Studies in Jainism

Author(s): Ramkrishna Mission Institute of Culture Culcutta
Publisher: Ramkrishna Mission Institute of Culture Culcutta

Page 90

LITERATURE OF JAINISM
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The next commentary on it is Tattvärtha-raja-värttika of Akalanka (eighth century) which offers more detailed explanations of the sūtras, as well as of the important statements of Pūjyapāda. The Tattvartha-sloka-vārttika of Vidyānandin (ninth century) gives expositions in verse and makes valuable clarifications. For yogic practices, the Jñanarnava of Subhacandra and the Yogasāstra of Hemacandra are valuable guides, while the Ratna-karanda-srāvakācāra is more popular amongst the laity. Jaina Sanskrit literature is considerably enriched by a series of works on Nyaya (logic) begun by Samantabhadra and Siddhasena Divākara and followed up by Akalanka, Vidyānandin, Prabhäcandra, Mānikyanandin, Hemacandra, and many others.
JAINA NARRATIVE LITERATURE IN
SANSKRIT AND PRAKRIT
The narrative literature of Jainism has mostly as its subject-matter the life of one or more of its sixty-three great men, called trişasti-salākā-purusäh. These are the twentyfour Tirthankaras, twelve Cakravartins, nine Baladevas, nine Nārāyanas, and nine Prati-Nārāyanas. In the lives of the Tirthařkaras the five auspicious events (kalyānaka) namely, conception, birth, renunciation, enlightenment, and salvation, receive special attention from the poets. The conquest of the six sub-divisions of Bhārata-khanda is the main achievement of the Cakravartins. The Baladevas are charged with the special responsibility of getting rid of the tyrants of their times, the Prati-Nārāyaṇas, with the assistance of the Nārāyaṇas. They form triples. Rāma, Lakşmana, and Rāvaņa form one triple while Balarāma, Krşņa, and Jarāsandha form another, these two triples being the last of these nine triples; it is they who, next to the Tirthankaras, have inspired most of the narrative poetry. Descriptions of the universe and of the past lives of the persons under discussion, the introduction of numerous subsidiary stories to illustrate one point or another, and occasional discourses on religious topics are some of the other features of this Purāņic literature. The narration as a rule begins in the saintly assembly of Lord Mahavira with a query from Sreņika, the king of Magadha, and the reply