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JAINA MEN OF ACTION
113 mārga, like water and milk, with the bill of good doctrinc he separated the water of evil deeds, and made the good creed which issued from the mouth of Jina to be imbibed by the Bhavyas with joy-hence was he called the royal swan to the lotus the supreme Jina creed."
General Sāntinātha's guru was Vardhamānavrati of the Mula sangha, Desiya gana, and Kondkundānvaya. His father was called Govinda Rāja, his elder brother Kannapārya, and his younger brother Vāgbhūşaņa Rāvana.
The inscription before us praises his qualities as a great poet. “A born poet, a skilful poet, an unassisted poet, a good poet, a beautiful poet, a poet banishing falsehood, a fortunate poet, a praised lord of poets," Sāntinātha had the title of Sarasvatī-mukha-mukura. “Filled with beautiful taste, with imagination, and with truthful description did he compose the Sukumāracarita." His fame was unspotted, and his work for the Jina dharina lasting. With modesty he petitioned his immediate over-lord Lakşma regarding a work of merit, thus-“ With lines of temples of Jina, Rudra, Buddha and Hari decorated with gold and jewels, Balinagara is well known as a place of five mathas. To describe the glory of the Jina dharma in this royal city, purified by the dwellings of all the gods among the many countries is Jambudvīpa, the... is the Bharata land ; in it is Kuntala country, in which like perpetual spring is Banavasenād, and in the Vanavāsi country is Balipura, frequented by the Bhavyas, and in it the Sāntitīrtheśa temple praised by the gods. It is now built of wood ; to build it of stone would be a source of merit to you." Accordingly the provincial ruler Lakşma ordered that the Jina temple was to be built of stone; and he as well as his suzerain lord the Western Cālukyan king Someśvara II made suitable endowments of land for the
