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LAYMAN-ETHICS AS PROPOUNDED IN THE STORY OF
ANANDA IN JAIN LITERATURE
Dr. Lopamudra Bhattacharyya
Ananda is the name of a house holder disciple of Lord Mahāvīra, on whose name the first chapter of Upāsakadasā, an Anga canonical literature was constructed. Presenting the subject matter through the dialogues between Arya Sudharmā and Jambu is a very common style of Ardhamāgadhī literature. The title of the chapter is more likely to be of a story related to the excellence of laymen spirituality. Jain Ardhamāgadhī literature acclaim to be the original source of Lord Mahāvīra's sermons. Generally it is believed by the Jains that the canonical literatures are authentic by its nature. Therefore, it needs no further testimony. So it is believed that there was some one Ananda at the time of Lord Mahāvīra who became his follower and a famous śrāvaka of that time. The chapter depicts pious character of Ānanda in order to set an example of an ideal layman before the then Jain society. Generally to denote such facts legend or a narrative used to be a very popular prop at that time. In that respect Ananda is an exception. Whole chapter is divided into some paragraphs related to specific activities starting from the very first meeting of Ānanda and Lord Mahāvīra till Ananda's next birth in the abode of heaven. It seems that it has been tried to record the life of Ānanda's in a manner of fact in the name of Ananda but the style of a legend has been avoided. Though latter Jain literatures plunged into popular style of composition but to maintain the authenticity of the character it was necessary to avoid exaggerations of a legend or a narrative. Though it resembles with narratives to some extent but mostly it is descriptive in nature. Repetition of paragraphs in describing different things is one of the very prominent features of Ardhamāgadhī literature. Repetition interrupts the spontaneous flow of the story. Some times description of a city, a royal palace or a castle is instructed to be recurred from the earlier source to the present context. These kinds of instructions are
| SR No. | 520283 |
| Book Title | Jain Journal 2011 07 |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Satyaranjan Banerjee |
| Publisher | Jain Bhawan Publication |
| Publication Year | 2011 |
| Total Pages | 54 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Magazine, India_Jain Journal, & India |
| File Size | 6 MB |