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KUVALAYAMĀLĀ
5. THE KUVALAYAMĀLĀ: A CRITICAL STUDY
1. CONTENTS OF THE KUVALAYAMĀLĀ
[i. Author's Introduction] INTRODUCTORY MANGALA; HUMAN LIFE AND ITS OBJECTIVES: In the opening mangala, to begin with, the author directs salutations to Rsabha, the first Tīrthakara, with poetic references to some events in his career; secondly, to Mahāvīra who could not be shaken in his meditation even by the tempting appeals of the charming seasons prompted by (god) Samgama; thirdly, to the rest of the Jinas; and lastly, to the Tīrtha which enlightens the souls, which enables some of them to attain Liberation, and which is sacred even to the Jinas. The souls, under the pressure of passions and previous Karmas, plunge into hells; thence they pass through various species of sub-human beings; and
, through some punya, they are born as men with a perfect body and in a good family. With the acquisition of this rare human birth, one should pursue the human ends which are three: dharma, artha and kāma, and to these is added mokşa as well by some. They could be graded thus: Kāma is adhamd, Artha is madhyama and Dharma is uttama; and it is through dharma that all others, including mokşa, are achieved. A wise person, therefore, should persist in the practice of dharma which is variously presented with different deities and by different teachers, but the one preached by Jinendra is the best Dharma which is constituted of dāna, sila, tapas and bhāvanā. The first Tirthakara himself practised these precepts, and is thus an example for others. Due to want of necessary wealth, moral rectitude and physical strength, the first three are not practicable for all; therefore, the words of Jina should be understood and bhāvanā should be cultivated. Even in the midst of the wicked, who are out for scandalising the meritorious and merits, we should make our life fruitful by glorifying the merits of Jina, Sramana and supuruşa: with this object in view, a narrative is being presented (Pages 1.1-3.15; *1.2-*2.15).
EARLIER AUTHORS; TYPES OF KATHĀS: The earlier great poets have p many a narrative (for details, see below); but the range of subject matter being infinite, this one also is being presented. There are five varieties of the Kathā: sakala-, khanda-, ullāpa-, parihāsa- and vara-kathā; and besides, there could be samkīrṇa-kathā as well which combines the characteristics of all these: this is being presented here. It is miscellaneous with varied poetic embellishments, metrical forms and compositional patterns. It is composed in Prākrit, with marahatthayadesi descriptive pattern, almost a pure sakala-kathā, in which are introduced tāpasa, jina and sārthavāha; but just out of curiosity, in the mouth of various characters Sanskrit, Apabhramsa and Paiśācī passages are introduced. Being endowed with the merits of various narratives, with amorous sentiment, with well-arranged sub-plots and with the exposition of various arts and branches of knowledge, it has become a samkīrṇa-kathā. Kathā is again of three types: dharma-, artha- and kāma-kathā. Though this is primarily a dharma-kathā, it has become samkirna in-as-much as it has all the characteristics and has embraced the topics of artha and kāma. Here are narrated activities
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