Gauḍavaho is an exemplary work of Vākpatirāja in the Prākrit language that is considered a Mahākāvya since it has 1209 Gāthās in an Arya meter. The verse novel is a glorious mount of flowery garlands including mythological events, décor of nature, seasons, sports, amusements, the military march, and other fascinating topics mounded one over the other in continuity. Interestingly, although the poem has covered several topics, it has no different chapters like Sargās, Adhyāyas or Utchhvāsas, which is distinct to Raghuvamśaṁ, Kirātārjunīyam, Śiśupālavadha, Setubandha (alternately called Rāvana-Vaho). The Praśasti-kāvya (as it is called so) is in celebration of the success of his highness, King Yaśovarman, against the Gauda King. The poem exemplifies this glory as a contributory reverence towards the King, tagging him as Yuddhavīra. Heroism being the primary gush of the poetry, love, anguish, antipathy, and other emotions are complementary to the poem's primary focus. The poem, accordingly, is a delight to celebrate the king's victory against the Gauda or Magadha king. Prof. Johann Georg Buhle has stated that the poem is half-done, which involves more Gāthās; it might be lost or stopped in the middle of the course. However, intellects like Johannes Hertel and N. B. Utgikar opine that the text is complete.
Gauḍavaho is a novel verse which glorifies King Yaśovarman as an embodiment of lord Viṣṇu himself. The 1209 Gāthās, which runs on a single line, covers many topics alongside the grand success of Yaśovarman against the Gauda King, including the military march, war, depiction of capitals and villages comprising of their festivals, seasons, forests, mountains, sea, territories of lands, and deserts, lakes and rivers, the sunrise and the moonrise, mornings, evenings, nights, nocturnal darkness, sacrificial performance, sex delights and water sports. In this regard, the poem includes the following themes: In the benediction which covers around 61 verses, poet Vākpatirāja praises and bows to Lord Brahman, the supreme soul of the Universe, who was born by himself inherent in the orbit of a lotus. He offers his prayers to Lord Viṣṇu and Narasiṃha and especially explains how Narasiṃha destroyed his enemies with his sharp nails. And he concludes the benedictory part of his poem by bowing to the sacred river Gaṅgā by explaining her sanctity. In the forthcoming lines, Vākpatirāja has also included the eulogy of the poets as to how a poet should be. Vākpatirāja starts the poem by revealing the magnitude of King Yaśovarman's supremacy and power. Yaśovarman's innate ability to eliminate all his sins from the worldly ether, his affection towards Lord Indra and his virtues, which moved in all directions, is aptly presented in the poem's body. Also, as a supporting emotion, it lines up the setting of the environment while Yaśovarman marches with his army. Praise by bards and poets is included in the poem. This speaks about the presence of Goddess Lakṣmī herself in the sword of King Yaśovarman in his battle, which gave him the glorious victory/
Vākpatirāja not only appreciates nature and human beings but also compliments the efforts of horses and elephants in the King's army about their strength and endurance to win the battle.
The war could have occurred for a while, including all seasons. Vākpatirāja explains the village borders, the sun's rounded orb whirled in the skies and the emergence of fresh paddy crops and pools of water at the outskirts of villages during winter. Also, during summers, the mountain rivers waver along their courses, and their currents are slowed down on rugged land, which is mentioned in verse. The animals tolerated the first fresh shower, and the trees, rice fields, and sugar cane crops were looking afresh during the rainy season, and he calls it the advent of the rains.
Captivatingly, some Gāthās have also had the delightful bliss of discussions regarding the Vindhya mountains and the reigning deity of it, which acknowledges the landscape during the days in which the poem was written.
The poem's primary intent, which is the King's conquest, is represented with all pleasure in the poetry. Vākpatirāja explains how Yaśovarman marched through the outskirts of the sea-coasts, and the environment in praise of the King, after having captured the fleeing Magadha monarch.
The poem is not only a eulogy but also talks about the secrets of qualities and shortcomings of Kings, of being a good and evil man, the exquisiteness of nature's creations, kingdom's nightlife and brings back the concluding paragraph towards the endurance and power of King Yaśovarman, to end the poem.
Vākpatirāja, in his Gauḍavaho, tries to soothe the learned and the typical crowd. He has adopted a two-fold style of writing, where he has merged the Gaudi and the Vaidarbhi forms. While the pompous style of narrating is meant for the scholarly Paṇḍitas, the subjects, including eulogies of poets, descriptions of nature, and other narrations of ways and means of the world, are intended for the commoner.
When one reads the poem, a few parts are decorative with an impressive style, full of compound sentences. This indicates the poet's play of words involving the Sanskrit language. Using Sanskrit prākritized words and sentences by the poet can be treated as a technique of the poet to cater to the literary tastes of his times.
It is found in the Jaina literature that, Yaśovarman imprisoned the poet Vākpatirāja. This indicates the greatness of Vākpatirāja and his fondness towards King Yaśovarman, who exemplified the picture of the king, even though he was imprisoned. However, there are several other stories which disregard this incident. However, the friends and admirers of Vākpatirāja, his title, and patronage reveal the kind-heartedness of the poet in the true sense.