Yasastilaka and Indian Culture

SR No.: 001609
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Krishnakant Handiqui
Publisher: Jain Sanskruti Samrakshak Sangh Solapur
Publication Year: 1968
Total Pages: 566
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Story, Literature, & Culture
File Size: 16 MB

Page 133

114
YAŠASTILAKA AND INDIAN CULTURE
Certain kinds of food are forbidden under given circumstances, for example, germinating paddy, and ghee kept in a brass vessel for a period of ten days (3. 341). Further, bananas should not be taken with curds and butter-milk nor milk with salt...................nor broth of pulses with radishes; fried barley powder should not be taken when it becomes compact like curds, and all sesamum preparations are prohibited at night (3. 342-43).
The discourse on food and drink shows the importance attached by Somadeva to a proper understanding of dietetics for the safety and physical wellbeing of the king and the efficient discharge of his duties. It shows also the Jaina teacher's keen interest in the secular branches of study.
It is evident that Somadeva in Yasastilaka does not go over the entire range of topics dealt with in the nitiśāstras, but rather concentrates on problems affecting the king personally and the rôle played by him in the administration of the state. Considered from this point of view, the relevant portion of Yasastilaka reminds one of the Mirrors or manuals of instruction for the guidance of kings, which were widely prevalent in the Middle Ages in the West, such as the book of Agapetos, the tutor of the Emperor Justinian (sixth century A, D.), and specially the famous Secretum Secretorum attributed to Aristotle, many versions of which are known to exist in different languages. There are, for instance, Latin texts not earlier than the twelfth' century, which in their turn rest on Arabic originals'. We may here refer to two English versions, the first from a shortened French source, the second from a Latin source made soon after 1400 A. D.8 The Prologue to the first version tells us that the book was translated from Greok into Syriac, and thence into Arabic. It is interesting to find that although Somadeva's discourse is far more systematic and methodical, and more intimately connected with the actual problems of administration, there are certain noteworthy points of resemblance batween his work and the Secretum Secretorum. Firstly, as in Yasastilaka, the king is warned in the Secretum never to trust a woman, and it is also pointed out that many kings have beon poisoned, a woman's hate being the worst poison. Secondly, both works treat of questions of health and food and drink; and proportionately speaking, the Secretum seems to attach even greater importance to the subject
1 Cf. the treatise on diet composed by Anthimus, a Byzantine doctor, for the Frank
king Clovis ( 481-511 A, D.), to whom he had been sent by Theoderic the Great, 2 J. R. A. S. 1908, pp. 1065-1084. 3 See Three Prose Versions of the Secreta Secretorum, ed. Steele. Part I. Text an
Glossary. (Early English Text Society). 4 Pp. 20, 64.