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अनुसन्धान-५४ श्रीहेमचन्द्राचार्यविशेषांक भाग-२
ished to see that this verse was missing there, even in a marginal note!
The Ācārya was famous for his ready wit. Summing up what he had heard in prose, he might have put it into a verse that numbered the Pāndavas in hundreds. He was thus able to demonstrate the multiplicity of the Pāndavas, and in the spirit of syādvāda—“ke 'pi cit bhaveyuh” — claiming modestly one of them for the Jaina Faith!
If necessary, the Ācārya would have probably explained in a similar manner the plurality of Krishna-s and Balarāmas, Rāma-s and Lakshmana-s, Rāvana-s and Jarāsandha-s, and others, to account for the differences between their narratives in the Jaina and Brāhmanical works.
The alternative to this (plurality) would have been to present the story of a single group of Pāndavas, as it is found in the Mahābhārata, call that story false and misinformed, and then offer a corrected and “true” version, as propounded in the Jaina tradition.
This is precisely what the Digambara Bhattāraka Vādicandra, residing in the area near Khambhat in southern Gujarat, achieved in his Pāndava-Purāna, composed in 1598 A.D.
It begins with King Shrenika's visit to the samavasarana of Tirthnkara Mahāvira. Shrenika asked the Venerable Gautama (ganadhara) questions about the wonderful story of the sons of King Pāndu. He added, however:
“O Lord, I have heard from the mouths of the wrong believers (mithyā-drishti-mukhān mayā shruyate) a story of some kind about them, because of that my mind is constantly troubled by doubt. (I. 73-74.)
“Therefore, O Lord, first I will narrate to you the story of the Bhārata (Bhāratam yan mayāshrāvi (i.e. the Mahābhārata), as I heard it."
