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as in the Malayasundart-Katha, of unknown authorship and originally written in Prakrit, "The author", says Winternitz, "has worked up popular fairy-tale themes into a Jaina legend. A veritable deluge of the most phantastic miracles and magic feats almost takes away the reader's breath in this work. Countless motifs well-known in fairytale literature are interwoven with the novel." (cf. HCL, II, p. 533). In addition to all this, there is a vast independent fairy-tale literature of the Jainas, in prose and in verse, in Prakrit, Sanskrit, Apabhramsha, even in Kannada, Tamil and the vernaculars, available in the many collections of stories, the Kathakoshas (treasuries of tales).
There is no doubt that 'all these works, be they stories in plain prose or in simple verse, or elaborate poems, novels or epics, are all essentially sermons. They are never intended for mere entertainment, but always serve the purpose of religious instruction and edification'. (Ibid., p. 521). In the Jaina novels, it is true, the heroes and heroines after all sorts of adventures usually renounce the world at last and become monks and nuns for the purpose of attaining liberation, copious instructions on religion are inserted in all convenient places, and underlying the main narrative and most of the inserted stories there is the doctrine of Karma, according to which even the slightest peccadillo must have the effects in future rebirths. But, even in modern times, the novel has been made a vehicle for the teaching of history, the advocacy of causes, the showing up of abuses, and so on, there being so much necessary overlapping of the didactic and aesthetic. (cf. Scot James, The Making of Literature, pp. 362-363). So even if writers like Winternitz describe the Jaina novels as 'religious novels', which is nothing but a literal translation of the Jaina term 'Dharam-Katha, the fact does not detract from their being novels. Several of these Jaina novels are fine romantic tales of love and adventure, and in the numerous stories, parables and fairy-tales inserted one comes across many themes which are often found in non-Jaina narrative literature, and some of which belong to universal literature. As Winternitz avers, the vast Jaina narrative literature is 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, the Jaina tales allow us to catch a glimpse of the real life of the common people. (HCL, II, p. 545)
Prominent among the pre-mediaeval Jaina novels are: Tarangavai-Kaha of Pädalipta Sūri (circa 3rd-4th century A.D.), Vārāngacharitra of Jațăsimhanandi (7th century), Samaraicca-Kaha and Dhurtakhyana of Haribhadra Suri (8th century), Kuvalayamālā of Udyotana (778 A.D.), Nayakumara-chariu of Svayambhu (circa 800
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