Pt. Bhudar Das

(1693-1749)

Deeply religious minded devotional poet Pt. Bhudhar Das was born at Agra and lived there in Siahganj. He was a learned scholar of Adhyatma Saili of Agra and devoted most of his time in worshipping and performing other religious duties. He did Shastra Pra- vachan there daily in the Jain temple.

He was Khandelwal Jain of Kasliwal gotra. He and Pt. Daulat Ram were good friends at Agra. He had a thorough study of Sanskrit and Prakrit scriptures and Jain Puranas. His works are influenced by the latter. He had good contacts with scholars, prominent Jains and officers of Jaipur State.

Pt. Bhudar Das had devoted only his last 15-20 years of life to literary service. He had completed his first poetic composition Jain Shatak in 1724. It was written on the inspirations from religious minded Gulab Chand, a governor of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh of Jaipur.

His second work Paraswapuran (Mahakavya) completed in 1732 is an important contribution by him to Hindi literature. Jain Shatak, Bhudhar Vilas, Pad Sangraha, Parmartha Jakhri, Guru Stuti, Baraha Bhavna, Jinendra Stuti, Paraswanath Stuti, Paraswa- nath Stotra, Eki Bhavna Stotra, Paraswapuran, Gaj Bhavna, Panchmeru Puja, Vajranabhi Chakravarti Ki Vairagya Bhavna, Baies Pari- shaha are his important literary works.