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________________ A BRIEF SURVEY OF JAIN LITERATURE.... 511 etc., and recommends the Jain Dharma as the sole remedy against them. (xiv) Dramas As poets the Jains have contributed their share to the literature of the Drama. Only a few of these dramas can be described as actually Jinistic. Ramacandra (12th Century A. D.), the pupil of Hemacandra wrote eleven plays. Only four of them are so far published. They are: (1) Nalavilasa, (2) Satyahariscandra, (3) Nirbhayabhimavyayoga and Kaumudimitrananda. These plays are of moderate merit. Vijayapala (a contemporary of Kumarapala) wrote a drama called Draupadisvayamvara. In South India towards the end of the 13th century Hastimalla wrote several plays including Vikrantakaurava, in six acts and Maithilikalyana (a Rama-Sita-drama) in five acts. Yasascandra (first half of the twelfth century A. D.) wrote his drama called MudritaKumudacandraPrakarana--"The Drama of Kumudacandra who was silenced", in five acts. It is a genuine Jinistic drama. It describes the defeat of the. Digambara teacher Kumudacandra by the Svetambara teacher Devasuri in a controversy. The Jain poet Jayasimha Suri wrote in the 13th century his play Hammiramadamardana (The Breaking of the Pride of Hammira). This play depicts in five acts Viradhavala's conflicts with the Mleccha ruler Hammira (Amir Shikar), Vastupala's skill in diplomacy and the repulsion of the Muslim invasion of Gujarat. The main incident is historical. In this play the playwright makes a sustained attempt to write a drama of martial and political strategy. The drama as a whole is however of mediocre merit. Yasahpala wrote an allegorical drama (between 1229 and 1232 A. D.) MohaRajaParajaya, "The Defeat of King Delusion", in five acts in which the conversion of King Kumarapala to Jainism by the famous Acarya Hemacandra and the King's marriage with Krpasundari, a real personage who is depicted as the incarnation of Beautiful Compassion are presented. The title of the play itself indicates the influence of Krsnamisra's Prabodhacandrodaya ("The Moonrise of True Knowledge"). There is some historical interest in the delineation of the activities of Jainism and Kumarapala's beneficent regulations. Its literary merit is, however, not high. Ramabhadra Muni wrote a Prakarana called PrabuddhaRauhineya (end of 12th century or the 13th century). In six acts it dramatises the Jain story of the misdeeds, incarceration and penitence of a robber, named Rauhineya. The plot, however, is meagre and the play is wholly undramatic. (xv) Jain Philosophy The number of the purely erudite works on the dogmas of Jainism, on Jain Education International www.jainelibrary.org For Private & Personal Use Only
| SR No. | 001868 |
| Book Title | Studies in Jain Literature |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | V M Kulkarni |
| Publisher | Shardaben Chimanbhai Educational Research Centre |
| Publication Year | 2001 |
| Total Pages | 114 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English, Literature, & Story |
| File Size | 14 MB |