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104
The Apabhramsa epic
The first obvious similarity between the Mahāpurāņa on the one hand and the Paūmacariu and the Rithaņemicariu,8 Svayambhūdeva's Harivamsa Purāņa, on the other hand is the resemblance in style and form. Both Svayambhūdeva and Puspadanta divide their works into sandhi's which are subdivided into smaller kadāvaka's and use a great variety of standardised meters. H.C. Bhayani' already suggested that the similarity of form and style is due to the fact that this steady form of literature, which he calls the Apabhramśa epic, was already stereotyped by Puşpadanta's time. Therefore it cannot be stated that Puşpadanta "borrowed" this style from Svayambhūdeva or any of his predecessors. Since I am here only concerned with the influence of Svayambhūdeva's Paūmacariu on Puspadanta's Rāma-story in the Mahäpurāņa, I will not go into the similarities regarding the general style and form of their poems. Evidence from the introductory Kaļāvaka of Puşpadanta's Rāma-story
An undeniable indication that the Rāma-stories of both poets are interrelated in one way or another, can be deduced from a statement in the introductory kaļāvaka of Puşpadanta's Rāma-story 10 :
sāmaggi ņa ekka vi atthi mahu kairāū sayambhu mahāyariu caūmuhahu cayāri muhāim jahim mahu ekku tam pi muhum khamdiyaūm ... kira kavana liha cirakaihim sahum. so sayanasahāsahiņ pariyariu. sukaittaņu sisaŭ kāim tahim.
Yet, I possess not one utensil. Indeed which scripture (can be compared) to (those of) the poets of old? The great ācārya, kavirāja Svayambhūdeva, he (was) surrounded by thousands of loved ones. Because Caturmukha possessed four faces (mouths), good
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