56 GUJARXTA AND ITS LITERATURE

If she loves me, she will bs dead by now; and if, she be alive still, she
has no love for me. In any way, I have lost my wife. Why do you thunder
you wicked cloud ? 1

Oh, bee, don't you make a buzzing noise in this forest. Don't you lament
as you look in that direction. The Malati creeper whose separation has
brought you to death is in another country,3

My heart has been captured by you; you have been taken in by her;
she dances to the tune of another. O beloved! What can I do ? It is just
like a fish swallowing another.3

V.

During the Calukyan period, several Jaina sadhus
composed prayers and religious legends in Apabhransa.
Most of these religious compositions were adapta-
tions from the Prakrta which had long ceased to be
understood by the ordinary people. When the sSdhus at
the court of Patana, who formed the aristocracy of the
priesthood, devoted themselves to Samskrta, their humble
co-workers continued to cater for the needs of the masses
in their own language. But even their language soon ceased
to develop on independent lines. Those who made use of
Apabhransa looked for inspiration to the sadhus who
employed Samskrta; and such fragments as have come
down to us show that Apabhransa literature flourished in
the twelvth century on the wealth of expression and the
grace of style furnished by Samskrta masterpieces.

The following extracts from Somaprabha's KumUrapnla-
pratibodha will suffice to give an idea of the lines of
progress which Apabhransa followed*

If there is dishonour, but not death, one should go into exile; but one
should not wander about playing into the hands of the wicked.1

, fife

srg g