Study of Civakacintamani

SR No.: 001579
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Vijaylaxmi
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad
Publication Year: 1981
Total Pages: 248
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Philosophy, & Epistemology
File Size: 15 MB

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Study of Civakacintamani
As we have discussed in the first chapter of this thesis, we do not exactly know which was the source for Tēvar's work. As the Up. is the earliest available source among the Sanskrit and Prakrit texts which deal with the story of Jivandhara, in this chapter we compare the Jivandhara story of the Up. with the story of the Cc. In the Up. the story of Jivandhara is related in a prosaic manner. We do not find many descriptions or any literary flourish. Stories within the main story sometimes impede the flow of the narrative. One can find in the story of the Cc. many novel features and variations which are not found in the Jivandhara story of the Up. The similarities and the variations found between the story of the Jivandhara in the Up. and the story of the Cc. can be analysed under three headings :
1. Contents of the story 2. Sequence of events 3. Characters
The Contents of the Story We shall now see the similarities, the variations and the differences found between the contents of the Jivandhara story of the Up. and the story of the Cc. As the Jivandhara story in the Up. is narrated in one long story without any sub-divisions in it, here we analyse the story according to the chapters found in the Cc. 1. Nāmaka! Ilampakam (The birth and the education of Civakan)
The Jivandhara story in the Up. begins with King Śreņika asking the chief disciple Sudharma about the ascetic Jivandhara. The whole story of Jivandhara is related through the mouth of Sudharma, and here the story is related only after the renunciation of Jivandhara. But in the Cc. the story starts from the birth of Cīvakan and is related up to the renunciation of Civakan. The whole story is aarrated by the author Tēvar and the question of the king Cēņikan (Sreņika) and the answer to it given by the ascetic Cutanmar (Sudharma) is included in the last ilampakam, after the renunciation of Civakan. Here, the reply of Cutanmar contains only the description of the way in which Civakan attained salvation after renouncing the world, and not the whole story.1
The country in which the story takes place is the same in both books and the main characters are also the same.
The Similar sections in the Up. and the Cc.
In the country Hemāngada, the king Satyandhara (Caccantan in the Cc.) ruled in the city called Rajapuram. His queen was Vijaya (Vicayai in the Cc.) and his minister Kasthāngāraka ( Kattiyankāran in the Cc. ). One day the queen had two dreams. In one, the king gave her a crowo adorned with eight golden bells, 1 and in the other, an asoka tree under which she was standing was cut off with an axe by
1 Ibid, verses 3059-3086. 2 The variation found in the Cc. about this incident will be discussed later.