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NARRATIVE TALE IN JAIN LITERATURE
117
XXVIII
THE STORY OF PRADYOTA AND STHŪLABHADRA as told by Somaprabha in his Kumārapāla-pratibodha.
The story of King Pradyota of Ujjayinī serves to elucidate the sin of adultery. The story belongs to the cycle of the Udayana legends. It is also told here how Prince Abhaya of Rājagrha becomes the prisoner of King Pradyota owing to trickery. As a captive he does the king an important services on three occasions, and each time the king grants him a wish with the exception of his liberty. When he rescues the king from his distress the fourth time, and the king again offers to grant him a wish Abhaya says : "Whilst you sit upon the elephant Nalagiri as a driver and I sit on the lap of (your consort) Śivadevi, burn me with the (fire-proof) wood of the chariot Agnibhīru." By demanding such impossibilities, he indicates to the king that he has only the one wish for liberty. The king recognises this and sets him free, whereupon Abhaya takes leave of him with this oath : "If I do not take you prisoner, O King, in broad daylight in the middle of the town amidst loud cries, may I go into the fire." By means of a ruse he does actually take the king prisoner. 33
As an instance of the vow of virtue, the story is told of Sīlavati, the virtuous wife of the rich merchant Ajitasena. She understands the language of the birds and performs all kinds of seemingly absurd actions and gives seemingly absurd answers: it turns out, however, that the apparent absurdities are in reality proofs of great intelligence.34
Prastāva V contains two long narratives in Apabhramsa. The one is the Jīva-manah-karana-samlāpa-Kathā, “The Story of the Conversations between Soul, Mind and Senses."35 This is an elaborately worked out allegory (105 stanzas), in which King Ātman (Soul), his consort Buddhis
33. Pp. 76-83 of the edition, cf. Alsdorf, 1. c., p. 140 f. and P.D.
Gune in Ann. Bh. Inst. II, 1920, p. 1 ff. 34. Pp. 220-229 of the edition: cf. Alsdorf. 1.c., p. 141 f. 35. Pp. 422-437 of the eidtion; cf. Alsdorf, 1.c. pp. 6, 10 ff., 80
ff., 92 ff.
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