Kuvalayamala Part 2

SR No.: 002778
Original Sutra Author: Udyotansuri
Author: A N Upadhye
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan
Publication Year: 1970
Total Pages: 368
Language: Sanskrit, English
Classification: Book_Devnagari & Literature
File Size: 12 MB

Page 128

INTRODUCTION
extensive contributions of Haribhadra to various branches of learning, and refers to his Samaraiccakaha1 specifically. It is necessary, therefore, that the Samaraiccakahā (Sk) of Haribhadra (H) and Kuvalayamālā (Km) of Uddyotana (U) are studied side by side. H refers to three katha-vastus and four kinds of kathās (Sk 2-3) with their details. His work is a dharma-katha with divya-mănușa-vastu. U presumes all this and gives some further types of dharma-katha: his Km is, however, a samkīrṇa-dharma-kathā.
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Rebirth accompanied by consequences of one's own Karmas is the backbone of the tales in both Sk and Km. If in the Tarangalola, as observed by JACOBI, Karma, remembrance of a previous birth and its consequences etc. serve to motivate the story, in the Samaraiccakaha the story serves to illustrate those ideas and to impress the hearer with certain moral principles'. Uddyotana follows Haribhadra in whose Sk the idea of retribution underlies the main story and a number of sub-stories. It is the nidāna, remunerative hankering, of Agniśarman, through intense hatred, that takes revenge on Gunasena in different births. These two souls pass through nine births: the hereditary revenge manifests through anger (krodha), deceit (māyā), greed or avarice (lobha) etc. in different births. If there are two souls, one urged by nidāna and the other suffering consequently, in the Sk, there are five souls suffering the consequences of krodha etc. and passing through a series of births, meeting each other here and there till they reach Liberation in Km. Both H and U have not missed any opportunity to stuff their works with sub-tales, dṛṣṭāntas, parallel episodes etc. Both the works are evidently intended to illustrate the evil consequences of vices, sins and all transgressions of the Jaina code of morals, and to warn the reader or hearer of it against carelessness in conduct'; and in this sense, both are eminently dharma-kathās.
The love-presents and the metrical message of Kuvalayamālā (Km § 259) remind us of those of Kusumāvali (Sk 72: and the dvipadi verse has some striking common words). Here and there some verses have common expressions: the one under reference (Sk 115.1-2 & Km 96.1) is possibly an inherited traditional Gāthā. Though in a different context, the idea of danta-vīņā is found in both the works (Sk 180.7-8; Km 169.21). The descriptions are generally introduced with phrases like avi ya, tam ca kerisam etc., and those of seasons and scenes are often in a heavy style in both the works (vide sarad, Sk 195-6; grişma, Km 113.10 f.). A context of putting questions with answers concealed in them in a subtle manner is found in both the works (Sk 611, Km 175.18 f.). The Sk (616.3 f.) has a guḍha-cauitha-goṭṭhi which corresponds to what is found at Km 176.10 f. Now and then, especially in descriptions, common ideas are found in both the works.
Religious background is the same in Sk and Km. H presents it uniformly in a serious and classical form, but U might often do so even in a light vein. The Samavasarana is described in both the works (Sk 139 f., 644 f.; Km § 178); and some expressions are inherited from the canon. Dharma consisting of dāna, sila, tapas and bhāvanā is mentioned by both (Sk 154.9 f.; Km 3.2 f.). The
1 H. JACOBI: Samaraiccakahā, B. I., No. 169, Calcutta 1926. References are to pages
and lines of this edition,