Dhurtakhyana in the Nisithacurni

Author(s): A N Upadhye
Publisher: Z_Vijay_Vallabh_suri_Smarak_Granth_012060.pdf

Page 4

146 ACĂRYA VIJAYAVALLABHASŪRI COMMEMORATION VOLUME
buffalo's tail. Tell me whether you accept all this as true.' Others said in this manner : 'If it is true that Brahmā and Keśava could not reach the terminus of the Linga, how is it that your statement is not true. Secondly, it is heard in the Rāmāyana that Hanūmat had a long tail, which, covered with rags and sprinkled with oil, was lit up and thereby Lankā was burnt; similarly ropes could be prepared from a buffalo's tail. Thirdly, we hear in the scripture that King Gandharva became a dwarf, that Kimaśva became a boa at Indra's curse, and that a boa asked with a human voice seven questions to Dharma who answered them and rescued his brother and then became King Ravi on the termination of the curse. Similarly, that you became a lizard and then again yourself is quite believable.'
Then Khandapānā suggested to them to submit to her lest they might be humiliated, but they were proud of their dignity. She smiled and continued : 'With king's permission I went out in search of my slaveservants who had run away; I visited many villages and towns; and here I find that those slave servants are yourselves and those clothes are on your body; if true, give the clothes; if false, give the feast. What is said is significant.
It is necessary to compare Jinadása's Dhurtākhyāna (JD). with Haribhadra's Dhūrtākhyāna (HD). In JD there are only four Dhūrtas while in HD there are five, the additional name being that of Kandarīka. The order of their .enumeration is slightly different, and Müladeva does not occupy a very prominent position in JD as he does in HD. In JD Elāsādha, Śaśaka, Mūladeva and Khandapānā narrate their experiences one after the other, their experiences being confirmed by all the rogues and not by any one specifically as in HD. What Elāsādha narrates as his experience in JD is put in the mouth of Kandarika in HD where Elāsādha confirms it with Purāņic stories. The patterns of the stories narrated by Śaśaka, Múladeva and Khandapānā are the same in both, with the difference that Müladeva is given the third turn in JD and the narration of Khandapānā is substantially longer in HD with the result that the whole tale assumes a different form at the close in HD. That which is put in the mouth of Elāṣāṣha by HD is absent in JD.
What Elāsādha narrates in JD has some additional details in HD. It is confirmed by other rogues by only two parallel events from the Bhārata etc. in JD, but by six parallel stories in HD. The patterns of experiences of Saśaka and Müladeva are basically the same in both; but, if JD confirms