PART I

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

India is a vast collntry with d i f f m in religion and custom, in fauna and

flora, in art and architecture, in lsnguage and literature and even in men and mauner~.
The tm~tyunderlying the cultural diversity, however hae enriched the country as a
whole anrl offmd an intensting h d y to Le scholar as also to the laymen

Jainim is an integral part of Indian thought and cullwe. its rich contribution to
Indian literahre in general and narrative literature in partinrla~ is univmally
acknowledped Professor Wiemik rightly observes "It would take a fiirly big
volume to give a history of all that be Jainas have contributed to the treasures of
India'".
'Ihe Jaina writers were the prolific writers of versatile genius who have
ermcbd almod every branch of l i t e d . For the nch coniribution to the world
d v e litemhe in pneral and Indian narrative litemhit in particular, the Jainae
have been highly appreciatedby scholm
3
.

In spite of their richness as well ae pciouaness lage d e r o f J h w&

are lying untouched 'Ihey are indeed MI of materials wehl for the rewachm of
sooio-dbwl history, linguilcs, lexicons end othbl. bmches of I~~Iology,Ae
profsaw Ragbm obme8 '5hbydisplay a stnlongly wide range oflmorp.ldp ad
-4
en amsdPg awermsa of detail# in every walk of life . All those acholm who have
worked on Jaina literatw have emphasieed on the critical of Jaina text?,
psrticularly the narrative works. Profeseor Upadhye temarics "Criticsl eludi~io
dierent brunches of Jaina litereturc are still in their infancy If the w o h folow
critical and compmtive lines of Btudy, the result of their research will enviably eoicb
the fields of Indological study"'.

The Subject, Nature and Scope

(BIM)has also
As it is the caae with most of the Jaina w o h ~~hatkafhiikos'a
not evoked much inrerest in the minds of scholrar of past and preseat. Few etudiea
have been made in U s regard so far. Professor A.N.Upadhye has presented to w a
hiqhly &entic edirion of the text BKK In its iatroduction he ha discussed the
sigificance of the rext *om various aspects, which is a preliminary step toward an
intensive and thorough &udy on the work His study is exhaustive h m the linguistic
point ofview, but luka a detailed analysis ofthe work *om other nape&, particularly
tiom socio-cultural point of view. Asim Kumm Chdterjee's article titled "Ibe
B~hutkathiiGo& of Harisepa" lacks a vivid & d y of the work and omite many
important points of h a t 6 . Before the text cams into printed form, Rice,
Naraaimbachya and ohera in their discussion about the migration of Jdn&gha to
the soutb (Srsvsnabelgola) used only one story of it i.e., BhadmrShukuthLaka
(No.131). Iha present edition of Upedhye wss publishsd in 1943 under Sm& Jaina
smibe and even ttna iu out of print at pzaewt. O.C.Choudhury in his Jdna S h t p ki
Brhaqd Itth6sa md Pandit Nalhnm P d in his Jain &hi& our I t i h b
introduced the work to the Hindi rsadm. 'Ihe k t BKK in of much significlmce for
reasarchera $om the following poiom of view.

* It is worth mentioning that the scholars who wrote on BKK focused on its socio-
culhrral importmce and supgeded tha! M e r intensive research for the
reconstruction of socio-culhual conditions of ancient md medieval India on tbe
basis of the BKK deserves to be canied on. 'Ibis being a dated work of specified
localily the various bib of information of culturai interest have a & a t e
chronological value. though it can not be claimed that all ofthem belong only to the
age and place of our author. For a student of Indirm folklore who occupies himself
with the ddy of customs, rites, believes which are mt in the society in
n
different places and at different times, there are some points of interest in the
stories of BKK. .kKChattejee remarka 'To up this work of Hariama is an
invaiuable source book for the &y of society, religion and hirnory d
geoyaphy ofthe early medieval periob'7.

* It is considered to be the earliest among the Kuthiikos'u available and comprises

the biggest number of bless. It might have been a model of geme of ~uth&&s
such as those written by Srichandra(end of eleventh ce&y AD), Prabhachandm
(end of eleventh cmtury AD), Nayanandi ( t i .Imlmown) and Nemidatta (sixteenth
csntlPy AD).
a The influence of Pralait, the primary mode of c o d c a t i o n of the J h , is
noticed h u g b o d the work Use of popular expressions ir abundd. It is
hquently enlivened by proverbs and colloquial usage of the comon people.
Hence it is apotential ground for linguistic atudy of Sanskrit ussge.

8 ?he work may be of interest for reserchm of History and Geography as we have
significant references to some historical fact8 like the migration of Jaina Swigha
to Punnib territory in Decan (?40.131), the founding of five stupas at Mathura, the
description of caves on the hills adjourning Dharasiva (modern Oamanabad) near
Tura which according to the text B E irr situated in hhimdeia (story No. 56)
Profeseor Upadhye while emphasizing on hrher research on these topics, marks
.' It is an urgent need that these topics ehould be critically studied using all other
sources; hen alone it would be possible to sepmte historical events from their
legendary settings'9
* Illwintion of different concepts of Jaina Yoga is another interesting feature of the
wok. It serves as an efective medium of teaching ethics and ideologies. ?be
abundant infomation would certainly be intereatmg and usefil to a student of
Iadian Religions in g e n d and of Jainism in particular.

r The work is of great potentiality of mabig a comparative aludy of many of ib

d v e s that appemed and mappeared in Jaina literature in particular ad
Indian litsraturs in pd.
r Being a dated work the form md the contents of these stories are w e a for m
intenswe study of the gradual evolution of the different well-how leading fiction
motifi sl different atages of Indian litersturel0.

r Like other narrative works the BKK also is embellished with so noble
sayings (subh+ta) quoted from various sources, not specified by the author. A
collection of such sayinga arranged thematically would be a valuable contribution
11
to the nlh literature .

12
r A kivya has been described ss an encyclopaedia of howledge . The
justification ofthis statement could be ~llustratedby an analysis of the text BKK
Tke poet's rich awareness in various branches of howledge is displayed in the
wok. Profeseor Raghaven, Winternib and Buhler have drawn the attention of
Indologists to the encyclopaedic nature ofsuch o aha works13.

r The definition and enumeration of different types ofhabitaiion class of people etc.
are very important for the lexicographers.

In the present duly we have restricted to the duly of the BKK from the socio.
14
culW point of view .
 The thesis is broadly divided in to two par$. Part I comprises two c h a p w
The first chapter presents a detailed discussion on the Indian narrative litbt'abtre with
special reference to Jaina d v e literature end the second chapter contab a
llterray study of the work BKK Part I1 deals with the m u objective of our present
thesis i.e., the reconstruchon of life of people in ancient and medieval India It consists
of four chapters, dealing independently with political, economic, and socio-religious
conditions of India during the period and the retrospect All the references to thc
BICX are inserted to the body in bracket References to secondary sources of the
mater~alsare accommodated m the separate reference section at the end of each
chapter. The references to the text BKK contains two numbera, for example (30.2).
The first number refers to that of the story and the second one of the verse.

"As the active world is inferior to the rational soul so Fiction gives
to mankind what history denies. and in some measure satisfies the
mind with shadows when it carmot enjoy the subdauce" - Lord
Bacon.

Stones gve us enktunment as well as knowledge. 'Ihey have also been used
as the convenient medium for educating religiow concepts, moral principles a d
ethical norms. Evety colmtry ban i b own fables, legends, short stories for this purpose.
In Greece. we have Aesop's fsbies and in Iodia l a p nwnber of Puranic legends and
stories, wailable in the P&catantm, Hitopadeda etc. Besides these cv*y country hss
its legends. Legends of Greece, Rome, Persia, India and China ure well-known And
there are folk tales like De's fold tales of B e n d etc. Some of them are p d d and
o h m are in cwrmcy as words of mouth 'Ibis foim of litemlure hss become a
precious cultural treasure and continue to ioepire people h m generation to g e n d o a

Indians are proud of their rich heritage and cultwe which are ancient.
MKrishamachari in his A histoty of Smkrit Ntermre says, Wo country except
India and no laaguage except the S h t can boast of a possession so m e i d or
venerable"15. About the aotiquity of its litembe, the scholm fail to anive ut s
definite conclusion kK.Wmder remmks -"The origin of litnmhtre in India is hidden
in aremote ant~quitv,of which the hardly reconoilable testimonies of archaeolow a d
ancient legends give us at present but a very shadowy idea One cm merely take for
granted that dory-telliagand song are as ancient as h a n society, and regard Ihe
earliest extent Iadiaa specimens of hese arts which antedate kivya by a busand
yeara a belonging to a tradition, or a complex of traditions of incalculable age"16.He
opines that at the time of the origip of &yo, India waa extremely rich in narrative
l i t a & e in the form of shod stories told in prose end more sophieticated storiss in
veme
17
.

0- of Indian Narrative
About the antiquity of Indian stories, Kieh opines that 6om the esrlird timn
of the life of the vedic Indiaorr various lypee of Indian tales dated. In course of time
these stories were wed for a specific plnpose i.e, for inculcating useid Imowltdgs.
Rofeesor Kieth considers this as an importrlllf event in the story literahae but
expresses his inability to say at what date this took place18. According to Wioternik,
all sorts of stories existed long befm they found entry into tho literahpa and they
found their place fvst in Prakrit li-l9.

Professor AUGhatge is of the view that the storiea of Brahmanical w o k , the

Buddhist J B a h and Jaina works all preeuppose a common heriee fiom ancient
Indian folk lore, while mutual borrowiqgs though existent are late and easily
detectable2'.

The theory of Indian origin

With regard to the original home of stories. ncholm are widely divided in
their opinions. Some consider Greece to be the home land while some othm
considers India to be the land of stories. Some of the important views m presented
below.
W i t z c m i d e n tales, fables and stories to be the mod valuable
production of Indim minp. According to him these stories bad the Wua of a proper
literalure moag the people of India in an earlier age aad those are older than my
litsrsture of other civilieed codries, He recognises the inxportance of Indian d v e
literature and s a p "No other bmch of Indian omate poetry has exercised so grslt a
influence on foreign literalure snd haa become ao much impolCsnt for the world
literalure as the dory literature' P

Professor J.C.Jain agrees with Wintemik a d considers India to be lhe

buthplace of dories. In the evening agosfhi ofmen sib and listen6 to the stories told
by others to get relief from the day'e hard works. He quotes the view of Penzer, the
learned editor ofthe ocean of streama of stories that the warm tempsrature produces a
laxity in habits which associated with the exclusion of women aod consequential
23
gatherings of men in the cool eveninga has given great impulse to the dwy-telliog .
Dr.J.C.Jain is of the opinion that dories were utilized for giving relief to the tired
passengem, merchants, kioge etc. end this is substantiated by the following verse of
3,rhatkathdlokasafigrahaof Buddhasvirmin -
atha miitit mmaymtute raman[vakath$pathi /
agacchm kancidadhvrinam asbcitapathaklamam.ll18.184

Professor w'internib c m i d m Indian land to be favourable for the origin of

stories end sayi . "It may be pointed out that in India there have been in all times
mnnberless idlers. Thousands of ascetics, mendicaatn and pilgrims have been
wandering them through out the cities and villages since c&es ago end hey hsve
always liked to athaEt the people towards themselver by telling Lorn stories and to
while away their own time in neireting among themselves etoriea, that have not a l w q
 Howw8rhe does not athibute the origin of all stories to India d
been re~igious'~~.

views that Indian narrative l i t e m hae also borrowed from other codes2'.

Professor Jain puts forth another argument in support of the theory of India
origin of stories. In olden days, nome people were earning their livelihood through
giving different kinds of entntainment to the people. Am04 these, karhakus or story-
tellers were important It was the duty of dory-tellers to tell stories to the kiq in night
when he was retiring from d d hectic activities and taking rest. 'The story tellers used
to press h e legs and hands of the king while telling stories. 'Ihe king wmt asleep
while listening to the dories. 'The queens also use to entertain the king^ telling
l6
stories* . In Hemachandra's ~anhstaparva(3.18.186) also we hear of a ICUQ calling
some ofhis subjects everyday to tell him stories.

29 30
~enzer~', H H ~ i l s o n ~Hertel
, and Krishamnachsri also support the
theory ofIndian origin of stories.

Penzer seys, "Nor should it be forgotten that India is the bw land of Romance,
more so indeed h a Persia or Arabia for India's own history is a romance hdly less
exaggmated and enthrallingthan the tales them~elvee"~.Sir William Jones thiaks thai

the firat m o d fablerr which appeared in Europe wsre ofIndian or Ethiopian ori@na.
 hater arid othm however dress the iqoesibility of wsMliag that India gave
only and did not borrow and insim on the impo-ce of westi-nating the possibility
33
of a literary origin for many fsvy tales current among the people .

Migration :
'he traders, merchants and towists were as if the ambassadors of our c o m e .
They developed our trade and cultural relations. Our heritage, thoughts, tradition arid
stories crossed the country through them. Also foreigo cultwe aud stories came to India
and irdluencekthose of ours.

According RpsDavid, the oldest Aryan fables dating !?om csnturies before
34
Christ have travelled to diierent parts of Europe and have assumed modern shapes

Dr.J.C.Jain h discussed in detail (relying on different sources) how these

35
stones had a long journey to different countries . ?he Indian stories found place not
only in the countries of Asia and Europe but also entered into A6ica These Btories
individually ns well as in entire book f m were h.rmslated into foreign laoguages arid
36
ttuned out to be the comon property of people of d'iermt countries .

h e example of such a dary is the h o w parable '"The mm in ths wellt'. It hns

wsndered many countries and has equaily served the case for the edification
Brahmins, Buddhist, Jaime, Mohammedaq Jew and Christim. The fpj. tale of the
lucky child who is saved fiom destruction by the fatal letter exchaDged nt the last
moment is found in the story literature of east and west. The narrative litaaturb of
Brahmanas, Buddhist and Jainas also contain this fiction

According to J.C.Jain, the Indian narrative literature penetrated into west

principally through stories l'B~arIaxnmand Josepht1 (Bhapvin and Bodhisstva),
'Xalilah and Dimanah" (karkapka and damanaka) of Puiicat~tmwhich became
17
international . The stories of P&catmtm, the most famous work of Jndian narmtive
literature were taken by the mvellers to Parsia and Arbia F i l y tho@ Greece they
38
reached Europe .

Indian Narratives literature, broadly dassified :

A . ~ . ~ ~ d a hhasy presented
e ~ ~ m e*lve discussion on the d v e tales
of India under following headhy:
a Vedic and allied literature
b. Sraman~cideology : aacet~cpoetry.
c. Early Buddhist literature
d Jaina literatim
i. Canonical stratum
ii. Post and pro canonical &ahm
iii. Later tendencies aad types. 'Ihe BKK comes under thi~category.
 ~eitb40in his MATOTof Wht lttenrrure deal8 with kurha literam hl
Ssnsiait and Mt lmda follow@ hdnp.
-
a Didactic fables Pdcafmtm and ib derivativefom and fitopcrdeh
b. Byharkathiand its descendents
i. Shk11sani~tahaofBuddbaa6nh
ii.?he Kaamiris Byhatkatha'
iii, Qemendra's B~hafkathiimMfaan'
iv. Somadeva's K~thrisaritsbgom

-
c. The romantic and didactic tale Vetlila@cavirkhn, dusaptati, SYnhma
uv&n&kri. fansjgupanrr ofHemachmdra KarhZis o f ~and Jinskirtti.
i ~
-
?be great romances DasDasahmiracaritn, V&avadaft5, Harvanta and rida am bad.

lie BKK may come rmder the 'b' categq.

~ ~mads a sumy of the exieting narrative literdm of Mia
~ ' i t e m i t zhas
uder followinggroups -
a A great mass of popular tales, atoriee and comical hces which are only p&a
ofthe collections, compiled for religious or secular objectives, These wm
originally cirmlatirqjust orally. They ere composbd in popular dialects not in
Sanskrit.
b. Collections of stories that w m made for religious propagando by some
compiler. To this category belong the Jritakas or other story-booksof the
Buddhist and Jaiw.
c. N-ve works in Sansbt that pursue the objective ofteaching political
principles and worldly wisdom Pan"cutmtmwith its very large m b e r of
recensioas and adaptations.
d. Narrative works that offer crude entertainment in the form of fiction with
intercalated stories, fvst in Praloit and later in Swskrit Brhutkufhaand later
&asaptatl etc. come under this class.
adaptations. the ~etrilapan~cuvrhk~.
e. Fictions and novels in Sanskrit prose - ~~~~manta, Vlismadafta'.'he
BKK comes under 'b' group.

Style of Indian narratives:

'Ihe usual form of the nanatlva work is the so called "Iutercalation". Within a
h e d v e small stories are inserted and each of these stories can in btrn itself
become a h e for one or more other stories. In every kind of Indim nanative work
we find fauy tales. fables, and n d v e s placed beside one another Io these
nanatives we find tales, relating to the world of wonder, witch* sup^^
being Supem&d element is cornonly found Aoimal stories which Bymbolically
describe the different behaviour ofmen are dso a b m d d y avdable.
Clasritlcation of Bath&
Katha's w stories are claesified in semal ways by Wtional texl writers m
well r modem scholars. We will discuse some of the important classifications of
doribs in the following diagrams basing on e e v d sources as idwltifred in each cue.
Ke come moss mainly three cate8ories of classifications viz
i. Clasiificationsas available in JainaPr$oit texte. msis mom mleveot to us
B K the tsxt under oar mdy,ie n Jaina work)
ii. Classifications as available in Sanelait woriw on poetics
iii. Classificatiom mads by modern schollw

I. The dassiiications as available in Prakrit texts:

The various classificationn available in different Mt textn be pul in the

following diagrams.

Story (kafha)

I
I

FrWrd*
I
I
I

I
-
I
W * Divine H u m
II
I
s c b c t r on the bans of l m y q on the ban8 of
on the b r l s of the thane on the b r ~ of
I

Mixed Senhit Pdnit Mixed

r
I
I
I
I
It

I
I
rntve Short Dialogue h o w Excellart Mixcd
(stories with (rtorier with (rtorier with (atoriea with ( h a ) & h a ) (&+ma) (samkiy)
iescnption description description dcacription I
I
of ladies) of food) of placer. tom) of lunqs)
I
I

I I
?leuant Unpleaamt leadingto lending to

I
Canta (life history oftbe great) Kalpita (irflaeinary fiction)
 I
V i Wealth Happiness Liberation Health

Story (kathu)
I

Entire Short Dialogue Humorous Excellent Mixed

Virtue Wealth Plesm

11. Classiiicationsas given in the Sanskrit texts of poetics
51
E.1 CIPrrificatiow PI fomd h $igcirqpr& of ~ h o j r
story (W
I
!

lI.2. ClassifIration s fomd in K ~ j ~ h ofmHemachmdra

a
To the above nine varieties, Hemachanh adds ' W & h i i ' , and it becomes
ten in total.
IU.CIPrritlcaUonr sfomd in ~iJl@a&pqa of Viimithn '

111. Clasaification~by modern writers :

IIL1. f i e stories available in wry&, bhiya, drpr and tfkdhavc been classihd by
-
G.C. Chouelhury into four categories viz Historical, half historical, religiou
and popular 54.

iii.2. Dr.J,C.Jainclassifies the stories into two varieties viz krilpika (didretic in
cheramr) andpw@lka (&sting the thirst for howledge and llfilling the
 53
nligiout need) .He claesifibe the Jainn storiefl into nine vmetiea which are
@6
noted below' .

Jaina kathn
I

57
Keith calls the conversation story as kathdand narrative ae (5khydyyikd ,

We shall discuss here only vikarhd md karhd with special reference to karhn since
this classification is all embrasive aad relevant to our prenent study.

Ihs clasification of stories into vikathd and kathd is based on theme (visaya)
(some say on the basis of story.teller). This clansification is said to be fotmd in
58
Jgigama .

W I L ~M a r
A vikath~is so called because it is devoid of the characteristics ofkuthn. U is
opposed to kathd and should be shuraeds9. It i~ d e h d r a story narrated by a Muni

with erotic heling and being a slave to attachment (@a) d &red ( d v q ) ?

 J.C.Jaia opines that the J a b and Buddbist S;Mla?uin c o m e of timb
developed disiutcrest towards the dhamrnakpthri~~~. Buddhist monks wen
making various noises while listening to vikutha Buddha prevePtbd them aid
advised them to listen to the stories related to charity, character and abstinence h
sensual pleasures62. ?be Juinliciiryas also ordered the ~ h m q a sto abatain fiom
listening to such stories. Sthhririgdm enumerates four vik-dhis such as stri MhC,
bhahkathd, deshkathri and m'iakuthi63. SlhLiin'guiitm -569 adds h e more such
as mrdukhnika, darhabhedini and caritrabhedini.In the Darin,aikZliku ni*,
the stories regarding st$ (ladies), bhlrho (food), r&jd (lang), cara (thief),fanapfa
(township), nqa (actor), narrtaka (dancer), #la (rope-daacer), musfih(wrestler)
are treated as vikatht4.M w Jaina texb imhucted the Jaina monks not to tell stories
which are endowed with erotic sentirne.nt~,illusory concepts and inhhting material^.
The stories ghould be related to penance ( t a p ) and self control ( n ~ . v mand
) b e
the ability to generate a sense of distaste for worldly objects. ?be atories should be
laden with sense, not too long and be devoid of such unnecessary fhg which are
burdensome for the readers marring the very beauty and purpose of stories. 'Ihe stories
become Mtless (nirdosa) ifthe story-teller nanates them $king into consideration
65
place, time,person and his own ability .

Whrtbr KathiS?
A good stoty or a h h l I is d e h d by Kutuhala r that which does not give
much emphasie on grnnrmar md is eanily m h t o o d 6q In DVN,it hPP bem d e h d
as that whjch ie narrated by a person with a pure consciousness being endowed with
) self-conk01 (wiyycrma) and whjch is me& tor b welfare ofdl
penance ( t ~ p a rand
67
be@ of the universe .

A kdha' i~~ \ ~ ~ i finto

i%d -
i. Atrhakathb ii. Kihmkathha
iii. DharmakuthZ iv.S&&rnakath?

Haribhadm Suri has discussed the claseification of stories in detail in his warlt
~amamccr~mh? Arthakuth; induces one to earn wealth, X.limakafhhd satiates mle

carnal passions, dharmakuthz impires a person to move on the spiritual psth md

s-?a kda'has the combined effect on the listeners. But the ultimate pal of dl
M
these Btories ie d h a m only .

Haribhadm Suri considem arthPkothh ae the be& In his opinion hima d

dharmakathd occupy the second and third poeitiws nspectivelyll. He describes in

detail the various wajs of sStaining arthan. fn DVN, this hae b m dedt with in
c o w of the d o n of h i e s n . In these kuthds we often come pcro81 the
msrchapts' ndveahw hvelliq through sea end land, blah$p m l n d i p vrioim
types of business men, markets, commodities and their bsrgaining,purchasing aad
74
selling .
Dr.J.C.Jain opines that since most of the followers of Jainim were merchaoh,
75
the Jaina stories told stories related to trade, businese etc. .

Kiimakalho' :
These stories deal with appearance, the ways to maintain if dress and
cosmetics, various arts and expression of those which have been experienced through
?6
seeing, hearing and feeling . According to Haribhadra Suri, Kimakathi have k h as
the main element besides descriptions of the activities of love-messengers (ditT),
amorous enjoyments, iduence ofKhadeva, various aspects of love etc.
n.

DhPnnakotlto' :
Udyotana Suri ~ v e prominence
s to dharmakih? It is of four types such as
uk;<u~ni(pleasant, catching), vrkseprni (unpleasant distracting), s h e d r n i (leading
to knowledge and entertaimnsnt) and nirvedini (leading to detachment end
renunciati~n))~.Minds of men be first captivated by catching topics; secondly they
should be disillusioned; then only they should be enlightened or made to renounce the
world Ilaough some popular stories the Jaina authors l o w the people the ri$t
path and teach self-control (sdyarm), penance ( t a p )and s a d i c e (tyltga).For this
they use examples (udiihaqa) illustratioas (drsfrit2ta)at~dsimiles (ymJ)).
Theae
stories are mmly concerned with reliion and ethics and are known as dhannakaha.

In n ~ y d tb~h ,q a , chipi and ~ka'of&aamagranthas, these d h a d a t h k

are abundant Among these Jn?rdharmakafhii, ~~&;Jradas$, Anterddasa,
fipiikaslitra are worth mentioning.

In order to make the stories interesting the Jaina authors had to incorporate
love stories dso. The author of the V&devdtl$d~ snys. "I am narrating dhannakarhii
by way of telling kErnakatha'just ns a pack gives his patient the medicines of bitter
taste along with that of good t a ~ t e " ~Similarly
~. Udyotana Suri in hvalyamiila says
that Ilia religiow stories are related with ~rimai;istw.The readers should not think it
82
to be useless because for the attainment ofdharma, k h is the instrument ,

S a r ~ kmha':
a
A story which may be in Sansluit and ~ ~ a b or~ D&i+
' a ~aiiici,
endowed with d l merits, embellished by he erotic ~entimentshaving all elegant
comtituents and kalipmm is called a, ~ ~ ~ a hIbew ~ .hm
f hstories
84
combinations of prose and verse and Sanskrit and P d m t , Thsse stories deal with
all the b e mds of life - d h a m , arrha rmd Emu.
 Kwalgamaa is considered as wmukatha' as it has the combination of all
characteristics of various types of atories. f i e karhriiroias have praised such stories.
This Q e of stories are considered as most interesting and entertaining even though
85
dharmakath'is are considered as useful .

Narrative Literature of nonJainas :

Narrative literature with areligious bias was composed not only by Jaiw but
also by the leaders of other faiths, vir the Brabmanical and Buddhist religions. The
epics in SansGt viz,Mah'ibh'lrata and Riirniyqa, the Pueas and Buddhist Jiit$tss
have reliqious exhonntions and sermons throuqh narration of stories and leaen&.

Jaina Narrative Literature :

~ah'avyrapreached his teachin~among all the sections of the sociery.
particularly among the masses. Tne oldest portions of the caaon, as for example, the
Z c - h g a and Sitra-!pig are supposed to be more or less contemporaneous with
Mahivira They are full of illudndions 6om worldly life and display of sometime, the
basis of popular narrative literature, legends and myths. NyZjadhamm-,
comprises of popular legendary and myttucal dories. It is a good illushation of the
wisdom of the Jainamonks who explained their dochines with the help of stories in a
lucid manner. Following the compilation of the principal texts. generations of teacbers
and commentators have added illustrations of their own to inspire the people to faith
and ensure in them right conduct Cornentorial literature, which is in both Prakrit sod
Sanslait remaine unexplored filly. It is full of mythe, legends and popular storiea
which originate *om the vast Indim story literature. Some of them nre purely a new
creation of the Jaina monks. Frequently enlivened by proverbs and colloquislisms of
86
the common people these stories clearly reveal their popular orilpin .

To make diisrent concepts intelligible, the- authors have included many

/
illustrtltions even stories which are now a part ofthe S m q a cultural tradition Some
of these texts notably the Vipika Siikawhich itself is the eleventh principal text (ariga)
me wholly in story form In this particular Siitra ten stories illustrate the pleasant
experiences of life, each bunch explaining the operation of pious and impious karma

Jaiua n m a h e literature broadly durified :

The Jaina narrative literature is divided into ten categories which an noted
87
below .
Narratives embodied in
i. canonical works
ii, commentaries on canonical works
iii. counterparts o f % i y ~ a m d iWibhiirat3
iv. Caritas, Pw@as and Mahip@@
v, counterpart of Byhatkathi
vi. quasi historicalprabondhas
vii, dhammkathG
viii. cahpik
k orna&potms
 x kcthiiko&s - Bn*the ted under our present study comes under this
category.

Aiter the fialisation of the camon in the present form in the second council at
Vallabhi, the Jainas involved themselves in a prolific literary activity and this resulted
in the composition of narrative ~ i t e n t u r e ~Between
~. eleventh to twelfth cenhny AD
Uie Jainakatha'literPture reached at its pick. At that time Chalukya in Gujurat, P m m
in Malwa Guhilot and Chauhan kings in Rajasthan gave patronage to Jainism. These
provinces became the centres of Jaina literary activity and during this period hundreds
89
of Pari~C~mnrhas
were written . A.N. Upadhye, in his introduction to the BKK.
classifies the post-canonical narrative literature into five types viz. (i)Bioghies of
the 63 illustrious personalities ( i d ~ k T ~ u r u f a sdescribed
) together in a book (ii)
Life-story of a religious hero. e.g a rrrth?kara described independently in a book
form.

(iii)Religiotu tale in romantic form, (iv) Semi-historical prabandha (v)Compildon

of stories in the form of ~ a t h i k o h .

Common Chmdcristica :
The common traits of the post-canonical literature are mainly story-within-
stov technique embodying fables parables and folk-tales. Tbey reveal popular
wtsdom and religious exhortation explaining the details of Jaina dogmas. Maay of the
stories emphasise on the law of karma and therefore describes previoue birth of a
hero. ?be hero of the gory naturally is a follower of the Jaina religion and eads his life
as a Jaina mo& 'Ihis of course makes some of the stories dull. dry, and stereotyped
Referring to this, Wintmik remarks "On the whole it is tather tiresome alwgg to
tollow the wanderings of some persona fiom one birth to anoher. h e one alwaye
killing the other the one going to heaven and other to bell or being reborn as an
animal, in one instance as a coconut palm. However we also meet with some
itlteresting tales, romantic love stories such ac; that of '*&S 90,

Purpose of Jlina Nmativm :

All the J i n a stories except historical episodes or personal accormte have a
religious purpose. They inspire people to lead a pious life, They teach the way to
attoin liberation, the ultimate goal of life. Hence they may not be very usehl for
children but presumes certain degree of maturity on the pert of a reader. Jaina
pliilosopl~y is difficult to the e a e m e md is intelligible to a hanW of scholars. To
bring it home to common people, Jaina teachers have used the medium of short stories.
There are hundreds and even thousmds of short stories scnttered throu~$out the vast
q m i c literature and their commentaries.. 'They have been produced in different ages
by men with widely divergent experience but all against the backdrop of a common
canvas, which is Jainim.

Snbjed matter of the J a b NPrntivm :

In producing literature the writer leaves certain which are unnecwsgt,
adds t h q fiom his own imaginations,, imparts dialogues and m a t e s in the pmcese
something which is noble, digrufied enchanting sod inspiring. These when hesrd and
read goes shnipht to the heart The author displays in his writings a true replica of
life. "'Ihe analysis of personalities in these stories, the conglomeration of events, the
clashes of selfish motives and interests, the display of bravery, the shape of endeavour
the depth of human life, quagmire of meanness, fear, squalor, impatience, lethargy,
imbalance etc. which undermines the quality of life and places it on a very low
91
pedestal, these and many such thing dominnte these stories" . They have been
repeated innumerable times to bring the misguided to the right path which is the path of
religion. In spite ofthe repetition, they are not devoid offieshness.

To be the subject matter of literature it is not necessary that the life of men
only with merits or high status is deserving of consideration. A life which has some
vlqour in thinkine. and some m e s q e for others becomes a worthy material and draws
the attention ofthe writers. "Jaina stories in fact depict the life of men with a golden
tinge as well as that with dark patches. Men with golden tinge are inherently good and
they are already on the right path as good examples for others. But even men with Le
deepest patches stand the chance of rehabilitation if they can be brought back to the
right path. There are cases where aman has slipped from the right path. An account of
such men serves as a useful warning. Quite a number of stories uphold the cause of
women, the fallen, the down-trodden, the backward sections ofthe cor~lmunity"~~.
Jlina dam caplained:
Jaina stories explain the Jaina dogmas with special reference to the law of
Karma The following concepts are generally found to be explained in Jaina
narratives-

Namokkba :
Some stories illustrate the eficiency of Namokka which is simultaneously a
form of obeisance and mantra to be repeated on the heads.

The fievow :
Some stories illustrate the merits of observing vows. They explain how the
observance of the five vows such as non-violence, non-lie, non-theft, non-
accumulation and non-sex leads to libetation or at least improves the qualiiy of
one's life. Some stories also teach how non-observance of these vows leads to the
derailment kom the right path and suffering.

R e n ~ a a t i o nRole
, of h a & tranrmi@ion of soul :
In almost all the stories. renuncidon has been upheld as the most laudable
means for atkining ideal life. Renunciation ia cormected with the idea of
transm~-donof souls. 'Ihe idea ofj31smara (remembering one's past life) is also
closely linked up with the transmigrahon of the soul. One important theme of many
Jaina stories is the abiliv of many monks to reveal the operation ofKanna effect in the
life of men In doing so ,they have thrown light on the previous birth of the questionor.
L i e a true seer, they tell the questioner where his soul will go when it is dislodged
fiom here. Not only monks, even lay men has L e u long memory revived at the eight
of a familiar personality or scene or at the occurrence of some farmliar event lhey
had their past lives revealed to them and this s m e d as an inspiration to them to
renounce this worldly life.

Life of Mahi&# :

A large number of stories are connected with the life Btory of ~ a h i v hand
they are highly instructive to the reader. We lives of great teachers and monks have
always been a source af inspiration to others. When that is presented through the
medium of sholt stones. they reach even the common people

Leading Fiction - Motifs in Jaina Stories :

Many ofthe Juna stories are Lokakathk (or popular origin) md therefore they
are full of kcri~inakcmotifs. Tnese lokdahiic are of much importance for the
researchers of folk tales because in these stories the old motifs are replaced and new
motifs me introduced Winternik while emphising on the study of these motifs says
"The individual stories in view of specific motifs and details should be selected for
intensive study aad their @ual evolution should be marked out at its various
stf~ges"~~.'Ihese rnotiE3 are not necessarily cormected with Jaina dopatic and
religion,
 It is worth mentioning that when a certain motif or story is made popular by a
parhcular religion, sirme is employed by the leaders of another religion for preachins
94
their own doctrines effecting necessary changes to give it a homely look .

Bloomfield has taken much interest in the study of the motifs, braided in 10
Indian narrat~ves.His bibliographical summary of leading fiction motifs with suitable
cqtlons 1s indeed very usefil for researcllers of Indian narrative liternture9'. We are
presenting here the fiction-motifs listed by Bloomfield along with the new ones
noticed by us in course of our study. The occurrences of these motifs in BKK are also
noted
i. Rodamation by drum:
Proclamation or advertising is done by beat of drum.This is found in many
Jamastories. In BKK we find this motifin 57.210; 93.214.
ii. Princea and hnlf of the kingdom:
The offer on the part of a king, of the princess' hand and half the kingdom is
noticed in many Jaina stories.(BKK.70.70)
iii Miraculous cures:
Miraculous or skilful cures are common in Jainafictions. Poison is
-
removed by prayers charms or charmed water. (BKK 10.88-96)
iv. Blta bit:
Often the harm that one wiahes to do to another recoils on one's self aa a
ball thrown against a wall. 'Ihis is a popular fiction-motif, m d as Biter-
bit ( B E- 65.5,72)
v. Ltd~aowh r :
The poprllar conception that the sss is a lecherous animal is reflected
*specially in ritualistic texts and fiction
vi Drems auguries:
The reference to particular &earns and narntion of their significance are
often found in Jaina stories. Some dreams denote the birtfi of a noble son or
of a son who is quite unexpectedly destined to become a king, Drinking the
moon or seeing the moon is treated as an augury ofroyalty in Jaina stories. It
may be noted t . fourteen kinds of dreams are elaborated in JPina literature.
(BIX - 73.11-17)
vil, W~ckedascetics:
Kjpiliku are worshipers of iiva ofthe left hand ( h i ) , who carry skulls of
men as ornatiiznts. They also use these skulls as vessel for enting mid drinking.
They are engaged in evil and cruel magic. These k<~Z;.:!.kaas
and other similar
wicked mendicvits otten find place in Jnina stories. .4s a rule, they undergo
sllffarings in the end. This motif is present in BFX . (Stories - 19; 64.32;
93.78; 102.9)
tiii. Maniago with low-cute pcrson:
In many stories we see that marriage or intercourse with low-born person ia
condemned or criticised or regretted.
1%. Chlldlnrnerr:
In stories, we come across the references to childlessness. Also the description
of pmuents being blessed with children because of the merit of prayer md
sacrifice, by magic, by asceticism wtc. This is apopulr motif in Jaina stories.
x. Dohada or preplanq arhim:
This is one of the most constant and hitful fiction motifs. In many stories we
hear of the peculiar desires of pregant women It renges all the way from a
desire to eat flesh of her husband to the desire to hear the instructions of a great
Muni. (BKK, 60.23-26; 106.153-157)
xi. Human raaificer:
Human sacrifices frequently appear in Jaina stories. The wild folk of the
mountains namely &varas, Bi~ilius,Puiiridas etc. are in the habit of offering
men to the mother Goddess. The wicked ki?Uikas and demons resort to
humat] sacrifice to attain some wdyZ or some supernahlral power. In BKK we
come across this motif in stoiy 73 and 63.85-89.
~. iibi motif:
It is one ofthe standardmotifs offiction. The story ofKing iibi or ~ i i n a r a
offering his own flesh in order to save other's life is found in many story-books
ofIndian narrative literature. ?his motif is seen in the story 85 of BKK.
.dii. Plstnkurkutz
It refers to the sin of sacrificing a dough cock @ ~ g a h r h q u 'Ihe
) . Jainas
believe that it is si&l to injure even the image of a living being viz a
pigaiurkuya or a cock made of dough This appears in many Jaina stories. In
BKK we find this motif in 73. 11-19.
 %
rhr. Bleyhmt d* an hdr :
?his is also an itnponnnt motif constantly appeming in Jaina stories. To select
a successor to the throne ha top royal employees release an elephant. In BKK
we tind !Ais motif in 56.258.
xv. Immediate Renunciation:
People suddenly developing o feeling of distaste for worldly matters afler
seeing some transient clouds in the sky, grey heir on their head etc. 'Ilia motif
appears several times in BKJL~?.(57.574; 80.53.)
mi.Threat by suicide:
Threat offiuicide usually by entering into the fire or by starvation is one ofthe
cotistruit motif in Jaitia fictions. Love matters h i s h tlie most fiequent occasion
for the threat. (BWi. 33,90)
mii. Intimate Friendship :
Friendship between prince and Ministefs son or Prince and other youthful
friend appears in Jaina stories frequently.
miii.Thiwm' trick :
The thief# trick of dropping loot or prevent loot to an i ~ 0 c e nso
t as to aveft
suspicion also appears in many Jaina stories.(BKK. 10.22-23
m. usc or MU :
Reference to Miiliki used for killing and giving life is found in Jaina stories,
'Ibis is another fiction motifusually interwoven in Jaina stories.
sx Notion of fa!e :
We notion that specific fate imposed by supernatural power is unchangeable is
a psychic motifofIndian stories.
xxi. Hiuihhaadra mota:
The story of King Harischandrais another leading fiction motif. ?he story
originally occurs in M&a@heya pu@a and is found in many works of Indian
nnrrntive litetahve now.
xxii. Wdwd wman :
The stories ofwicked women is another popular rmd constant motifbraided in
to the Jainastories. (BKFi.3.16;335-6;72.16-23;86.25-26;87.32-36)
dl.Lo& opening rdmfc :
Theft by the aid ofthe lock opening science or cham ia seen in many
narratives ofthe Jainas. ( B K 10.14;138.15;63.182-187)
d v . R a d o n of gift :
Some divine personality or king will be offering a d to someone. He
instead of accepting it immediately reserved iffor the future. At aright
moment ((suitableto his own convenience) he would a& for it.

Common bash of Reiigious literatures:

It is seen that the religious literature of all the three main religions if India
possess a Btriktng similarity with regard to fiome baeic doctrines, for example, the
doctrine of Karma So it is natlnsll that there Bhould be certain similarity in he
structun of narration or even in c u e of certain motives of a narrative. '?he h a ,
fibleg, and parables which are common to all the three religions mi@ have had a
common origin in the mass of popular Indian stories"*. When a certain motif or a
story of a particular religion became popular, the leaders of other religions employed
the same story and motif in preaching their nspective ideology after briogmg
98
necesrrary changes .

Romantic tales in religious garb - a new feature :

In the post-canonical literature of the Jainas, we find romantic tales in a
religious @.Such tales are basically love stories which describe the adventures
of a hero who is ultimately united with his beloved In the course of the n d o n the
author incorporates several stories with a religious import Sometimes the element in
the form ofVidyidhara is also found The hero marries maidens who have superhmn
power. llese romantic tales throw light on the social life of contempomy period.

The Jainas as Story tders:

Tae rich contribution of the Jainas to the world narrative literature in general
and Indian narrative literahue in particular is universally acknowledge$. The
scholars who have worked on the Jiannnarrative literabe acknowledge -
* that the Jaiaa writem were the main story tellers kom middle age to today 100,
that they have preserved to us immerable stories that o h w i s e would have
101
been lost ,
r that they have hkoduced to us mch unpdleled gems of etoriea which wo amat
102
h d t o m any other source
r that while ninrating stories they go beyond the langs and their body ofcourtiers and
103
describe the real life and manners of the w i o u s classes of people
a that the Jainn stories. folk tales, fables, parables etc, are of importance for 'a
104
solution ofthe problem ofmigation ofstories

The Jaina writers always displayed their skill and efficiency aa storytellers.
They brought necessaq changes in the theme of their stories suiting to the changing
taste of the people at different times. Initially people were amazed and delighted with
the supernatural stories of gods and goddesses in Brahmanical literature, but they
could not identify themselves with the cbzacters in the~estorieslO'. In course of time
they felt disgwted w~tliewggerated elements and developed disintereat for such
106
stones . At this we the Jaina writers brought changes in their stories and gave a
twist to the katha' literature by incorporating realistic, logical and non-aupernrdural
107
facts . Tney enlivened the stories the noble seyings (subh+ta), proverbs,
dialogues, songs, riddles (prahellM), questions and answers examples (d.r$Lta),
simile (upma') and satire (vyaigya). In order to make the stories more interestins and
educative they incorporated populer topics euch as rnagic, occult p t i c e f i ,
nmtrovrdyZ, s n a k e - c m the art of thieves, w i o w worships, trade, war, acting
dancing, cultivation a d no on As aredt the n d w litmiwe of JPiaos assumed
108
IUI encyclopaedic nabre

The language of Jaina religion was Praloit. The entire early litendwe, both
canonical and pro.caaonical remained in Mt which wae the lauguage of the mass.
'The Jaina teachers in course oftime realised that they could not discharge their duty of
preaching religious principles through only one language by ignorii local conditions
and cultural environment, In their continuous b a l e with B r k q a s , they found it
necessq to mnke themselves equipped with Sanskrit At that time Smskrit was the
language of learning and culture for the entire counhy. Hence the Jaina did not leg
behind to cultivnte it By seventh or eighth cenhuy AD first Dimbaras and later
dvetihbaras began to use ~onskitlO~.
Tbey did not rest content with explaining their
own teaching in Sanskrit and turned also to the secular sciences of the Briltnqas.
Without entirely giving up P&t, they produced Sanshit works on p m a r , lexicon,
politics, metrics and so on besides the composition ofelegant krivyas. Thus they hardly
left any branch of Sanshit literature, untouched Consequently the Jaina l i t m h m
110
turned out to be a repository of howledge . It is relevant to quote here the
~ipficantremark of Professor Buhler, ' T i s litermy activity led them indeed, fm
from their proper goal, but it created for them an important position in the history of
111
literature and culture" .
The views of Indologists on the Jaina writers and thdr works:

Here we are recording some of the impor$nt views of Indologists on Jaina

writers and meir rich contribution to Indian as well acl world literature. 'Iheae
s~gnificantremarks of different scholars give an idea about the usefulness of the Jaina
works for the researchers of different brnnches of hdology.

r "From the purely litemy point of view we are presented with one of the psi
masterpieces of their voluminous katho' literature which is perhaps the most
-
famous co!ltribution ofJainas to Indian literature in general" Jacobi
112
.

r ''4scetic discipline, cultivat~onof knowledge and devotion to literary pursuits

produced monp the Jainas a large number of polymaths who wen prolific and
versattle".
* .,In kurhEs and kzvyas and in conlmercial writing the Jainaa showed their all
round en~ditionso that the side ligkts thrown by Jainawritinge in these fields iw

of immense culturd. historical rmd bibliogrsphical value".

r "In grammar, prosody, lexicography, poetics and dramalurg, the Jainaa made
more or less common cause with Hindu writera".
-
r '?he Jainaa have extended their activities beyond the ephm of heir own
religious literatim to a far greater extent then the Buddhiata have done, snd thy
have memorable achievemoatin b e neder science# to thou credit, in philosophg,
 grammar, lexicography, poetics, methemrdics, astronomy and astrology and even
in the ~cience0f~o1itics"l~~.
4 'There is ~cnrcelymy province ofIndian litendm in which h e Jaiass have not
11s
been able to holdtbeir own" .
4 "It would take h l y a big volume to give a history of all that the Jainas haw
contributed to the t r e w e s of Indian literature"ll6.
4 'The mass of narratives and books among the Jainas is indeed vast 7hey are of
great importance not only to the student of comparative fairytale-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 a9 in the language of these
narrative works, there are eequent points of weement with vernaculars of the
people, their subject matter too, gives a picture of the real life of the most varied
classes of people, not only of Kin@ and priests, in a way which no other Indim
117
literary works, especially the Brahmanical ones do" .
- Wintemitz
4 'The Jaina writers have accomplished so much of impomce in grammar in
astronomy as well as in some other branches that they have owned respect even
tlom their enemies and some of their works are still of importance to European
science"
~uhler"*.
 'The aanative liternbe of the J a i m ie connected with e e v d problm, the
chief of which are first. the problem of the migration of ~ t o r i e Its
~ ~~olution
~ . is
of equal importance for India and for the rest of the world Second purely
linguietic one whose solution cannot but produce reaults which will prove to be of
hdamental importance not only for the history of Sandait and other Indian
laugugte, but for the histoiy oflndian literature aa welllJ2'.
'We ought to be pteful to the Jninas due to whom we owe the simple prose
suitable for the nature ofnarrative literahue in SanshP1 - Hertel 121
,

"Jainn compo~itions were clever pointed, elegant, fill of satire of worldly

122
wisdom, epigrammdic, but not religious1'Dr. Pope .

'There is hardly my branch of S d i t literature which is not enriched by Jaina

authors ad teachers"
0 "Jaina works however were not only reproductive, they were really productive of
stories. They invented new stories and novels for the sake of their propagenda
books and literary story telling was taught in their schools. It ia nccessray therefore
that the various Jainanarrative texk in Smkrit, Prakrit, . ~ a b M ' aand the post
Indo-Aryan languages should be criticallyedited and studied with a view to emich
ow knowledge ofIndian life l i t m e a d laogusge" .
-AN.U~~'~.
 Byhatkathiikos'a: its Author, Date and Place:

Mostly Sawlait poets prefer not to reveal about themselve~in their

works. 'Ihat is why in Sanskrit literdm a number of worke arc available to us whose
origin is still in mystery and conhovenqr But it ia not so with the Jainas and
Buddhists. Mmy of the works of Jainas and Buddhists contain the minute details about
their authorship, place and date of composition and thereby cany a chronological
value for the researchers of socio-culhualhistory. The present text B$a&ahZko;a or
a huge treasury of stories t o u g h its panegyric vemes gives us all infonmhon about its
author, place and date. Tne BKK thus being a dated work of a specified locality
assumes special significance and carries a weight of evidence. We find in the BKK
good amount of information of cultural interest which carries definite chronological
value, though it cannot be claimed that all such information belong only to the age and
place of the author.

Before unfolding the details, it is prerogative to present here the entire

panegyric which will be followed by an analysis revealing the information on the
author, exact place and date of its composition,
c h a n d o Z a n k ; r t l & y ~ ~ a k n k&yagu
c~~ kw~Zsato/
wtfd vydkrpcwya tarkanipqast~-rthOYBdTpamr*//
n&&'&truvictik~qo budhagqaih soyyo v i & i d h & & ~
senZntobhurat?kiiratnrparamrrjld p o babhiiva &tau /A//

bhadmm bhi7ya~iniiniimnfmpivpyashn ~ - y a r p ~
frrino &andpi jij@~ogatihitat&irm dohabh@Zn mm#MJ/
t y / a n o 8b~kwn ddamtftariim c ~ ( v Z t w ..
same ikqytanfrr xltviifinavammYr@hl
xantu m o A t q p w / I W /
 v i ~ a m p ~ ~ c r 5 s a t t p d hcid
sateppstpstan kp
.%d5llasya satyqa pari~imamidavbhavet/n2rl

itf ;n'har$enircri!y@tam b.rhatkathiikoshn san@tm/(B~p.355)

We receive tk followiq iPformatione fiom the above verses.

Ths Author:
% BKK is written by H a r i ! ~He ia C disoipls ofBhara$sma who is he
disciple of another whom t d m wan hbmi EduitWa of Pulniita
%ha (vm.8fU. It stem being a mcetic h e i f he sutbor ph to norrrd in
bin w& bin g u m sinstead ofpit,pwilpatr?.
Ibc sac#
'Ihe BKK ie said to be wrim m Vadhamibrqmm (m4)wtdch is
identiiied ss W a d h a in Kathiawar. VBT- ie the medieval oame of
wadhswan'l6.

Professor Upadhye thowe light on Pun@ SSigtra to which HrPisepa (the

author of BKK) belongs. Pun@ Viya of the territory of P~mn* is said to be in
Dak$r#vdha or south India (author himself says thi~in his dories,l31.40; 135.1). It is
to be identified with ancient kingdoms of Kamateka Professor Upadbye hinlm lhat a
Jaina Sarhghapossibly migrated to Gujurat and Kathiaw §om Pm@ of Kam&
127
which might have been known later as Punn-2a Sathgha
Data :
On the basis of an analysis of the v m e 11 and 12 of the panegyric, Professor
Upadhye establishes the exact date of its composition and says ''It appsan tbst the
book was finished sometime between 15th October 931 to 13th March 932 A I ~ ' ~ ' ~

Cophaporrap Bda :
?he author refers to the King Viniydqkla (vme. 13) who was ding over
tb Pratihiira empire which included Var-llfa in 931 AD. 'Ihe contemporary
v h in so& -
(918 33 AD)".
w u ~ovinh-IV
nle work :
The BKK is considered to be oldest among the available kuth&&s in J i m
literalwe and it has the biggellt amber oftalea (coP$iaing 157 etoriea in it) lM. Most
of the stories of BKK fall into the category of DhannakclthrT among the vsriow
classification of Jainakatha' litembe as it is intended to propagate Jaina ideology end
inspire people to lead areligio-ethical lif? The stories are told in verse f m using
a very lucid and colloquial Saaaluit ?he verses are mostly composed in the meter
a n e b h . The total d e r of verses is 12,500. ?he themes of the stories are $ken
Born the vast mass of Indian nwative literature and modified to suit to the Jaina
ideology. The stories possese all the characteristics of Jaina n s ~ ~ a t i v e Its ~ie~ ~ .
believed that this text has ita origin iaom a P d r i t comentary of the Prakrit tex!
dhagavan'&iJhana' of SivSiya, a sacred text of ~ ~ ~ Z t t i b a r nIns ' ~the~ .panegyric
(pms'm)of the BKK it is said that it is ;iriidhanoddh.na' or adapted kom Iradhana
which stnnds for Bhagmai&hana(verse-8, p.335) That is why we come across
frequently P&t quotations and P&t words in ~anskritisedform~~~.
 NOIXS AND BBFBRENCXS

1. Wmbmitz, The Jainas in the Histov ofIndian Litemhtre, p.2.

2. V. Reghavan, Introduction,TheAdyar Library Bullotln, Vol. XXXVIL
3. s ~ h Views
e ofIndologist on Jainas writem, pp. 39-41
4. The Adyar Library Bulletin, vol.mviii, Intro.
5. BKK, M o , p.113.
6. 'The B$atkathkoh of Haripp" Journal of Otientul institute, Baroda,
miiii,1979,p.7.
7. Prkfi'yoti, 1982.83, p.98.
8. kN.Upadtrye, lntrodution to BKK.,p. 90.
9. Ibid
10. Ma, Leadingfiction motifs in Jaina Storiel, pp. 30-35.
11. Bloomfieid ha emphauised on a mewed attempt to rsemble in one place
the large number of new nTti ti c o h u e d in several Jainanamtive
w o h , PZrhanZthcuritn, The Life and Stodes of PirmanBh, p. 208.
12, ,V?~as'cisrsrra L116 ; KEydmkiirn, V.4.
13. V.Rn@aven, opcit ; Winkmi@ HIL, vo1.R p.570; Buhler, On the Indian Sect
of' Jainas, p. 22.
14. See tho cheptmr III, N,V.
15. M Kri-, A History of Surskn't f i t e m m , Iotrodnction
16. Jndlan K h y u Utemhlrp,vol.4 p.1.
17. Ibid, ~01.1,p.190.
18. ARKeih, AMstov ofSMskrit fitemtun: p.42.
19. HU,,vol.lB, p.334.
20. "NrrutiveLitemre in Jaino Mombri ",ABOIU, vol.XVI, p.27.
21. HlL+vol.III,p.331-332.
22. Ibid
23. Qwtedby J.C.Jah, Miesin krly Jdnism p. 91.
24. HE,vol.4 p.364.
25. lbid p.380.
26. Prakrit Jnin Karha' SZhityo, p.3,
27. Quoted by J.C.Jain, Ibid p.49-50.
28. Essays. Analytical, Critical and Philological on Ujects Connected wtth
hskrit Uterrrlure p.2.
29. Hertel's view quoted by Wiemi& IQ, vol.lII, p.377.
30. Mfiahwnachari, opcit
31. As quoted by Mkrishnarmacheri,opcif p.420.
32. Quoted by Peteraon, Hitoppde&,preface, p.vii.
33. Quoted by Kieth, opcit, prefaoe, p.d.
34. Quoted by M Ktishoamacari, opcit, Chsptsr xviii, p.411.
35. J.C.Jain, opcit
36. fm, vol.4 p.333.
37. J.C.Jaia, W i e s i n Early J d n i a p.91.
Tr., into Eog\iehby ~i.LChnndiramnai,b,
38. p & c ~ ~ m p.i.
39. AN. U*'r Introcbotimto BKK,
40.~0pCit
41. Wintbmik, opoit, p.336.
42. Slhiini5n'gdm adhyayana-3, uddehku-3, am-194; dllo DVN.pp.212-215.
43. Han'bhadm Sui's SmtWtyakatha' (bhWkZZ, p.3.
44. Li&~&hthhii, gZthC35-36.
, a.C.Chsudhruy'sJaln mltyakGkZBht
45. UdyotaaaSuri's K u v d a ~ a 'p.22;
Itih&a, vol.vi, p.231; Udyotuna divides the last varity i.e, mixed (SanIn'r?a) irdo
urtha, k E w and d h a m
46. SYhiinBgganStm, 4-2-282.
47. DVN, glirha - 212-215; Haribhadm Suri, opcit SlhZk&>a&trta 3-3-194 omik
the variety mixed (sari*a). For Ls d-divieion of DhamduthI into four types
see Sth%Gg&ra 4-2-282.
48. VWevuhlq$i, lvitbha X, pp.208-209.
49. See for a discussion on these varieties of stories, AKWerder's Indian K&
Wtemhrre, v01.E. p. 188.
50. K u v a l a y d & 7 . 8 , p.4; for a detail discussion,Ibid, p.544.
5 1. Chapter XI.
52. 8.7.8, p. 462-465. For detail discussion see V . M m , A Tresury of Jalna
Tales.
s3. chpter,VL334-335.
54. J d n Shitya k6 B j a t Itihiiscr, vol,VLp.231.
55. P d r i t Jain Katha' W~ltyq
p.179.
S6. J.C.Jain, lbid
57. Kid& -it p.242
58. Join Shftya MB&! ItfhiiE,volvi, p.231.
59. D W , g a b 210; tlC.Chsudhury, opc& 52han1g&m -282.
60.9'4% gdfhh-211, p.113,
6l.'JWC.Jain,opcit,pp.lO-11.
62. lbid p.11; VInayqifdq mahdwgga 5.7.15.
63. J.CJ+ opcit, p.11; SthiinMgariSfm-282.
-
64. DVN,gcithlI 207.
65. DVN. g(irhn-212.215.
66. ~Tavdkathi,~athhd
39-40.
67. opcit210.
68. Nimgiitha', 3-188; Xaribhaddyaytti, p.106; K u v a l u y d h o f Udyo$na Sd.
69. Sama&iityakathii (bhlrrm4) p.3.
70. J.C.Jain, opcit p.53; V.MKullriani, opcitIatro.
71. J.C.Jain, opcit. p.30.
72. ,Smarridio&hii, p.3; J.C.Jain, opcit p.30.
73. DVN, giithB- 3.189.
74. K w s l q a d ~
p. 253.
75. J.C.Jain, opcit p.49.
-
76. DVN.giithii 3-192, p.109.
77. SamarlkN@athZ p.3.
78. J.C.Ja& p.10.
-
79. BKK, 46.73; 51.9; D W , nirylclrtl, gathz- 193 205; ~aribhadij$& -
109 113.
80. D W , giftha- 193-205; Harlbhrrddfik;, pp.109-113.
81. VMemhi?di, pat& p.3; J.CJain, opcit p.15.
82 KirvalayamUB 6,p.5.
83. Ibid-7, p.4.
84. G.C.-, opcit,p.231.
85.Ibid
86. Wiutemitz HIL,vol.IL p.488.
87.V.KKulkami, opcithko., p.xvi.
88. kP.Jamkhedkar, Vcijudevahindi - A Whml my,
pel.
89. J.C.Jab, Prakrit Jdn Katha'ijitya, p. 110.
90. HLI, v0l.L pp.503-504,
91. MahendraI(lrmar, llre Jana Slortes, Preface, p.viii
92. Ibid, p.ix In his context, Wintelnitz writerr - 'Vnlike the other type8 of Indian
poetical works, in tbis nanative literature the tendency in not to sketch only the
stereo-typed figures, but we meet here quite often several types of people. ......
And these men are not barely virtuous kings or bold w d o r s or beautiful
princesserr full of love, and venerable prisats, as in the epic aud mostly also in the
drama too but they are also people from 0 t h sphene of life, viz famers, m d
workers, haden, artisans, and all sorb of people like jugglen, swindlers,
mcales, selfieh B r i h q a a , hypocrite, monk, harleta und promsees ofdoubt&ll
chamtef'. HIL.p.333.
93. Quoted by AN.Upadhye,BKK, Intro. p. 87.
94. AP.Jamkheb, opcit p.3.
95. The llfs and Storiesof ~~tS;anPh,
p. 183.
96, 'Ihia motf has been disoussed by Edgerto11 in his d o l e Taicadi* or
C h a nkhg by D i v h wiP' JAOS, x q 1S8f
97. For diffbmt oaunes of immbdia remmciation, me ch@r Socio-biigiom
Wtiou
98. kP.Jmr&edkar, opcit, p.3.
99. For view of scholsrs l i b Hertel, K u l l d , Widmi& U p d l y , Buhlr, Jwbi,
Raghavan on h e contribution of Jainss, See section Views of IndologiQ on J a b
Writm,p ~ 39-41.
.
100.Hsrte1, On the Litemture of the Svetiinikms of Gyamt, pp.7-8. Also quoted by
J.C.Jain, opcit p.93.
101. Hertel'a view quoted by Winknib in The Jarnas m the Histoy oflndim
ffterphcm,p.g; H7L, vo1.n p.467.
102.Hertel'a view quoted by J.C.Jslo, Pmknt Jdn Kathii Shltya, p.167; also see
W i t q HIL, v01.Q pp. 467-468.
103. V.M Kulkami, opcit b.,
p.xv.
104. Hertel, opcit, p.llf; W i t q HU,,vo1.Q also V.M.hkami, opcit
Eminent scholars have shown in their studies that some of the stonea occur in
other Indian and non-Indian literahw aud ha! they form a part of the common
treasrw of lmivereal literature, vide, W i t z , KLL, vol.II, p.484 and 545;
Hertel, opcit
105. J.C.Jah, opcit, pp.8-11.
106. lhi~hie hi ia tubstsnciated in the foilowiPg vsres of t&e JsiPa wok -
PFclbaAdhactnt&ql.
bh.& {rtalvinna kath@tpw6?@
prInanti cdfann tatha YYdhiinlln
107. J.CJain, opcit p.109.
108. Ibid, p.8.
109. Macdonei, A history of Sanslrrit Litemture, p.26 ; W i @ RIL, vol.IU
pp.331-338 a d vol.lJ, p.456; Buhler, opcit p.10; Bloomfield, Some Aspects of
Jaina Shnskrit p.220 and The Life and Stories of ~ & & n i i t h aW
, e ;k
N.Upadhye, " l l ~ eJaina contributionto Indian heritage",RBORI, vol. xvi, p.15;
V.FQhavan, The Adyar Library Bullentin mxiii, Intro.; RC.Dvivedi,
Contrlbdon ofJainism to Indian Wture, p.305.
110. For the views of scholars on the all rotmd achievement of Jaiaa writers,,&i
pp. 39-41
111, h the Indian Sect ofJainas, p.22.
112. Quoted by L. Alsdrof in his fonward to KuvdayamZlh of Udyotana Swi,
p.m
113. Tbeddyat Libmry Bdlehn, vol.xxxviii, i n h .
114, HIL, v01.Q p.570.
113. Ibid, PP.463-464.
116. The Jainas in the History oflndim U t e m r e , p.2.
117. opcit, pp.524-525.
118. On the Indian Sect of Jainas, p,22.
119, cf V.MKulkerni'e same opinion, opcif i h . , p.xv.
120. On the t i t e m r e of S v e t ~ of
m Gufumt, pp.llf
121. Ibid; also quoted by Wintemih, HL,vol.EI, pp.331-332.
122. Quoted by W i @ The Jainas in the Histogy of Indian Litemturo, p.3.
123. " Jaina wnhibytio~to Indian hedge" ABORI, v o i d , p.16.
124. BKK, &XI., pp.116-117.
125. A N.Upadkye presmb a list of Harisq's end entablidma fhst none of tbem ~s
identical with the present one, opcit pp.117-122.
126. Ibid, p.121.
127. Ibid
128. Ibid, p.22.
129. h i d
130. Yahvijaya's Jtnamtnrrkoia Singhi Jaina Serim, vo1.17, p.283;
G.C.Chsudhury, Jdn Zhitya kE Byhat Itihc, vol.vi, p.234; Upadhye, opcit,
p.90. Other ~uthiiko.& available to us are those written by Sri Chdm in
r l p a b h r k ; , Prabhachandra in Sanskrit prose, Nemidatta in Senslrrit verse and
Nayanandi in ~ p a b h m r k h Besides
. these, ~inaratnakoshmentione several othm
but their ~ s c r i parel ~not available.
131. For varioue classificationsof Kathd and their characteristics,supra pp. 14-24.
132. Tbe characteristics of Jaina d v e s . S e e the section The Jaina N d v e
Literature, q ~ ap.26.
,
133. G.C.Chsudhury,opcit, p.235; Upadhye, opcit p.19.
134. For h o e bhiirahe viise, v+Frpsf: vikur v?Z medarjja