Book Title: Jain Shwetambar Conference Herald 1915 Book 11 Jain Itihas Sahitya Ank
Author(s): Mohanlal Dalichand Desai
Publisher: Jain Shwetambar Conference
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Naraative Literature of the Jainas.
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thoy made their way from Asia to Europe during the middle ages. But not a single case had hitherto been discovered, in which Jaina works were translated and thus transferred in previous centuries to our western world. In my forthcoming work on the History of the Panchatantra, I have proved that the Shuka. saptati Tana in an older form than that contained in Prof. Schmidt's editions migrated to Europe, and that this older form was no doubt a Jaina work. 1 On this and on some other works of Indian origin, the originals of which, I hope, will some day be discovered in Jaina literature. I shall say a few words in a later paper. Suffice it to say here that most of the different recensions of the सिंहासनद्वात्रिंशिका, or विक्रमचरित्र, are equally Jaira works. Professor Weber Indische Studien xv, P. 190 thinke it possible that the author Kshemankara of one of these recensions is identical with the well-known Kashmirian poet Kshemendra. But this is an error: for the Jaina Granthvâlî, p. 262, note C makes the following statement: आक्षमंकरगणि श्वेतांबराचार्य हता. षटपुरुषचरित्र पण एमणेज रचेलं छे.
That a great many of Jain stories must have found their way through Western Asia and through Northern Africa to Europe, this is obvious from the special forms, in which European and Jaina versions often agree with one another against the Buddhist versions. Generally speaking, Buddhist stories are much inferior to those of the Jainas. If there are a few Buddhist narrators who know, how to tell a tale, even their tales are in most cases bad as far as their purport is concerned. Buddhist narrators do not care for psychological probabilities and developments. They take their stories out of the great store-house of Indian popular tales and in most cases sorely mangle them. As the Jaina authors they want to search morale. A Jaina author, generally spea.
1 A Shukasaptati text which must have been different from the current versions is quoted by Hemachandra in the commentary on his Yogashastra, p. 444, stanza 41 of Dharma Vijayaji's edition: कथासप्ततिसंशंसी मार्जायेव शुकोऽनया । नीतिज्ञोऽपि गृहीतोऽसि जगादत्यभ. ja: 1188 11
