Aspect of Jainology Part 3 Pandita Dalsukh Malvaniya

Author(s): M A Dhaky, Sagarmal Jain
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

Page 538

The Sources of Vadibhasimha's Gadya-cintamani
213
and preserve the folklore tradition of the Jaina personages as current during their days. The works like the CC, the GC, the KC and the JC, on the other hand, which deal with the story of JIvandhara, form another class, since they treat the story from an altogether different standpoint; they have composed the classical masterpieces wherein the story serves as the basic skeleton while the emphasis is solely on the style, diction and embellishments. The poets here tend to introduce necessary changes in some minor points of the story in view of their literary outlook, and social environment as well as the contemporary poetic conventions.
Now we shall compare the JIvandhara stories as narrated by Gunabhadra Puspadanta, Tiruttakkatevar and Vādsbhasimha, in points of difference, since the rest of the narration is more or less the same in all these works :
1) The UP, the MP and the SP refer to Rudradatta (Ruttiratatattan' in the SP), a family priest to king Satyandhara.50 The CC, the GC and the KC are altogether silent on this character.
2) Both the UP and the MP relate that the queen Vijayā saw two dreams, namely (i) that the king presented to her a crown adorned with eight bells, and (ii) that the Asoka tree under which she was sitting was cut off with an axe by some one and a fresh tree sprouted in its place.51 The CC, the GC and the KC refer to three dreams, namely (i) that all the flowers of the Asoka tree wither a way and then the tree itself falls down as if struck by lightning, (ii) that a new shoot sprouts from its trunk, and (iii) that the shoot has a crown on it, it grows rapidly, and eight white garlands adorn the crown 52 While the CC mentions the colour of the garlands, the GC and the KC ignore it.
3) Both the UP and the MP narrate that when Muni Silagupta uttered his prophesy about the male offspring to Gandhotkata, some Yakswho was present there heard it, arrived at the king's palace, and entered into the Garuda yantra ("Karutayantiram' in the SP) in order to help the mother at the time of the birth of the child.53 The CC, the GC and the KC narrate that the king ordered to be made by a skillful workman a peacock-machine (Mayirpori' in the CC)-a contrivance in the form of a peacock which could be made to move in the sky and drawn by a mechanism, and he roamed in it in company of the queen.64 But in the CC the suggestion for the Mayirpori came from a minister who had misgivings that the downfall of the king was not far off, and that the queen Vicayai was soon taught how to work the machine.55
4) The UP, the MP and the SP narrate that one morning the state-priest Rudradatta went to the royal palace to see the king. As he met the queen, she told him that the king was in the bed and he could not see him then. The priest considered this to be a bad women, and went to the chief-minister Kästbāngārika (Kāstārikärikan' in the SP) and secretly instigated him to kill the king. Kästhāngārika was shocked at the priest's suggestion, and putting his palms over his ears in order