Descriptive Catalogue Of Manuscripts Vol 19

Author(s): Hiralal Rasikdas Kapadia
Publisher: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute

Page 17

Preface
I shall now give a bare outline of the Jaina 'narrative literature. It is very vast, varied and vivid. It forms an important factor of the Jaina literature canonical and non-canonical as well) in general, and the Jaina applied ethics in particular as its composition has mostly a didactic motive in view.
The canonical treatises are primarily religious and philosophical in outlook. Nevertheless some of them and some sections of other treatises furnish us with narratives. Even the exegetical literature pertaining to the Jaina canon and commentaries of the Jaina philosophical works, too, are not lacking in narratives which illustrate and elucidate one or the other cardinal principle of Jainism. They are already treated in Vols. XVII and XVIII. Consequently I shall here deal with works included in this Part I of Section Il of Vol. XIX. Some of the narratives furnish us singly or jointly with biographies of the 24 Tirthankaras beginning with Lord Rşabha and ending with Lord Mahavira and some along with their lives and those of 12 Cakravartins (sovereigos-emperors), 9 Vasudevas or Ardha-cakravartins, 9 Prativasudevas or the rivals of Vasudevas and 9 Balaramās, step-brothers of Vasudevas. These are the 63 ( 24 +12+9+9+9) towering personalities. All of them flourished in India during the present avasarpini ( the descending cycle of the time-wheel). Their narratives give us an idea of the Jaina mythology. The great personages of the Jaina clergy and laity legendary and historical, 100, form a subject matter of this section. Some of the stories point out the benefit of practising virtues and disadvantages resulting from resorting 10 vices.
Narration is of various kinds such as allegory, anecdote, autobiography, ballad, biography, dialogue, fable, fairytale, fiction, folk-tale, legend, novel, parable, pattern-story, romance, story, story in-story, tale etc. Some of the corresponding Indian names
i For its detailed sorvoy the roader may refer to the English introduction (pp. 17-39 ) of Brhatkathākos'a and my Gujaräti introduction (pp. 6-12) of larangalolā.
2 This number refers to the status (designation ). Othervise it is 60 or OTOD 59, for three of the Tirtharkaras were Cakravartins prior to their renunciation ( 809 p. 343, fn. 2) and Lord Mahāvīra was the first Väsudeva in one of his previous births.