History of Canonical Literature of Jainas

Author(s): Hiralal R Kapadia, Nagin J Shah
Publisher: Prakrit Text Society Ahmedabad

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COMPARISON AND EVALUATION
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is contrasted with that of the ruler and the warrior is noted by Jarl Charpentier in Studien zur indischen Erzählungsliteratur 1, Paccekabuddhageschichten (Uppasala, 1908) and Z. D. M. G. (vol. LXVI, 38ff.). Ajjhayana XII has a counterpart in the Matangajataka Nr. 497 as shown by Charpentier in Z. D. M. G. (vol. LXIII, 171 ff.), whereas the legend of Citta and Sambhūta occurring in ajjhayana XIII has been long ago compared with Jātaka Nr. 498 by Prof. Leumann.1 Verses 19-27 of ajjhayana XXV have a parallel in 63 verses of Vāsetthasutta, having the refrain 'Him I call a Brāhmana' Prof. P. V. Bapat's article A Comparative Study of Uttaradhyayanasūtra with Pali Canonical Books published in Jaina Sāhitya Samsodhaka (Vol. I, No. 1, 1920) and Upadhyāya Ātmārāma's article 'Jaina ane Bauddha dharmoni samānatā published in Jaina Vidyā (Vol. I, No. 1, pp. 13-18) may be here noted.
Ascetic Literature—This is the terminology coined by Prof. Winternitz, in view of his having noticed in Bauddha texts2 Samanas and Brāhmanas, and in Aśoka inscriptions Samana-bambhana and on finding Megasthenes making a clear distinction between Brāhmanas and Sramanas. He notes the following characteristic features of this literature in The Jainas in the History of Indian Literature (p. 145):
'It disregards the system of castes and āśramas; its heroes are, as a rule, not gods and Rsis, but kings or merchants or even Sūdras. The subjects of poetry taken up by it are not Brāhmanic myths and legends, but popular tales, fairy stories, fables and parables. It likes to insist on the misery and sufferings of Samsāra, and it teaches a morality of compassion and Ahimsā, quite distinct from the ethics of Brahmanism with its ideals of the great sacrificer and generous supporter of the priests, and its strict adherence to the caste system.'
The ballad of King Nami (Uttarao IX) and the legend of Citta and Sambhūta (XIII) are specimens of the ascetic literature3. Many verses 1. See Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes (V, 111 ff.; VI, I ff.). 2. In Jaina works, too, we come across Samana and Bambhaņa (vide Sūyagada I,
6, 1; II, 6, 4, & 12), and Lord Mahāvīra himself is at least four times addressed
as Bambhana. Vide the ending verse of each of the 4 uddesas of Āyāra (IX). 3. Many pieces of ascetic poetry are found in the Mahābhārata, specially in its XIIth
parvan. Out of them may be singled out the beautiful itihāsa-saṁvāda of Jājali and Tulādhāra (261-264) where Tulādhāra, the shopkeeper of Benares, teaches the Brāhmana Jājali, 'the eternal religion of love'. For other instances see The Jainas in the History of Indian Literature (pp. 145-146).