can be said, therefore, that the tradition of Apabhramsa composition continued in Hariyāṇā from 5-6th century to 12th century A.D. It is very important from the linguistic and historical point of view that a search is instituted for the works of other poets and, on the basis of them, the local dialects are studied comparatively. During the reign of Tomara rulers of Gwalior, namely, Dūmgara-simha and his son Kirti-simha, the great poet Raidhū (c. V.S. 1500) has enriched Apabhramsa literature by
47