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48
DEŪRTETÄNA:
Indra and Abalyā (Dhu. V. 89-36; Dp. XI. 61 f.); Agni's mating with Yitha's beloved (Dhū. V. 26-30; Dp. XI. especially 82 f.); Agastya drinking the ocean (Dhū. IV. 27; Dp. XIII. 18 f.); Kunti's sons from Sarya etc. (Dhū. I. 82 f. V, 11, 28, 37; Dp. XIV. 91, XV. 11); the male organ of Siva (Dhu. I. 88V, 59; Dp. XIII. 80); etc.
The hungry Dhūrtas narrating their experiences and confirming the same with Parāņic legends during a rainy week, with their dinner depending on the decision of their discussion, present & back-ground (in Dhū.) which is much dissimilar to that depicted in Dp. in which a learned gathering of Brāhmaṇas of Pāķaliputra is visited on six successive days by Manovega ( with his friend Pavanavega) who, modestly avoiding debate with Brāhmaṇas even after bo beats the drum and sits on the golden seat, narrates fantastic tales and himself confirms the same with Purānic legends, when challenged about the veracity of his statements. In Dhū. it is the autobiographical experience that forms the back-bone of the story, the points of which are confirmed by Purāņic legends; and so it is in the last four stories, i, e., III-VI, of the Dharma-parikşa. Tho first two contexts in Dp., i. e., I and II, present not an inconsistent and improbable story, but an incredible situation presented to the eye: those who have ornaments on their body cannot be grass-faggot-sellers, and a cat which is claimed to scare away rats at miles' distance by its presence cannot have its ears eaten by rats. The first situation is justified by the example of Vişņu; and the second by saying that a single flaw of the cat can be tolerated or ignored as in the case of god Agni. The Dhū. has no Brahmanic audience explicitly before it, while in Dp. Manovega is actually made to encounter the Brāhmaṇas in their own citadel and to outwit them by openly pointing out and criticising inconsistent elements in the Purāņic mythology. The episode of the Buddhist monk in Dp. (No. V) is not quite successful, because it affords opportunity to satirize only one legend from the Rāmāyaṇa.
Jayarāma's Dp. is not available to us, and Harişeņa's Dp. is still in mss. If we are to be guided by Amitagati's work, we find that he attacks vehemently the Purāņic deities, even when they do not figure in the legends satirised; here and there he adds certain Purāņic stories, as they ought to be and as they are accepted by Jaina tradition; now and then he offers pithy maxins of worldly wisdom and sections of didactic teaching; he loses no opportunity to denounce worldly pleasures and prescribe religious discourses; and he not only criticises Purāņic religion but adds also substantial details on Jaina mythology, dogmatics and ethics. These are some of the specialities of the Dp, text as it came to be shaped by Amitagati.
1 The legend in Dhū. is shorter; and we do not. there the name of Chāya and her
association with Manilapakaušika, given in Dp. 2 The town of Ujjaini with its northern park is introduced in both Dhū. (I. 2-3) and
Dp. (I, 38, 64), though in different contexts,
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