Narrative Tale in Jain Literature

Author(s): Satyaranjan Banerjee
Publisher: Asiatic Society

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NARRATIVE TALE IN JAIN LITERATURE
literature, Winternitz remarks2 : “Like the Buddhist monks, the Jaina monks, too, delighted at all times in adorning their sermons with the telling of stories, in converting worldly stories into legends of saints, in elucidating Jinistic doctrines by means of 'examples', thus exploiting the inborn Indian love for fables in order to win over and retain as many adherents as possible for their religion." "As in the case with the Buddhist Jātakas, this narrative literature imbedded in the Commentaries, contains many popular themes, including some which occur also in other Indian and non-Indian literatures, and form part of the common treasury of universal literature." We have already studied his views on ascetic poetry which, he further adds", ‘likes to take its subjects from popular tales, fairy stories, fables and parables. Now the Jainas have always had a special liking for any kind of popular poetry, especially folk-tales. Jaina literature, both canonical and still more non-canonical, is a very store-house of popular stories, fairy tales and all kinds of narrative poetry. About the extent and the reality of tone, he says : “The mass of narratives and books of narratives among the Jainas is indeed vast. They are of great importance not only to the student of comparative fairy-tale lore, but also because, to a greater degree than other branches of literature, they allow us to catch a glimpse of the real life of the common people. Just as in the language of these narrative works there are frequent points of agreement with vernaculars of the people, their subject-matter, too, gives a picture of the real life of the most varied classes of the people, not only the kings and priests, in a way which no other Indian literary works, especially the Brahman ones, do."
Dr. Hertel“, whose studies on the Pañcatantra are quite well-known, has worked on a number of medieval Jaina narrative texts. In his opinion, 'the narrative literature of the Jainas is connected with several problems' the chief of which are : first, 'the problem of the migration of stories'
2. A History of Indian Literature vol. II, pp. 484, 545 etc. 3. Indian Culture, vol. I, 2, p. 147.
On the Literature of the Śvetāmbaras of Gujarat, Leipzig 1922, pp. 111., 3, 6f.