Book Title: Tale of Elephant Driver in Avashyaka Version
Author(s): Edhild Maite
Publisher: Z_Kailashchandra_Shastri_Abhinandan_Granth_012048.pdf
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/211146/1

JAIN EDUCATION INTERNATIONAL FOR PRIVATE AND PERSONAL USE ONLY
Page #1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE TALE OF THE ELEPHANT DRIVER IN ITS AVAŠYAKA VERSION Adelheid Mette University of Munich, W. Germany The tale of the elephant driver (mintha) better known after its first and last part under the title cf "The cunning woman with the anklet and the jackal" was composed in Sanskrit slokas by Hemacandra in his Parisiṣṭaparvan (II 446-640). This version (written between 1159 and 1173 A. D) was edited, translated, retold and compared with its parallels known till 1914 by H. JACOBI. J. HERTEL and J. J. MEYER.2 A condensed summary of its six parts should be good enough to recall the outlines of the story. I: A young man falls in love with a married woman whom he caught sight of while she was bathing. By means of a semantic message which is transmitted by a wandering nun (parivräjikä) she calls him to a rendezvous, In the night of love the sleepers are discovered by the lady's fatherin-law who steals one of her anklets (nüpura) for evidence. But she succeeds in convincing her husband of her innocence and she is even able to deceive the yakṣa through whose legs she has to pass as an ordeal.4 III: The deceived father-in-law can't sleep any more being so grieved by all that has happened. For this reason he is well fit to guard the king's harem by night. Here he notices that one of the queens betrays the king with an elephant driver. While the old man, comforted by this event, regains his sleep, the adulteress discloses her identity when she unsuccessfully manoeuvres to conceal her fault to the inquiring king." IV She and her lover succeed in avoiding penalty of death because of his skill in handling an elephant whom he is capable of turning back after standing on only one foot above an abyss. The lovers are sent in exile." V: The queen betrays and leaves the elephant driver and runs off with a robber. The robber forsakes her at the shore of a river and leaves her taking all her goods with him. The elephant driver is taken as the robber and consequently condemned to death. After his death he becomes a vyantara god." My English translation was supervised by Miss stud. phil Barbara Fraenkel. -549 Page #2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ VI The vyantara god sees his former lover sitting forsaken in the reeds. To lead her on to the right path of the Jaina religion he gives her an example of her misbehaviour: by magic he creates a jackal who looses his prey because he is greedy for a tastier meal. For HERTEL it was clear that Hemacandra was the first author to join the motifs to this tale from different literary sources where they occurred, and also JACOBI was not able to find a single original text which Hemacandra could have used. In 1962 The Prakrit Text Society has published the Akhyanakamaṇikosa of Nemicandra with the vṛtti composed in 1135 A. D. by Amradeva. This commentry also contains an account of parts I-V of our story in 117 Prakrit äryä stanzas written at least 25 years earlier than the Parisistaparvan. But of far greater interest is another text, likewise inaccessible at the times of JACOBI and HERTEL and doubtlessly the source for Amradeva and Hemacandra as well. This is the Avasyaka commentary in its divided tradition of carni and tika (the latter represented by Haribhadra and Malayagiri). In the treasure of stories, which this tradition presents to us, there is also included an older version of the mintha-kathä in its complexity (parts I-VI) by which this can be dated back to at least the 7th century A. D. (at that time the Avaiyaka-cürņi attained its literary form)10 But already in verse 846 of the Avasyaka-niryukti to which the concerning passage of the prose commentaries (carni and tika) belongs, the catchword mintha is mentioned. The purpose of this catchword was to give a hint how the technical term akama-nirjarä 'unvoluntary extinction of karman'11 should be explained by the expounders of Jain doctrine: the elephant driver of our story, when condemned to death, suffers from thirst. A Jain believer promises to bring him water if in the meantime he would invoke the arhats. While doing so the mintha dies thus performing akāma-nirjarä. The compiler of the niryukti-several centuries older than the literary wording of the carni1 while choosing the catchword mintha must have been acquainted at least with those parts of the story in which the elephant driver figures. To get a more qualified judgement of the age if not of the whole composition but at least of the formulation of its single parts in Prakrit language we must examine the text itself as given in the Avasyaka-curai. The inserted stanzas, whose high number in this generally rather plain set-up is astonishing, deserve our special interest. There are 11 stanzas spread all over the text: vv. 1 seq. are composed in the äryä meter,13 v. 3 is a sloka (sanskrit), v. 4 a pṛthvi (sanskrit), v. 5 an arya of the older type, v. 6 a sloka (sanskrit, a well-known subhasita), v. 7 a vaitaliya, vv.8 seq. are triṣṭubhs, vv. 10 seq. slokas. The variety of meters is of course an indicator of the undeniable fact that the whole of the story was a contamination. On the other hand some of the verses prove to be of a considerable age as they are counterparts to verses of the Pali jātaka - 550 - Page #3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ (vv.8-11) or composed in meters not used in more recent poetry (vv.5 and 7). The most conspicious of the meters is the older form of the āryā as represented by v.5, which belongs to the second part of the story. Although not recognized by the editor of the cūrņi and requiring the slight alteration from vilakkho (=vilakşah 'confused', a late adjective) to vilakkha ( – vilakṣya 'being confused, baffled', absolutive) in its first pāda this stanza is nevertheless unmistakable: the form ahayam for aham and the particle khu show clearly that a metrical feature is intended. In this way we are able to trace this very rare type of meter in a non-canonical Jain text for the first time. It was known so far as "restricted to the very oldest Jain texts, viz. Ayära 1, 9, Sūyagaļa 1, 4 and (partly) Uttarajjhāyā 8"14 and to some likewise very old poems of the Buddhist Pali canon; here ALSDORF counted 43 instances, one of them in the Telapatta-jātaka (no 96)15, that means in respect of its source comparable to the verse discovered in our text. In later times this meter was forgotten. By good luck the cūrņi has preserved it in our case; at the same time it is characteristic for the development of the Avasyaka text tradition that in the tikä the stanza has become unrecognizable. The context of the stanza shows that it is not inserted here as a quotation but belongs to the tale rightly. Its contents is the reaction of the yakșa when the lover "disguised as a piśāca has grasped the sari” of the perfidious woman and she has spoken the formula which is meant to prove her innocence, namely: "besides him who was given to me by my parents (for being my husband) if I know (i. e. if I am sexually touched by) any other man with the exeption of the pisāca, then you (the yakşa) know me". Here follows the stanza : “The yakşa, being baffled, pondered : look here, which sort of things she is contriving. Even I myself am deceived by her, there is indeed no decency in this impudent woman”. (Verse 5, in the text.) If by means of the meter this part of the tale can be supposed to have been existing in the third century B.C., then this would be by far the oldest instance of the later on famous motif of 'the falsified ordeal’16 and not, as was presumed up to this time, the Greek romance of Leukippe and Kleitophon written by Achilleus Tatios 17. Here the adulterous Melite has to descend into the waters of the Styx that ascend up to the throat of a faithless woman but recede from a pure one. She is able to conquer the ordeal because in her oath sherefers to a date earlier than the adultery had happened. On behalf of its earliest papyrus manuscripts this romance can be assumed to have been written at the end of the second century A. D.18 The tale of the Andabhūtajātaka (no. 62), where the wife of a brāhmaṇa promises to go through a fire ordeal and uses the same trick as our Nūpurapanditā, does not yield an earlier date because it is accounted only in the prose text, not referred to in the verses of the Jätaka Pali. When Achilleus Tatios and the author of jātaka 62 as well as later poets who used the motif of the falsified ordeal let the women prove their innocence by - 551 - Page #4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ water or fire, then they possibly recurred to the regular procedure of an ordeal. However, the kind of a trial chosen in the Napurapanditakatha has an exact meaning. In Jain tales yakṣas often appear as cruel demons to whom, for instance, young girls must be offered So it is according to the yakşa's nature that the woman, if she cannot stand the proof, is to be taken by him as a prey, laggai antar' andena, as the curņi says with a coarse expression (only the younger texts peak of his shanks, jangha, instead of anda). Also the phrase 'then you know me", which the Nupurapandita uses in her oath (see above) is to be understood in the sense of touching sexually likewise as of course if I know any other man' in the same sentence THEODOR ZACHARIAE in his article Scheingeburt, 19101", had already called attention to this special kind of ordeal known to him from the later versions of our tale in Sukasaptati and Parisistaparvan. In connection with other instances of 'creeping through the legs' he was inclined to regard the action as an imitation of the occurrence of birth. Obviously he did not see that the point of our tale is not the coming free of the successful but, on the contrary, the imprisonment of the unsuccessful endurer. The third part of our story appearently belongs to the same layer of litera. ture: like the earlier type of the äryä meter, also the vaitaliya, the so-called 'bard's meter', with a variable opening part as used in v. 7 disappeared after the period of early Buddhist and Jain literature. 20 In this case, too, the tika has not preserved the metrical feature of the first half of the stanza failing to understand the nominative aruhantiya (derivative from aruhanti like for instance dadantika from dadanti in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, cf. EDGERTON, Dictionary). The king recites the stanza after the dicovery of the guilty queen: Used to climb on the maddened elephant you are afraid of the elephant made of straw. Here swooning while beaten by a lotus stalk there she does not swoon being beaten by a chain. (Verse 7, for the text see below.) The fourth part has no verses in it. It is quoted in nearly the same words by Santisari and Devendra/Nemicandra in their explanation of Uttarajjhäyä 22, 46 as an example for a well-trained elephant21. The four last verses (8-11) correspond to the verses 1 seq. and 4 seq. of the Culladhanuggahajataka (no. 374). In general it can be said that parallels of this kind point to an early common source lying outside of the sphere of both religions. But a closer examination of the stanzas reveals that the relationship between the two versions is complicated. The first stanza is spoken by the woman, who has forsaken her former lover (in the jätaka: her husband), addressing the robber. According to the Prakrit version she says: The river appears full of water, (so that) the crows are able to drink. All my goods, my friend, are in your hand. As you wish to cross over to the other side, surely you wish to get hold of my goods. (Verse 8, for the text see below.) -552 Page #5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ This tristtubh ought to have been spoken before the robber left the queen, in fact (I cannot see why, if not due to influence of the Pali version or its forerunner) our text cites it after the flight of the robber. The corresponding Pali sloka is better adapted to the situation: Having taken all the goods you have crossed to the other side, oh brähmaṇa. Come back quickly; instantly you must let me too cross the river now," The resemblance between both versions of the first half of the next tristubh is close, but here the Prakrit text shows a difficulty in its wording it is hard to understand the form mellevi in påda b; we would expect a passive form of the verb millai, mellai muncati. So perhaps it will be allowed to read mellavio va instead of the transmitted aksaras mellevitäva. The form jāņeppi in pada c surely is the absolutive, actually an Apabhramia form (cf. PISCHEL, Prakrit Grammar § 588) and consequently indicating a more recent poetry if compared with vv. 5 and 7. The robber answers in the Prakrit text: He who was (your) intimate since long is forsaken for the sake of another made intimate through a lie, he who is reliable for the sake of an unreliable. Knowing your innate behaviour which reasonable man could trust you? (Verse 9, for the text see below). In the Pali version the robber's word are : For the sake of me the not intimate you exchanged your intimate, my lady, for the sake of the unreliable, the reliable one; me too, my lady, you might exchange for the sake of another man,-I shall go far away from here. 28 If we compare both version of these stanzas a difference jumps to the eye: while in the Avasyaka text the vv. 8 seq. are tristubhs, in the Jataka only the meter of v. 2 is tristubh v. 1 being a sloka. However, the couple of verses forming a dialogue between the woman and the robber can be expected to have been composed originally in the same meter. It might be too bold to recommend. the one or the other of the possible assumptions about the original shape of the tale.24 The triṣṭubh verse of the jātaka is transmitted also as verse 4 of the Kanaverajätaka (no. 318, cf. note 7, supra),25 here forming the concluding stanza after a series of slokas. Has it replaced in jätaka 374 an original loka? The remaining stanzas of this jātaka all are slokas. HERTEL already had compared the vv. 4 seq. of jätaka 374 with vv. II 635 seq. of Hemachandra's Parisiṣṭaparvan; the older model which Hemachandra made use of and which we possess in the Avasayaka tradition (vv. 10 and 11, belonging to the sixth part of the story) is more closely connected with those Pali verses. The woman says in the jätaka : Oh jackal, you foolish, you stupid, unwise are you, oh jackal (jambuka ). Having lost fish and flesh seeming wretched you stand reflecting20, 70 553 Page #6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ The jackal answers : Easy to see the fault of others one's own is difficult to see. Bereaved of husband and lover, you too, I think, stand reflecting27. In Prakrit the corresponding verses are : Having let down the piece of flesh you strived for the fish, oh jackal (jambuga ). Deprived of fish and flesh you stand reflecting miserably, oh jackal ( kolhuga ). ( Verse 10, for the text see below). Oh you, wrapped in a covering of leafs, oh you, covered with reeds, deprived of husband and jackal you stand reflecting miserably, you bitch. (Verse 11, for the text see below ). Pāda a of verse 11 shows the feature of the first three ganas of the āryā meter, interchangeable with the first and third sloka pāda in later Prakrit poetry. The first half of this verse displays a trait which is missing in the Prakrit prose tale and in the Pali prose and verse as well, but which belongs to the fable in the Pañcatantra and Parisistaparvan : the robber has stolen the clothes of the woman, therefore she has to cover herself with reeds. As already HERTEL, referring to Hemachandra's version, had remarked the complier of our story has not bothered to alter the expression 'husband' (pai) in pāda c. thus revealing that the incident of the mocking jackal originally did not belong to the former parts of the tale. The omission in the Akhyānakamaņikosavstti gives further confirmation of this fact. The remaining stanzas of our text (vv. 3. 4. 6), all composed in Sanskrit, are to be considered as quotations. Haribhadra omits vv. 4 and 6, Malayagiri omits v. 6, but also in the cūrņi quotations of this kind are rare; the transmission of a prthvi (v.4) probably is unique here. Like v. 3 this stanza should belong to the field of Kāmajāstra literature, while v. 6 has its source in the Cäņakya-niti.28 As there does not exist a critical edition of the Avasyaka curņi, I here present the text of the mintha-kathā according to the print of the Jainabandhu Printing Press (Indore 1928 ) with the necessary emendations made with the help of the tikā?'. Supplemented words or akşaras are marked by acute brackets. (<..>). अकामनिज्जराए । I: वसंतपुरं नगरं । तत्थेगा इन्भवहुगा नईए व्हाइ। अन्नो य तरुणो तं दठू भणइ सुण्हायं ते पुच्छइ एस नई मत्तवाणकरोरु । एए य नईरुक्खा . बयं च पाएसु ते पणया ॥१॥ ताहे सा वि तं भणइ सुभगा होंतु नईमो चिरं च जीवंतु जे नईरुक्खा । genna i TIEMT fyri 413 11211 - 554 - Page #7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ ताहे सो तीए णं घरं वा बारं वा न जाणइ-त्ति अन्नपानैर्हरेद्वालां वेश्यां स्त्रीमुपचारेण तीसे य बीइज्जगाणि चेडरूवाणि रुक्खे पलोताणि अच्छंति । तेण तेसि पुफ्फाणि फलाणि य दिन्नाणि । पुच्छियाणि य—का एसा । कस्स वा तेहि भणियं - अमुगस्म सुन्हा । ता सो तीसे अइयारं नो लभेइ । चितेइ - चरिगा भिक्खस्स एइ । साय यौवनस्थां विभूषयां । कुसुम्भसदृशप्रभं तनु सुखं पटं प्रावृता नवागरुविलेपनेन शरदिन्दुलेखा इव | यथा हसति भिक्षुणी सुललितं विटैर्वन्दिता ध्रुवं सुरतगोचरे चरति गोचरान्वेषिणी ॥ ४ ॥ पत्तो लगाणि घोवंतीए सागया साहइ जहा तं लग्गइ । सा तुट्टा भणइ - किं करोमि । - अमुगस्म ( सुहाए ) मं भणाहि । सा गया ( तीए सगासं ) । भणिया य जहा - अमुगो ते एवंगुणाई पुच्छइ । तीए रुट्टाए मसिलित्तेण हत्थेण पट्ठीए आहया पंचगुलियं । पच्छादारेण य निच्छूढा । नामं पि न सहइ । तेण णायं जहा - काल पंचमीए । ताहे पंचमदिवसे पुणरवि पत्थरिया पवेसजाणणानिमित्तं । ताए सलज्जाए आहणिऊणं असोगवणियाए छिंडियाए निच्छूढा । सागया साह जहा - नामपि न सहइ आहणित्ता य अवरदारेण धाडिया मि । तेण णाओ पवेसो । तेण सो अवद्दारेण अइगओ | असोगवणियाए सुत्ताणि । वृद्धां कर्कशसेवया ॥३॥ II: जाव ससुरेण दिट्ठाणि तेण णायं जहान होइ मम पुत्तो—त्ति । ताहे से पायाओ नेउरं गहियं । वेइयं च ताए । भणिओ य सो-नास लहुं । सहायकिच्चं करेज्जासि । परछा इयरी गंतूण भत्तारं भइ - मो एत्थ । असोगवणियं जामो । गयाणि य सुत्ताणि य । जाहे सो सुत्तो ताहे उट्ठवे । उट्ठवेत्ता भणइ - तुब्भं एयं कुलाणुरूवं जं ममं सुत्तियाए ससुरो पायाओ नेउरं गेण्हइ । सो भइसुयाहि । पभाए लभिहिसि । थेरेण सिद्धं । सो रूट्टो भणइ -- विवरीओ सि थेरा । सो भणइ-मए अन्नो दिट्ठो । ताहे विवाए सा भणइ - अहं सोहेमि । एवं करेहि । ताहे व्हाया जक्खघरं गया । जो कारी सो लग्गइ अंतरण्डेण वोर्लेतओ । अकारी मुच्च इ । सा पहाविया ताहे सो पिसायरूपं काऊणं साडएणं गेण्हइ । ताहे सा तत्थ जक्खं भणइ - जो मम मायापिईहि दिन्नेल्लओ तं च पिसायं मोत्तूण जइ अन्नं जाणमि तो मे तुमं जाणसि-त्ति । जाव चितेइ ताव सा झडित्ति निफ्फडिया । जक्खो विलक्ख चितेइ - अहयं पि वंचिओ जाए पेच्छह जारिसाणि मंतेइ । नत्थि सइत्तणं खु धुत्ती ॥५॥ ताहे थेरो सन्वेण लोगेण हीलिओ । III: तस्स ताए अद्धिईए निद्दा नट्टा । ताई रण्णो कष्णं गयं । साहे रण्णा अंतेउरपालगो कओ । आभिसेक्कं च हत्थिरयणं वासद्यरस्स हेत्था बद्धं अच्छइ । देवी हत्थिमिठेण आसत्तिया । नवरि रति हत्था त्यो गवक्खेण पसारिओ । सा ओतारिया । पुणरबि पभाए पडिविलइया । बवं वच्चइ धत्तीहामो : घत्तिहामो Haribhadra, disregarding the meter ( यतिष्याम: Chāyā) चेइयं Cūrni, सरिडित्ति Cūrni, विलक्खो Curni, - 555 Page #8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ कालो। अन्नया-चिरं जायं-त्तिहथिमिठेण हत्थिसंकलाए आहया। सा भणइ-सो एरिसओ तारिसओ थेरो न सुयइ। मा रूसह । तं थेरो पेच्छइ सो चिंतेइ-जइ एयाओ वि एरिसीओ कि नु ताओ अइभद्दियामो-त्ति । एवं चितेतो सुत्तो। पभाए लोगो सवो उट्टियो। सो न उद्वेइ । रण्णो सिटुं। राया भणइ-सुवउ । सत्तमे दिवसे उटिओ। रण्णा पुच्छिओ। ककियं जहा-एगा देवी । न जाणामि कयर-त्ति । एवं संववहरइ । ताहे रण्णा भिण्डमओ हत्थी कारिओ। सव्वाओ अंतेउरियाओ भणियाओ-एयसा अरचणियं करेत्ता ओलण्डेह सव्वा हि ओलण्डिओ। सा नेच्छइ । भणइ --अहं बीहेमि । कि च शकटं पञ्चहस्तेन दशहस्तेन शृङ्गिणम् । हस्तिनं शतहस्तेन देशत्यागेन दुर्जनम् ॥६॥ ताहे रय्या उप्पलनालेण आहया। मुच्छिया किल पडिया। ताहे से उवगयं जहा-एसा कारि-त्ति । भणिया य मत्तं गयमारूहतिया भिण्डमयस्स गयस्स भायसी । इह मुच्छिय उप्पलाहया तत्थ न मुरछइ संकलाया ॥७॥ पुट्ठी से जोइया । जाव संकलप्पहारो दिट्ठो ताहे IV : रण्णा मिण्ठो सा य तिन्नि वि छिन्नकडए विल इयाणि । मिण्ठो भणिओ-पाडेहि हत्थि । दोहिं पासेहिं वेलुयग्गाहा ठिया। जाव एगो पाओ आगासे को जणो भणइ-कि एस तिरिओ जाणइ । एयाणि मारेयव्वाणि । तहा वि राया रोसं न मुयइ । तो दो पाया आगासे । तइयवाराए तिन्नि आगासे। एगेण ठिओ। ताहे लोगेण अवकंदो को। भणिओ (राया)-कि एयं रयणं विणासेह । ताहे रण्णो चित्तं योगलियं । भणिओ (मिठो)-तरसि हत्थि नियत्ते। भणइ-जइ अभयं देसि । दिन्नं । तेण अंकुसेण नियत्तिओ जहा भमेत्ता थले ठिओ। ताणि ओतारेत्ता निविसयाणि कयाणि । V : एगत्थ पच्चंतगामें सुन्नघरे ठियाणि। तत्थ य रत्ति गामेल्लयपारद्धो चोरो तं सुन्नघरं अइगओ । तेहिं भणियं-वेढे अच्छामो मा कोइ पविसउ । गोसे पेच्छामो। सो वि चोरो लोट्टतो किह वि तीसे ढक्को। तीए फासो वेइओ। सो ढक्को पच्छिओ-को सि तमं । -चोरो हं। तीए भणिओ-तुम मम पई होहि । एयं साहामो जहा-चोरो-त्ति । तेहिं पभाए मिठो गहिओ एयाए उवइट्ठो-त्ति । विचढंतो सूलाए भिन्नो । तेण समं सा बच्चइ जाव अंतरा नई । ताहे सा तेण भणिया-एत्थ सरत्थंबे अच्छ जाव अहं एयाणि वत्थाणि आभरणाणि य उत्तारेमि । सो गओ । उत्तिण्णो पहाविभो । सा भणइ पुण्णा नई दीसइ कागपेज्जा सव्वं पिया भंडग तुज्झ हत्थे । जहा तुमं पारमईउकामो धुवं तुमं भंडगहेउकामो ॥७॥ बद्धं] व इ Curni, उतारिता Curni, ओलण्डीयो Curni, भण्डमयस्स Curni, परद्धो Corni, लोतो Carni, गहेनु कामो] ०गहंतुकामो Curni, मेल्लेविताव ध्रुव अध्रुवेणं Curni, -556 Page #9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ सो भणई चिरसंधुओं वाऽक्रिय संयुए मेल्लाविओ व धुव अद्भुवेणं । जाकेपि तुझं पगइस्सभाव पण्णो नरो को तुहु विस्सा ||९|| सा भगइ कहि जाति इय तत्थ विद्धो उदगं उदगस्स अट्ठा गयो । जाय पंमि सड्डो आरक्खियपुरिसेहि गहिओ । विब्वैत्ता मोएइ | तेण भण्णइ सो भणद-जहा सो मराविओ एवं ममं पि कहिचि मारावेहिसि । मग्गइ तत्व एगो सट्टो भणइ जइ नमोक्कारं करेसि तो ते देमि । सो एंते चैव नमोक्कारं करतो कालगओ वाणमंतरो जाओ। सो य सो ओहि पउंजइ । जाव पेच्छइ तं सरीरगं सङ्कं च बद्धं ताहे सिलं 1 VI: तं च सरत्थंबमज्झे पेच्छइ । ताहे से घिणा उत्पन्ना। सिवालरूवं विउब्वेत्ता मंसपेसी (ए) हत्यगया (ए) उदगतीरेण वोलेइ । जाव मच्छगं पेच्छइ तं मंसपेसि मोत्तुं तस्स मच्छस्स पहाविओ । तं पि सेणेण हरियं । मच्छो वि जलं अइगओ । ताहे सियालो झायद । तीए भणियं मंसपेसि परिच्चज्ज चुक्को मच्छं च मंसं च कहि वि Corpi तो] वा Carni सरत्यंबे व पाउए Carpi, मच्छं पत्थेसि जंबुगा । कलु झासि पत्तपुडिपरिच्छन्ने सरत्थंबेण पाउए । चुक्का पहुंच जारं च कलणं झायसि बंधुगी ॥ ११ ॥ एवं भणिया विलिया जाया । ताहे सो सयं रूवं दंसेइ । पण्णाविया भणिया-पव्वयाहि-त्ति । तेण सोराया तज्जिओ । तेण पडिवन्ना । सक्कारेण निक्कंता । दियलोगं गया । एवं अकामनिज्जराए मिठस्स ॥ कोल्हूगा ॥ १०॥ सङ्घं च वद्धं] तं सङ्घ वज्झं Cūrni, ( जणयस्य अजसकारिए Haribhadra ). References 1. नुपुर पण्डितायाश्च गोमायोश्च कथा Hemacandra, Parisistaparvan II 445. 2. The text was edited with an introduction by HERMANN JACOBI, Calcutta 11891, 1932. JOHANNES HERTEL published his German translation in Ausgewählte Erzählungen aus Hemacandras Parisiṣṭaparvan, Leipzig 1908. He also dealt with our tale in his article Der kluge Vezier, Zeitschrift des Vereins fuer Volkskunde 18, Berlin 1908, p. 66 seqq. JOHANN JACOB MEYER in his book Isoldes Gottesurteil in seiner erotischen Bedeutnng, Berlin 1914, scrutinized all available versions of the single motifs of the tale. 3. The well-known parallel to this part is the first table of the Vetalapañcavisati in all its versions. -557 Page #10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 4. The oldest parallel preserved in Indian literature is contained in Pali jätaka no. 62 (see below). Another early buddhist version is preserved in chinese translation in TAISHO 206 (cf. E. CHAVANNES, Cinq cents contes et alpogues extraits du Tripitaka chinois, Paris 1910-1934, vol. 1, p. 387, no. 116). The 15th tale of the Sukasaptati (ed. RICHARD SCHMIDT, Leipzig 1893) comes closest to Hemacandra's version. 5. As the closest parallel to this part of the story HERTEL has shown Sukasaptati textus simplicior 9, textus ornatior (ed. R. SCHMIDT, Muenchen 1898). 6. The well-trained elephant is the theme of Pali jätaka no. 122. 7. Cf. Pali jātaka no. 318: A courtesan lets her lover been hanged in exchange for a robber to whom she suddenly feels affection (see below). To part V and VI corresponds Pali jätaka no. 374 and in later literature Palcatantra textus simplicior (Jaina Pañcatantra) IV 10 (11); textus ornatior IV 8. 9. Acarya Nemicandra's Akhyanaka manikosa with acarya Amradeva's Commentary ed. by Muni Shri Punyavijaya, Benares 1962, p. 188-191. 10. Cf. JACOBI, Parisistaparvan p. VII seq. 11. Cf. WALTHER SCHUBRING, Doctrine of the Jainas (English transl. 1962) § 86, p. 179: Extinction or consumption of karman so far as it is not brought about by ascetic methods is called akāmanirjară (cl. Aupapătikasutra § 65, p. 61, ed. LEUMANN). 12. JACOBI, Partéistaparvan p. VII and ERNST LEUMANN, Uebersicht uber die Avasyaka-Literatur, Hamburg 1934, p. 28 b, assumed the date of about 80 A. D. for composition of the collection of niryuktis. 13. These two verses are quoted as vv 10 and 12 in the Nupurapandita version of the Akhyānakamaṇikosavṛtti. Vv. 5 and 7 of the Avasyaka text are recognizable in the aryas 62 and 89 of that version 14. Cf. L. ALSDORF, Itthiparinna, Indo-Iranian Journal 2, 1958, 250= Kleine Schriften, Wiesbaden 1974, p. 194. 15. Cf. L. ALSDORF, Die Arya-Strophen des Pali-Kanons, Abh. Mainzer Akademie, Geistes-und Sozialwiss. KI, 1967, 4; especially p. 18. In this article ALSDORF presents a detailed description of the arya meter. Our stanza is built exactly to the normal pattern. 16. Cf. J. J. MEYER, 1. c. (supra, note 2). For further literature see The Types of Folktale, A Classification and Bibliography, Anti Aarne's Verzeichnis der Maerchentypen, transl. enlarg. by STITH THOMPSON, FF Communications Vol. 75, No. 184, Helsinki 1973, p. 417 seq. no. 1418 (The equivocal oath). For the reference to this literature I thank LASZLO VAJDA. -558 Page #11 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 17. Achilles Tatius, Leucippe and Clitophon ed. by Erbe Vilborg, Goteborg 1955, VIII 11.12.14. (Cf. ERWIN ROHDE, Griechischer Roman, 1Leipzig 1876, p. 484; "Hildesheim 1961, 515 seq.) . 18. Cf. R. A. PACK, The Greek and Latin Literary Texts from Greco Roman Egypt, Ann Arbor 1965, no. 1-3.2258. 19. Zeitschrift des Vereins fuer Volkskunde 20, 141-181 - Kleine Schriften, Bonn und Leipzig 1920, 245-293, cf. p, 283. 20. CF, L. ALSDORF, Das Jātaka vom weisen Vindhura, Wiener Zeitschrift fuer die Kunde Suedasiens J5, 1971, 27 =Kleine Schriften, S. 884%3; A. K. WARDER, Pali Metre, London 1967, 106. 21. The quotation is introduced with the following words : अत्र च वृद्धसंप्रदायः । नेउरपण्डियक्खाणयं भणिऊण जाव तओ रुटेण राइण" । 22. सब्बं भण्डं समादाय पारं तिण्णो सि ब्राह्मण । पच्छा गच्छ लहुं खिप्पं मम्पि तारेहि दानितो॥ Jāt. III 221 v. I FAUSBLL) 23. असन्युतं मं चिरसन्युतेन निमिन्नि मोती अधुवं धुवेन । मयापि मोती निमिने य्य अज्ञ इती अहं दूरतरं गमिस्सं ॥ Jāt. III 221 seq. v 2 (FAUSBLL) 24. By the way, the Pañcatantra version (see note 8 supra ) does not supply us with a versified dialogue in the corresponding passage ( which indeed, if it did, would not be true to style ). 25. The stanza appears also in the Mahāvastu-version of the same tale (Vol. II, p. 176, SENART ), which, however, in this text has lost much of its resemblance to the mintha-katha. 26. सिगास बाल दुम्मेध अप्पपञ्ओसि जुम्बुक । जीनो मच्छ पेसिञ्च कपणोविय झायससि | Jat. III. 223, v. 4 ( FAUSBLL ) 27. सुदस्सं वज्जं असं अत्तने पन दूदृसं । जीनो पतिञ्च जारश्च त्वमपि मञ्चे व झायसि | Jat. III. 223, 5 ( FAUSBLL ) 28. Cf. L. STERNBACH, Cāņakya-Niti-Text-Tradition, Vishveshvaranand Indological Series 27, Vol. I. Part 1,7,7(Vrddha-Canakya-prarambhah; cf. also BOEHTLINGK, Indische Sprueche no. 6341 ) 29. Cūrņi Vol. 1, p. 461-465; cf. Haribhadra's tikā, Āgamodaya Samiti 1916, p.349a-352a and Malayagiri's tika, Sheth Devchand Lalbhai Jain Pustakoddhar Fund Series no. 85, Vol. 3, 1936, p. 461b-463b. -559 Page #12 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ लेखसार आवश्यक पाठ में महावत की कथा डा. एडेलहीड मैटे, म्यूनिख विश्वविद्यालय, पश्चिम जर्मनी महावत की कथा को हेमचंद्र ने परिशिष्टपर्व (1959-1173 ई०) में 'नूपुरपंडितायाश्च गोमायोश्च कथा' के नाम से संस्कृत श्लोकों में निबद्ध किया है / इसे जर्मन विद्वानों ने संपादित कर 1891 व 1932 में प्रकाशित किया था / इन विद्वानों का विचार था कि इस कथा के मूलकर्ता हेमचंद्र ही ही हैं। लेकिन जब 1962 में अमरदेव की वृत्ति के साथ नेमिचन्द्र का आख्यानकमणिकोश प्रकाशित हुआ, तो उसमें भी यह कथा मिली / यह कथा हेमचंद्र से कम से कम 25 वर्ष पूर्व लिखी गई थी। लेकिन इस कथा को त्रीत इससे भी प्राचीन है। यह आवश्यक टीकाओं में भी प्राप्त होती है। इससे यह कथा सातवीं सदी की ठहरती है। यह 'मिन्थ कथा' के नाम से श्रावकों को अकामनिर्जरा के निदर्शन के रूप में लिखी गई है / एक श्रावक एक मरणासन्न प्यासे महावत को कहता है, "तुम अरिहन्त का ध्यान करो, तबतक मैं तम्हारे लिये पानी लाता हूँ।' पर पानी लाने के पहले ही महावत की मृत्यु हो जाती है। इस इस प्रकार महावत को अकाम निर्जरा होती है / आवश्यक नियुक्ति में दी गई 'मिन्थ कथा' चूणियों में दी गई कथा से प्राचीनतर है / चूणियो में दी गई कथा उसके विविध छन्दों के आधार पर मिश्रित मालूम पड़ती है। फिर भी इस कथा के कुछ अंश पूर्ववर्ती विशिष्ट आर्याछन्द में निबद्ध हैं और पाली जातकों में भी पाये जाते हैं। ये ही छन्द जैनों के पर्याप्त प्राचीन ग्रन्थों-सूयगड़ तथा उत्तरज्झयण में भी पाये जाते हैं। इससे इस कथा की प्राचीनता ईसापूर्व तीसरी सदी तक जाती है / इस प्रकार यह एकिलस टेरिओस की कथा से भी प्राचीन ठहरती है जो द्वितीय सदी की है / अंडभूतजातक में भी यह कथा है, पर वह उत्तरवर्ती समय की है। लेखक ने इन सभी स्रोतों का तुलनात्मक परिशीलन किया है। उन्होंने कथा को छह अंशों में विभाजित कर उसके प्रत्येक अंश की छन्द-रचना, कथावस्तु की विशेषता तथा अन्य आधारों से आवश्यक नियुक्ति की कथा को प्राचीन सिद्ध किया है। उन्होंने यह आशा भी व्यक्त की है कि इस कथा का धार्मिक उद्देश्य होने के कारण इसका एक अच्छा संपादित संस्करण प्रकाशित किया जाना चाहिये / --560 -