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JAINA GAZETTE.
[June & July
in the civilisation of their native country. They created a most extensive narrative literature by means of which they propagated, in the form of fairy tales, beast fables, novels, and romances, the doctrines of their religion. No wonder, that the Panchatantra was very often rewritten, and moulded into quite different shapes, by their monks as well as by their laymen.
The most important of all these Jain recensions, Panchakhyan is the oldest one, which was composed by some Jain monk in Gujarat. Unfortunately neither his name, nor his date can as yet be given, as no manuscript with an author's Prashasti has yet become known. But as the author quotes a stanza of Rudrata's as the late Professor Pischel has shown, he must have written his Panchakhyan after about A.D. 850, and as Pooranabhadra used this oldest Jain text in two slightly different recensions as one of his main sources, its author must have composed his work before 1199 A.D., or, Samwat 1255.
name
This is the text which Kosegartan by a Latin called textus simplicior, (i.e., the more simple, i.e., less elaborate text), and which Benfey wrongly believed to be a Brahmanical adaptation of an ancient Rauddha work. The difference between this textus simplicior and the old Tantrakhyika, is so great that we may call it quite a new work written in imitation of the old one. No doubt it was composed by order of some king or minister who wished to possess a new edition of the then celebrated Panchatantra. The author of the textus simplicior took over into his own work most of the old, and added a considerable number of new tales and of new Subhashitam. Moreover he added a great many quotations from Kamandaki's Nitisara, a work which was not yet known to the author of the Tantrakhyika. But whereas the Pahlavi translator as well as the author of the North-West Indian epitome translated, or abbreviated, the old prose wording, the author of the textus simplicitor, narrated in his own manner and in his own style. He is an excellent narrator, who knows how to amuse his hearers or readers in instructing them; amongst the new tales which he introduced into the. Panchtantra tradition there are some of the best of the whole collection. The fourth and fifth books are extremely short in Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat www.umaragyanbhandar.com
