Manuscript Illustrations Of Uttaradhyayana Sutra

Author(s): W Norman Brown
Publisher: American Oriental Society

Page 43

HARIKEŚA
17
to the boys, who immediately killed it. Presently a harmless watersnake came along, and this they spared. The sight of this discrimination made Bāla reflect that good and evil fortune come to living beings according to their virtues and faults. This enlightening thought brought him disgust with the world, and he took initiation as a Jain monk with the name Harikeśa. Once in his wanderings he came to a grove of tinduka trees outside Benares, where a yakșa (vegetation spirit) presided; and there he engaged in austerities of such impressive character that the yakşa became his follower. One day a princess named Bhadrā came to the grove to worship the yakşa. There she saw Bāla, and found his dirt, emaciation, age, and evil smell so repellent that she reviled him. The yakṣa became angry and took possession of her, nor could all the physicians and soothsayers drive him out. At last he himself spoke from within her body to say that he would leave only if she were offered in marriage to the holy man whom she had despised. The king agreed; the yakşa left; and Bhadrā arrayed as a bride went to the repulsive ascetic. But Bāla refused her. Then the king's chaplain, named Rudradeva, claimed her for himself, on the ground that she had been abandoned by one sage and therefore should be given to another. The king consented, and Bhadrā became the chaplain's wife and mistress of his sacrifices. On one occasion Rudradeva was conducting a sacrifice outside the city, and many Brahmans, masters of two or three Vedas, were present from distant lands vying with one another in the rite. Just then Harikeśa came to the sacrificial house, ready to break his fast after a month's abstinence from food.
At this point the Uttarādhyayana text takes up the story. When the Brahmans saw Harikeśa they mocked him sarcastically and told him to leave. The monk himself made no reply, but the yakșa spoke for him from a nearby tinduka tree, asking alms and explaining that the true Brāhmaṇa is one who lives by (Jain) piety, not necessarily one born in the Brahman caste. Angered the Brahmans present cried out, "Are there here no Kşattriyas (members of the warrior caste, who are traditional protectors of the Brahmans' sacrifices), or fire priests (who counter evil with religio-magic rites), or teachers with their disciples to strike this fellow with a stick or a plank, to take him by the neck and drive him off?" On hearing these words, a number of boys who were present started to beat him. Then Bhadrā reproved the boys, recalling Bāla's abstinence in refusing her and warning them that he could consume them with the power of his spiritual fire. At this point the yakṣa of the tinduka tree and his fellows appeared and beat the people. Thereupon Bhadrā said, “You might as well dig at rocks with your nails or bite iron with your teeth or stamp fire with your feet as to treat a monk with contumely." When the Brahmans saw the boys beaten down, they asked pardon of the monk, honored him, and offered him food. The gods now rained down flowers, perfumed water, and heavenly treasures, and sounded drums. In conclusion Harikeśa preached a sermon on true Brahmanhood and true sacrifice, which consist in living the holy life as taught by the Jain faith.
· The paintings of the various manuscripts illustrate a number of scenes from Harikeśa's story, beginning with his conversion. DV (fig. 36) puts this episode in two registers. In the lower, at the left, is a snake rearing its head, while a boy seated beside it has his arm raised to strike. Another boy sits under a tree watching and is presumably Harikeśa. In
that he could consund his fellows appeared hails or bite iron withe Brahmans