Chanakya Explored in Jaina Literature

Author(s): Nalini Joshi
Publisher: Firodaya Prakashan

Page 39

CHAPTER 3
INTERPRETATION OF THE MUDRĀRĀKŞASA
FROM THE JAINA PERSPECTIVE
[1] Rationale of the topic :
In the galaxy of Sanskrit dramas, the Mudrārākşasa of Viśākhadatta, is the unique political play, dedicated to the historical personalities, viz. Cāņakya and Candragupta Maurya. The date of the Mudrārākṣasa is vastly discussed and debated by various sanskrit scholars as well as historians around the world. The approximate date of this play can be ascertained as the 7th-8th century A.D. The cross-references found in the Āvaśyaka-cūrņi and the Niśītha-cūrņi are full of Cāņakya-Candragupta-narratives and myths. This fact supports the above-mentioned inferred date of the Mudrārākṣasa, because important cūrņis were written by Jinadāsagani in the 7th century A.D.
The popularity of the the Mudrārākṣasa was so wide-spread that at modern times, many Indian authors have written the fictions dedicated to Cāņakya and Candragupta with the help of the lifeaccounts pictured in the Mudrārākṣasa. For example, in Marathi literature, the 'Candragupta' of H.N.Apte, the ‘Nộpanirmātā Cāņakya' of R.C.Dhere, the life-account of Cāņakya documented in the 'Bhāratiya-saṁskṛti-kośa' and the novel 'Ārya' written by Vasant Patwardhan - all of them have basically relied upon the Mudrārākṣasa. We are quite sure that the same fact is true about the legendary histories written in all Indian regional languages.
When we go through the editions of the Mudrārākṣasa, it is
found that the esteemed scholars have mentioned the Buddhist and