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Didactic Works in Prākrit
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The oldest didactic work in Prākrit appears to be the Upadeśamālā of Dharmadāsaganin. Tradition makes him a direct disciple of Lord Mahāvīra which would make him a writer of the sixth century B.C., a thing highly improbable both in itself and from the nature of his work. Tradition further supplies us with some information of his personal life before and after his becoming a monk. He is said to have been a king called Vijayasena of the town Vijayapura. He married two ladies Vijaya and Ajayā, the former of whom gave birth to a son who was treacherously taken away by the second wife and cast away in a forest to die. As luck would have it, the boy was found by a shepherd who brought him up as his own son and named him Ranasiṁha. When the king came to know the whole story of the exposure of his son he became disgusted with the affairs of this world and turned out a monk. Then he took up his second name Dharmadāsa. His son Ranasimha suffered a good deal in his life as a boy at the hands of his ministers who drove him off from his kingdom. He wandered for a long time during which he showed great personal valour and was successful in getting back his kingdom, while winning many royal princesses as wives. His father now tried to enlighten his son of the vanity of this world and was successful with the help of the present work composed for that purpose.
: It is not possible to determine the veracity of the tradition preserved by his commentators. But the fact is clear that the writer is not a contemporary of Lord Mahāvīra himself. Both the language of his work and the references to later patriarchs and others make it evident that he lived much later than is supposed by the tradition. He is further found to make a good use of the various books of the Ardha-Māgadhi canon while supplying illustrations in his work. We are thus forced to conclude from the internal evidence of his work that the work is written by some later writer Dharmadāsa by name and he was probably confused with some disciple of Mahāvīra.
The work deals with the duties of monks and pious householder given without much consideration for system. After the customary salutation to the first and the last Tithamkaras of Jainism. Rsabha and Mahāvīra, the author advises his readers to wander about in this world without attachment as did the great sages of old, to cultivate good qualities like forbearance, compassion, discipline and many others which distinguished the religious teachers and to overcome all obstacles as they did. Like the devout Goyama the first disciple of Mahāvīra, we should always try to hear them preaching and act upon it. The value of the teacher is as great as of the moon among the stars. Even the best of the gods have to suffer death much more the other persons. Both