Dhurtakhyan

SR No.: 001861
Original Sutra Author: Haribhadrasuri
Author: Jinvijay
Publisher: Saraswati Pustak Bhandar Ahmedabad
Publication Year: 2002
Total Pages: 160
Language: Sanskrit, Prakrit, Gujarati
Classification: Book_Devnagari, Story, Literature, P000, & P030
File Size: 14 MB

Page 32

THE DHŪRTĀKHYĀNA: A CRITICAL STUDY
BY
Dr. A. N. UPADHYE, M. A., D. Litt.
1. The Prakrit Text
THE DHURTAKHYANA of Haribhadrasuri, whose career is to be assigned to the middle of 8th century A. D., is a typical literary work that has a special significance in Indian literature. It had already attracted the attention of E. Leumann some forty years back; and it is through him that N. Mironow could refer to some parallel stories in his dissertation on the Dharmapariksă of Amitagati. Some Gujarati and Hindi renderings of Dhu. have appeared in India, but they were primarily concerned with the contents and not with the Prakrit text of that work.
This unique work, in Prakrit, is now brought out for the first time in this Singhi Jain Series having been critically edited by Acarya Sri Jinavijayji. Its Sanskrit version by Sanghatilaka and an Old-Gujarati prose rendering by an unknown writer have also been included in this edition to facilitate its comparative study.
The Prakrit text, presented here, is based on three MSS., A, B, and C. They do not bear any dates, but A and B, as described by the learned editor in his Preface, look quite old; and they may be assigned to 16th century A. r. C is quite modern and just a copy of A prepared by an inexperienced scribe; consequently the readings of C are not noted. A and B are sufficiently independent and do show some variants noted in the foot-notes. Confusion in numbering the verses is seen in both. B looks not only older but is also more accurate than A. The Ms. A shows necessarily y-gruti for the udvṛtta vowel (as I surmise, irrespective of the preceding vowel); while B very often puts a (or a) for the lost consonant: this possibly means that B is following the more strict rule about y-srutt specified by Hemacandra in his Commentary, and its so-called accuracy perhaps betrays the hand of some revisionist or copyist possessing a thorough mastery over Hemacandra's Prakrit grammar.
1 Jinavijayaji: Jaina Sahitya Samsodhaka, vol. I, i, pp. 21-58; Jacobi: Samara iooskaha, B. I., No. 169, Caloutta 1926, Intro.
2 Die Dharmapariks des Amitagati, Leipzig 1903.
3 For their description, see elsewhere.
4 Bee Biddha-Hemacandra, VIII. L. 180.