Bruhat Katha kosha

Author(s): Harishen Acharya,
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

Page 77

BRHAT-KATHÅKOŠA
the composition between the works of Bhadreśvara and Hemacandra, Jacobi' says: 'Bhadreśvara's work has few literary merits. It is scarcely more than a collection of disconnected materials for the history of the Svetāmbara church culled from the ample Literature of Cūrnis and Tikās. The Kathāvali compares unfavourably with the Sthavirävalīcarita by Hemacandra which reads like a connected history of the patriarchate from Jambū down to Vajrasena, told in fluent Sanskrit verses and spirited Kavya style. No wonder that it superseded the older work to such a degree that for a long time the Kathāvali seemed to be lost, till but lately one single Manuscript was brought to light.'
Kathāsamāsa (Upadeśamālā.): It is already noted above how Uvaesamālā contains many references to religious personalities etc. about whom stories in Prākrit are given in this work composed by Jinabhadra whose date and identity are still indefinite. There are other compilations of these stories in Sanskrit: one is by Sarvanandi and another is anonymous.* Not only the commentators gave the stories, but it was also usual to compile independent collections of stories referred to in a certain text just as Jinabhadra has done here with regard to the Upadeśamālā. The stories connected with the Uttarădhyayana, Silopadeśamālā, Bhagavati Ārādhanā etc. are also separately compiled.*
Kathāsamgraha (also Antara-, or Kathakośa): The author is Raja. sekhara Maladhāri, the pupil of Tilakasūri of the Harsapuriyagaccha, who can be assigned to the middle of the 14th century A. D., his Prabandhakośa being composed in Samvat 1405. The stories are written in simple Sanskrit prose, quite in a conversational style, the expression being often contaminated with vernacularisms. Sanskrit, Māhārāștri and Apabhramsa verses are profusedly quoted throughout. Most of the stories are introduced with a verse laying down a maxim, edifying a virtue, preaching a piece of good behaviour or suggesting a way of tactful action; and then the stories follow almost to explain the ideas contained in the opening verses. In many cases, the style, format and contents remind us of the Pañcatantra. The author has in view a twofold aim in composing this work: some 86 stories are primarily meant for instruction, ethical and religious; and the remaining 14 are meant for amusement by their wit and humour. The text shows this division, but the contents are not mutually exclusive. The topics covered by the illustrative stories include all sorts of worldly wisdom, and some of them definitely bear the stamp of Taina religion and moral code. Though the motives are often handled by others, it is quite likely that most of
1 See the Intro, to the Sthavirāvalicarita 2nd ed. by Jacobi, Biblio. Indica,
Calcutta 1932; and Catalogue of Mss, at Pattan, vol. I, pp. 56, 244. 2 Catalogue of Mss, at Pattan, vol. I, p. 90. 3 See Mss. Nos. 1271 (Bhandarkar Y) and 1325 of 1891-95. 4 Catalogue of Mss. in the Bombay Branch R. A. S. by Velankar (Bombay 1930)
Nos, 1417, 1703, 1665; and see Ārādhanākathākośas below.