Jivandhar Champu

SR No.: 010390
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Pannalal Jain
Publisher: Bharatiya Gyanpith
Publication Year: 1958
Total Pages: 406
Language: Hindi, Sanskrit
Classification: Book_Devnagari
File Size: 52 MB

Page 32

FOREWORD
Haricandra's Jivandhara-campu was first edited by T. S. Kuppuswami Sastri of Tanjore in 1905. The present edition with a simple commentary by the editor is a welcome addition to the Murtidevi Jaina Granthamālā Series published by Bharatiya Jñanapiṭha, Banaras. The book deals with the story of Jivandhara and his romantic adventures which has both the features of a folktale and a religious romance, and is intended to serve also as a medium of preaching the doctrines of Jainism.
The outline of the story of Jivandhara first appears, as far as we know, in Gunabhadrà's Uttarapurāņa (75-183 ff.) composed in 897 A. D. It is, however, Vadībhasimha who appears to have given a systematic form to the story in his Gadyacintamani and Kṣatracuḍāmaṇi both of which have the same theme, the adventures of Jivandhara and his attainment of sainthood after the joys and sorrows of wordly life. The latter work is a shorter version of the story with a strong moralising tendency written in easy verse in the Anuştup metre, and perhaps meant for the edification of the ordinary layman. The Gadya-cintamani, on the other hand, is an elaborate prose romance written in Kavya style in the manner of Subandhu and Bana, and represents the longer version of the story in all its details. It is the work of a talented writer, a worthy pupil of Somadeva Suri, the author of Yasastilakacampu. If the Tamil Jivakacintamani is based on Vadībhasimha's version of the story of Jivandhara, as suggested by T.S. Kuppuswami Sastri in the Introduction to his edition of Kṣatracūḍāmaņi (Tanjore, 1903) it would be a further proof of the Sanskrit poet's popularity and influence on later writers.
Haricandra's Jivandharacampū is a summary of the story of Jivandhara as related by Vadibhasinha in his two works mentioned above. Without the latter it would not be very easy to follow the story in all its details in Haricandra's narrative. His work is, however, not without interest, being written in mixed prose and verse; he appears to be the second Jaina Sanskrit writer to compose a Campu, though he does not rise to the heights of his great predecessor in the field. Like Vadibhasimha, he gives long descriptions in his work, but he often does so by curtailing the narrative. His love for descriptions is seen at its best in the elaborete account of the war between Kaṣṭhāngāra and Jivan