________________
152
V. M. Kulkarni
Abhinavagupta explains in his commentary Locana that he invented the episodes of Parijataharana, etc., and introduced them in his Harivijaya, although they have no basis in the Itihasa, etc.(80)
Kuntaka mentions Sarvasena next in order to Kālidāsa as a poet of the Sukumara (graceful), popularly known as Vaidarbhi, style of composition, (32)
Although Hemacandra assumes Sarvasena to have composed the galitakas, he, following Bhoja, mentions the view that some 'literary critics regarded these galitakas as interpolations by self-styled Pandits. If that view be correct Hemacandra's criticism loses all its force. But for this single critical reference Hemacandra is, like Bhoja, all praise for Sarvasena and his Harivijaya. Like Bhoja he mentions Harivijaya with Rāvuņa-vijaya and Setubandha as the three well-known Prakrit mahākavyas; and like Bhoja he mentions it approvingly several times with other well-known Sanskrit and Prakrit kavyas, while -illustrating the salient features of a mahakavya. Bhoja shows his high esteem for Sarvasena and his high appreciation of his Harivijaya by drawing on it for exquisite examples on more than fortyfive occasions in the course of his exposition of poetics.
Bāṇabhatta eulogizes Pravarasena's Setubandha, like Hala Saravāhana's (Gatha-) Koša, in equally glowing terms:
Pravarasena's fame bright like the white water-lily cro-sed over to the other shore of the ocean by Setu (1 bridge 2 his Setu-Kavya composed in Prakrit) like the army of monkeys, glorious with Kumuda, a commanderin-chief of monkeys, crossed over to the other shore of the ocean.(32)
There is a tradition that the Setubandha was composed by Kalidasa and that Pravarasena was only the patron of that great poet. This tradition itself linking Pravarasena's Setuhandha with the name of Kalidasa speaks volumes for its high literary merit.
Dandi the renowned author of Kavyadarśa, bestows high praise on Setubandha when he says: "The Māhārāştri is the best of all Prakrits. Setubandha (and other poetic compositions) composed in this Prakrit are verily an ocean of jewel-like Subh7şitas (fine witty sayings).”
Two centuries before the Hurivijaya of Sarvasena was appreciated by Anandavardhana, the Setubandha was extolled by eminent writers like Băņa and Dandi. This fact clearly shows that Setuban dha was regarded as the best among the Prakrit mahakavyas,
That Setubandha of Pravarasena was well-known in literary circles in Cambodia in the ninth centary A.D. is attested by a verse from an inscription of the Cambodian king Yašovarman who reigned in the last decade
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
