Life and Stories of Jaina Savior Parcvanatha

Author(s): Maurice Bloomfield
Publisher: Maurice Bloomfield

Page 30

16 Life and Stories of Pārçvanātha
In Pārçvanātha 4. 53 ff., at the death of the king of Ratnapira, his two sons quarrel over the succession, so that the widowed queen Ratnāvali finds it advisable to take her daughter Padmā for safety to the hermitage of her uncle Gālava. Similarly in Dharmakalpadruma ii, the princes Çūra and Vīra fight for the sovereignty of Kāuçāmbī, so that their sister Jayamālā has to be placed in safety with her uncle, King Candraketu of Ratnapura. In Pārçvanātha 6. 280 ff. the destiny of two princes, Vijaya and Candrasena is determined by their hostility.
In Ralston's Tibetan Tales, p. 279, two princes, the folder Kşemamkara, the younger Pāpamkara, go on an expedition to a jewel island, fill their ship with jewels, but are shipwrecked. They get to shore; Pāpamkara robs Kşemamkara of jewels which he has fastened to his girdle, puts out his eyes with a thorn, and leaves him on the shore. Pāpamkara returns home, succeeds to the throne, and is desired for son-in-law by a neighboring king who had previously 'offered his daughter to Kșemamkara. The daughter refuses, and asks for a svayamvara. Kșemamkara, now a blind vagabond musician, stands at the svayamvara, to one side. The princess throws the garland upon him, thus marrying him to the remonstrances of the people. Thru saccakiriyā 84 (“truth declaration ') Kșemamkara regains his sight, and is reinstated as rightful heir to the throne.
As regards other versions of the Pārçva legend, the Çatrumjaya Māhātmyam (14. 1-97) treats Pārçva's life briefly, but in essential accord with our Caritra account.
the story of Otus and Ephialtes (Preller's Griechische Mythologie, vol. i, p. 81), and cites Grohmann's Sagen aus Böhmen, p. 35.
For this important motif see Burlingame, The Act of Truth,' JRAS., 1917, p. 449.