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xii
VAJJĀLAGGAM
general name, and Jayavallaha is the specific name given by the author to the present Vajjālagga. We do not, however, come across any other anthology in Prākrit bearing the general name vajjālagga in addition to some specific name given to it by its author. There is only one V ajjālagga known to Prākrit litera. ture and that is the present one named Jayavallaha by its author.
The name Jayavallaha given by the author to the present anthology in st. 3, is rendered by Ratnadeva as Jayavallatła, without any further explanation of the się nifcarce of itatrine.' Jayavallabha is perhaps to be taken as standing for vallakbajaya (with transposition of the two words in the Bahuvrihi compourd) and to be understood to mean "loving victory, fond of victory, victorious”. It is also possible to equate Jayavallak ha with Jagadvallabha and in that case it would mean "loved by or dear to the (whole) world."
(ii) Name of the Author:
Nowhere in the body of the VL do we get any indication regarding the name of the author or compiler of the anthology. It is, however, stated by the commentator Ratnadeva in his opening remarks on the first stanza, that a poet by name Jayavallabha, an eminent Śvetāmbara Jaina, compiled the present anthology. The commentator also tells us that though the poet Jayavallabha was himself well-versed in Sanskrit, he compiled the present anthology of Prākrit stanzas for the benefit of ordinary people who, though ignorant of Sanskrit, had an amorous or erotic bant of mind 3 Beyond this statement by the commenta
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2. Prof. N. A. Gore ( Introduction p. iji ) supports this latter explanation of the title Jayavallabha as applying to the present anthology, and calls attention to the epithet 45marète ( he le ) appearing in st. 794,
3. ratartalo Teu am fa: drnd faiqah and Theftú 5749लोक्य, आत्मना संस्कृतपारंगतोऽपि प्राकृतगाथासंग्रहभिमं चकार ।
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