Mallinatha

(14th c.?) Sanskrit scholar and commentator noted for his commentaries
on the plays written by the poet
Kalidasa (5th c.?); these commentaries
have become sources for interpreting
the texts. Although the subject of his
commentary was largely “secular” poetry,
Mallinatha himself was a Jain, and may
have been a monk. His work illustrates
the important role that the Jains played
in the preservation of Indian literary
culture. In addition to their commentaries, they copied and recopied the
manuscripts, a never-ending task due to
the fragile nature of the palm leaves on
which they were written.