________________
188/The Raṣṭrakūtas and Jainism
The purvabhavas of a Jina hero form a continuous chain of births and deaths from one life into the next while the scenes of Buddhist Jātakas may be seperated by long periods. The series of purvabhavas generally begins from the life where the soul of the hero first acquires faith in the Jaina doctrine. Several of the Jātaka tales have been found sculptured on stone, during as far back as the second or third century B. C., while no such sculptures have as yet been discovered for the purvabhavas' [Banarsidas Jain: Jaina Jātakas: 1925: "Intro", ii-iii.]. Keepinbg this in mind, the wise reader will appreciate and react favourably to the poem.
6.9.4. Singularity of the Jaina literature of the Rāṣṭrakūta eon:
Innovative features while rendering the well established Sanskrit epics/classics in to the regional languages. Jaina philosophy shuns the very idea of linguistic ego. Jina Mahavira and his worthy apostles striked at the very root of linguistic discrimination by asserting that all lanugages are vehicle of thought and equally competent to apprehend the highest spiritual experience. To say that a particular language is superior/inferior has no relevance. For, Jains had the only language policy of sarvabhāṣāmayi sarasvati.
-
6.9.4.1. Poets of eminence, of the calibre of Pampa, chose to author in the language of the mass, and preferred to give the popular theme a new look with a touch of local color to improve the source material wherever possible. The portion of history, in Vikramārjuna vijaya, is penned by Pampa, who actually witnessed the incidents of war and peace. He was a poet-laureate. The assembly of scholars in the royal court advanced an earnest request to Pampa to compose a mahaprabandha olim mahā-kāvya narrating complete story of Maha-Bhārata.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
