“In Tune with the Times: Paradox and Punning in Somadeva’s Ornate Prose”

This paper builds upon the previous presentation and further explores the intricacies of poetic language in Somadeva’s Yaśastilaka, specifically examining how Somadeva employs the figures of virodhābhāsa (apparent contradiction) and śleṣopamā(punned simile) as methods of exposition in the text. They contextualize the Yaśastilaka within the broader landscape of earlier Sanskrit and Prakrit works composed in ornate prose and, specifically, explore the parallels in poetic language between the Yaśastilaka and two notable works—Bāṇa’s Kādambarī (seventh century) and Śīlāṅka’s Caupaṇṇamahāpurisacariyaṃ (ninth century). This analysis demonstrates that by introducing a level of perplexity and disorientation through literary paradox and punning, Jain authors such as Somadeva and Śīlāṅka create the poiesis of the inexpressible.