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Sectional Studies
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etc.), Harivamsa, Mahabharata, and Rāmāyaṇa, have already been studied by a number of scholars, but the material is vast and, at this stage at least, it would hardly be possible to describe the four cycles in an exhaustive and systematic manner. The most relevant lacuna is the unpublished second part of the Madhyamakhanda of the Vasudevahindi (refer for the first part to BHAYANI Ma).-(1.3) Following more or less the terminology adopted by E.LEUMANN for the title of his Übersicht, we use the term "literature" for several clusters of exegetical texts: Avasyaka literature (LEUMANN Av, METTE Na, BALBIR St, BALBIR AV), Cheda literature (TRIPATHI Pa), Daśavaikalika literature (LEUMANN Da), Ogha literature (METTE Oh), and Uttaradhyayana literature (JACOBI Er et alia). In addition to these, we can mention what may be called "Müläradhana literature" (UPADHYE Br: 47 ff.). All the quotations in the parentheses refer to studies which are partially or exclusively concerned with the narrative elements in the relevant literatures. In spite of the work done already and in spite of the fact that the Avasyaka and Uttaradhyayana literatures are, in their narrative sections, largely concerned with the UH (if taken together, both contain more than three quarters of the UH in the sense of 1.1), it will take considerable time before the whole narrative material is properly surveyed. Apart from numerous isolated stories, the "literatures" also include accounts which belong to the story cycles surrounding well-known figures like Agadadatta, Cărudatta, Kalaka, Müladeva, and Udayana (see PPN). - (1.4) The story material in the canon is heterogeneous and scattered, and in many cases even the expression "story" can only be used with reservation. But the greater part of the narratives in the canon has been incorporated into the UH (or is already based on the concept of the UH). Considering the UH as a whole, we notice that only one biography, namely the life of Malli- the 19th Jina (ROTH Ma) -- is found in the canon in a complete form and that, in this case, the account is not only complete, but also in agreement with the standard form. A survey of the entire body of stories (canon in its narrowest sense plus Prakirņaka.s) would be useful.
(1.5) In the case of 1.5 and 1.6 we can ignore the non-Jaina cycles (1.3). The isolation of motif types, which are more varied than single motifs, is a matter of judgment. We suggest "temptation stories" (VERCLAS AV), "fantastic architecture" (samavasarana etc.: AMAR Ar: 529-33), "Jinas and gods" (activities of the gods in connection with the lives of the Jinas), and "the Jina speaks" (dialogues etc., DELEU VI: 35 ff.). Finally we mention "chain of existences", a motif type which influenced both the form and content of many Jaina stories. (1.6) Our general guide to "motifs" is THOMPSON MO (which appeared later than BLOOMFIELD Ps). For motifs occurring in Jaina literature the reader is referred to BLOOMFIELD Pa (183-207) and BALBIR Da (254, s.v. "Motifs"). The shastric and didactic trend has exercised considerable influence on the Jaina stories, affecting to some extent their inner unity. Many stories can be evaluated both from the narrative and from the didactic angle, and there are
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cases where the interface of folklore and dogmatics is as interesting as the actual motifs (BALBIR MI, BALBIR No).(1.7) The subject of «parallel versions», which has already been mentioned in 1.1, will be discussed in some detail on pp.37-39 below, with most of the examples belonging to narrative literature. Parallel versions of one and the same story may vary in more than one respect, but, more often than not, we find only surface differences: i.e. different names given to the same character, the same character introduced with or without a name, changes of the order of events (on the discourse or sujet level), textual divergences due to didactic and gnomic additions, and textual divergences due to stylistic elaboration ("kävyaization"). (1.8) Refer for this point to pp.34-36. Our list does not include narrative literature which belongs to a later period than the material of 1.1-1.4.
List Two: Narrative literature in the two epics. (2.1, 2.2) The distinction between main story and other stories is probably a matter of some importance. First of all, a technical advantage can be derived from the principle that the study of complex works is rendered easier if extraneous or peripheral matter is set apart for separate treatment. In the case of the Mahabharata, it seems helpful to separate Books XII and XIII (in the Bombay edition, 29% of the whole epic) with their numerous stories from the rest of the work. A further reduction is produced if "Nala", "Rāmāyaṇa", and "Savitri" (all included in the Vanaparvan) are separated from the body of the Mahabharata. These three sub-parvan.s are also completely unrelated to the main story. It is only after such separations that the contrast between main story and loosely related stories can be discussed, which is a matter of more than technical importance. Outside the main story we find semi-autonomous cycles connected with individuals (Krsna, Arjuna etc.) or with certain groups such as the Bhargava.s (GOLDMAN Go: p.78: Bhargava and Vasistha cycles). The "Ravaneis" of the Uttarakanda of the Rāmāyaṇa (JACOBI Ra: 26) may be described as extraneous matter or as an associated cycle, but the situation is different in so far as books 1 and 7 are later than books 2-5.-(2.3) One important subject are individual characters, which can be studied both from the point of view of literary criticism (RUBEN Tr, Ramayana) and that of the history of motifs. A motif linked through different forms with two different characters is "divine manipulation" (Narada as manipulator: PEM: 529-30; Krsna as manipulator: MATILAL Kr: 405 and 409). (2.4) In the case of motifs it is advisable to describe, first of all, motifs which are not isolated, but which form part of a larger texture (2.3 supra; 2.4 and 2.5). Characters of some importance "attract" or "produce" specific motifs, a tendency which also applies to certain categories of beings, mainly apsaras.s, gandharva.s, monkeys, raksasas (raksasa.s and räkṣasts), ris, and snakes. See HOPKINS Ep. (Index). (2.5) In the Bombay edition the four so-called "battlebooks" (Mbh. VI-IX) cover 26% of the Mahabharata. To this we can add the second part of
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