Narrative Tale in Jain Literature

SR No.: 006527
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Satyaranjan Banerjee
Publisher: Asiatic Society
Publication Year: 2008
Total Pages: 162
Language: English
Classification: Book_English & Literature
File Size: 8 MB

Page 126

NARRATIVE TALE IN JAIN LITERATURE
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reborn among the various animals from the very lowest insects, worms, etc., up to the elephants. At length he was reborn in the world of human beings as Nandivardhana, a king's son. Though he had an invisible friend "Dawn-of-virtue," to whom he was indebted for many successes in life, yet his most intimate "inner" friend was Vaišvānara, ie., "Fire-of-anger." This friend always supplied him with the pill “Cruel Thoughts." For this reason the efforts of excellent teachers and counsellors, such as the sage Vidura, who sought to improve him by means of moral narratives (allegory of Sparsana, the sense of touch) and speeches, proved fruitless. The influence of Vaiśvānara grew even stronger, when he succeeded in marrying him to "Violence" (Himsā), the daughter of King “Bad-Will" and Queen “Merciless."
Fortified by the pills of “Cruel Thoughts" and encouraged by the glances of his wife "Violence," he kills innumerable wild animals in the chase, but also wins great fame in fights with robbers and foes. After many adventures (the scene of some of them is laid, not in the world -of allegory, but in the real world, love-stories, etc.) he becomes king. Under the influence of his evil "inner" friends he perpetrates many cruelties, he kills an ambassador, his father, his mother, his wives, and finally also his rescuer and benefactor. He flees and meets a young man : a quarrel ensues between them, the result of which is that they pierce each other with their swords. Thereupon both of them are reborn in the "Abode of the worst sinners," and after that, as lions, falcons, ichneumons, always as foes. At length Samsārijīva comes into the world as a prince again, Prince Ripudārana. Now it is “Pride" and "Falsehood" that become his friends, and they exert paramount influence over him, so that "Dawn-of-virtue" does not stand much chance against them. After his father has become a monk, he becomes king, refuses to pay due respect to a ruler of the world, is humiliated by a sorcerer and slain by his servants. In the subsequent rebirths he pays the penalty of his misdeeds in hell and as animals, until he is once again reborn among human beings, this time as the son of the merchant Vāmadeva. “Falsehood," "Deceit" and "Theft" are now his friends. He robs a merchant, is hanged, and is