Narrative Tale in Jain Literature

Author(s): Satyaranjan Banerjee
Publisher: Asiatic Society

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NARRATIVE TALE IN JAIN LITERATURE
commentaries but also on extraneous literature with the result that their commentaries have become repositaries of Jaina tales of varied length and various interests. In this context mention may be made of Uvaesamālā, a poem in 540 Prakrit verses, attributed to Dharmadasa who is claimed to be a contemporary of Mahāvīra. Critical scholars are not ready to assign such an antiquity to this text. Apart from the didactic remarks in pithy and concise expression, this work is a rich mine of legendary references many of which are already met with in the Païņņas. It is often quoted and has been subjected to good many commentaries since 9th century A. D. as far as we know. The work looks like a compilation, and the basic verses may go back to an earlier stratum of Jaina literature corresponding to Nijjuttis and Païņņas.
The Digambaras have not accepted the present Ardhamāgadhi canon to be authoritative for them. Though the early canon is lost, the Digambara tradition has preserved the lists of canonical texts with their subdivisions, if any, and contents. It is interesting to compare them with those given in the Nandīsūtra and with the classification of the Ardhamāgadhi canon as it is current today. The absence of the Upānga division both in the Nandīsūtra enumeration and the Digambara classification and certain common details indicate the genuineness of the Digambara tradition which is earlier than the Valabhi Council. According to the Digambara tradition, Jñātrdharmakathā or Nāyādhammakahāo narrates various Akhyānas and Upākhyānas; Antayada describes Nami, Rāmaputra etc.; and Anuttaropa- pädikadasa or Anuttaradasā contains narratives about Rsidāsa, Dhanya. Sunaksatra, Kārtika, Nanda, Nandana, śālibhadra, Abhaya, Vārişeņa, Cilātaputra etc. 19 Stories about some of them are available in the present Ardhamāgadhi canon, but in the absence of early texts it is not possible to say
19. See Präkrit Śrutabhakti; Pujyapāda's Sarvārthasiddhi on
the Tattvārthasūtra 1. 20, and Akalanka's Rājavārtika on the same; Satkhandāgama with Dhavalā (Amraoti 1939) vol. I, pp. 96 etc; Gommațasāra, Jivakāņļa (Bombay 1916) pp. 134 etc.