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Anand Shah | Prof. Ulrike Stark 6.8.18
of his leprosy. The world could now see him not just as the king of the lepers, but as Prince
Shripal of Champa.
On continuities between this story and typical Hindu stories of the wife, Kelting notes
that the devotional aspect of the Hindu notion of pativrata remains constant. Maynasundari takes
her husband wholeheartedly, choosing to live with him in the jungle and risking leprosy to be by
his side. And, perhaps most importantly, Maynasundari deploys her spiritual knowledge as a
means to better her husband's condition. However, there also appear to be dimensions to this
story beyond wifely devotion. For one, Maynasundari is a strong-willed spiritual agent even
before she becomes a wife; the beginning of the story is predicated in a conflict between
Maynasundari and her father because of her faith in Jainism. Considering that Maynasundari
still belongs to her father's house magnifies the audacity of the conflict -- she does not belong to
a husband's house, so she cannot use that to protect her. Kelting supports this characterization of
Maynasundari by noting that in most tellings, it is Maynasundari's spiritual virtues and
knowledge that are at the forefront of the story. In this way, Maynasundari's story describe two
traits central to the Jain dharmapatni, devotion to the husband and religious faith. That faith is
appreciated for its own sake introduces a measure of agency for the Jain woman even in a
patriarchal system, when a man forces conflict with faith, there is now a reasonable reason for
the man to be incorrect, as faith is a legitimate value.
It is also important to note the other stories involving Jain laywomen: those that involve
the jinamatas (mothers of the Jinas). Many devotional hymns and Jain texts celebrate the
5 Kelting, M. Whitney. Heroic Wives Rituals, Stories and the Virtues of Jain Wifehood. Oxford University Press, 2009, pp. 80–85.
Note that while literary analysis of stories is often perilous as a result of multiple oral retellings, this part of the plot is built into the premise of the story. So, we can be confident that Mayna's characterization as a strong-willed spiritual agent is a fixture through different tellings of this story.
