Rushibhashit Sutra

Author(s): Vinaysagar, Sagarmal Jain, Kalanath Shastri, Dineshchandra Sharma
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

Page 167

According to the Inata he was a minister of the ruler of Tetalipur named Kanakrath. He married Pattila, daughter of a goldsmith. Due to the fear that his own progeny might dethrone him, he used to mutilate his sons. The queen put this problem before Tetaliputra. Coincidentally the queen and Tetaliputra's wife concieved and gave birth to children at the same time. Tetaliputra's wife gave birth to a still daughter and the queen to a son. Tetaliputra exchanged the newly born and celebrated the birth of the son.
Some how Tetaliputra becomes apathetic towards Pottila. A Jain nun Arya Suvrata comes to the city with her disciples. Some nuns come to Tetaliputra's house for alms. Pottila seeks advice from the nuns to attract the husband. The nuns reply that giving of such advice is prohibited for them; they could only give religious discourses. Pottila listens to the discourse and accepts nunhood.
After the death of Kanakrath the king's son, brought up by Tetaliputra, ascends the throne and honours Tetaliputra profusely for his help. According to the story Pottila is reborn as god and wants to convert the husband of her previous birth. She instigates the King against him. Not getting due respect from king Tetaliputra is disconcerted and attempts suicide. Inspite of repeated attempts he fails to commit suicide. As such his life becomes full of disbelief and skepticism. Finding an opportunity, Pottila, turned into a god, preaches Tetaliputra. who becomes a monk. Meditating hard he attains liberation. The same story is also available in Rishibhashit in brief. In order to compare both narratives we give parts of both texts here (See orginal in Hindi).
On doing a comparative study of these two texts we find that: (1) As compared to Rishibhashit the description about Tetaliputra in Jnata-dharma-katha is more elaborate and includes much more super-natural incidents; (2) The language of Rishibhashit uses the syllable 'T' much more frequently, it is nearer to Ardhamagadhi and so, ancient as well; on the other hand, the language of Inata uses the syllable ‘Y’ more frequently, contains influence of Maharashtri Prakrit and comparatively recent. 166 fans yang