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Studies in Jainology, Prakrit
Kannada works. Nrpatunga mentions several names of earlier eminent writers of Kannada prose nad poetry : Vimala, Udaya, Nāgārjuna, Jayabandhu and Durvinīta as eminent prose-writers; Srivijaya, Kavisvara, Pandita, Candra and Lokapala as renowned poots. Unfortunately we do not get any exact and decisive information about these authors. Durvinīta is identified as the Ganga King who was a disciple of Devanandi or Pujy apada. Kavīsvara is surmised as Kaviparamesthi praised by the Acāryas Jinasena and Gunabhadra. Any way it is quite possible that several of these authors were Jains.
Besides such eminent authors there are a few great ones who, along with their works, are known by references only : Śyamakundācārya wrote a commentary in 12,000 gathās on the Satkhandāgama and Kasāya Prābhrta in Sanskrit, Prakrit and Kannada. He is placed in C.600 A.D. Tumbalūrācārya wrote on these very works another commentary in Kannada, named Cūdāmani extending over 91,000 gāthās. He is placed round-about 650 A.D. Moreover some so far unidentified scholar wrote on the Tatvārthasutra an exhaustive commentary in Kannada extending over 96,000 gathās. Though anything definite about its date cannot be said, it must be more or less of the same antiquity as that of the two commentaries of the Satkhandagama noted above. Lastly, Bhrajsnu wrote in Kannada a voluminous commentary on the Mūlarādhanā (Bhagavati Aradhanā).18 It appears to have been in prose and possibly belonging to the period anterior to that of Nrpatunga.
Had these four commentarial works, together with those of the eminent authors mentioned by Nrpatunga, been available to us, the glory of the carly Kannada literature, as mainly built by the Jaina teachers and scholars, would have stood before our eyes in its far factual vividity than could be just conjectured now; and also the carly line of development of Kannada literature could
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