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Jaina Narrative Literature:鈥�Mahavira preached his teachings among all the sections of the society. particularly among the masses. The oldest portions of the canon, as for example, the Acaranga and Sutra-krtanga are supposed to be more or less contemporaneous with Mahavira. They are full of illustrations from worldly life and display of sometime, the basis of popular narrative literature, legends and myths. Nyayadhammakahao, comprises of popular legendary and mythical stories. It is a good illustration of the wisdom of the Jaina monks who explained their doctrines with the help of stories in a lucid manner. Following the compilation of the principal texts, generations of teachers and commentators have added illustrations of their own to inspire the people to faith and ensure in them right conduct. Commentorial literature, which is in both Prakrit and Sanskrit remains unexplored fully. It is full of myths, legends and popular stories

25 which originate from the vast Indian story literature. Some of them are purely a new creation of the Jaina monks. Frequently enlivened by proverbs and colloquialisms of the common people these stories clearly reveal their popular origin 86 To make different concepts intelligible, the authors have included many illustrations even stories which are now a part of the Sramana cultural tradition. Some of these texts notably the Vipaka Sutra which itself is the eleventh principal text (anga) are wholly in story form. In this particular Sutra ten stories illustrate the pleasant experiences of life, each bunch explaining the operation of pious and impious karma. Jaina narrative literature broadly classified: 87 The Jaina narrative literature is divided into ten categories which are noted below. Narratives embodied in i. canonical works ii. commentaries on canonical works iii. counterparts of Ramayana and Mahabharata. iv. Caritas, Puranas and Mahapuranas V. counterpart of Brhatkatha vi. quasi historical prabandhas vii. dharmakathas viii. campus ix ornate poems

26 category. kathakosas - Brihatkatha-Kosha, the text under our present study comes under this After the finalisation of the carmon 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 literature" 88 鈥� Between eleventh to twelfth century AD the Jaina katha literature reached at its pick. At that time Chalukya in Gujurat, Parmar 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 kathagranthas were written A.N. Upadhye, in his introduction to the Brihatkatha-Kosha classifies the post-canonical narrative literature into five types viz. (i)Biographies of the 63 illustrious personalities (salaka purusas) described together in a book (ii) Life-story of a religious hero, e.g. a firthnkara described independently in a book form, (iii)Religious tale in romantic form, (iv) Semi-historical prabandha (v)Compilation of stories in the form of Kathakosa. Common Characteristics : The common traits of the post-canonical literature are mainly story-withinstory technique embodying fables parables and folk-tales. They reveal popular wisdom and religious exhortation explaining the details of Jaina dogmas. Many of the stories emphasise on the law of karma and therefore describes previous birth of a

27 hero. The hero of the story naturally is a follower of the Jaina religion and ends his life as a Jaina monk. This of course makes some of the stories dull, dry, and stereotyped. Referring to this, Winternitz remarks "On the whole it is rather tiresome always to follow the wanderings of some persons from one birth to another, the one always killing the other the one going to heaven and other to hell or being reborn as an animal, in one instance as a coconut palm. However we also meet with some interesting tales, romantic love stories such as that of Sanatkumara" 90. Purpose of Jaina Narratives : All the Jaina stories except historical episodes or personal accounts have a religious purpose. They inspire people to lead a pious life. They teach the way to attain liberation, the ultimate goal of life. Hence they may not be very useful for children but presumes certain degree of maturity on the part of a reader. Jaina philosophy is difficult to the extreme and is intelligible to a handful of scholars. To bring it home to common people, Jaina teachers have used the medium of short stories. There are hundreds and even thousands of short stories scattered throughout the vast agamic 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 Jainism. Subject matter of the Jaina Narratives: In producing literature the writer leaves certain things which are unnecessary, adds thing from his own imaginations,, imparts dialogues and creates in the process

20 28 something which is noble, dignified enchanting and inspiring. These when heard and read goes straight to the heart. The author displays in his writings a true replica of life. "The 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 pedestal, these and many such thing dominate these stories" 91. They have been repeated innumerable times to bring the misguided to the right path which is the path of religion. In spite of the repetition, they are not devoid of freshness. 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 vigour in thinking, and some message for others becomes a worthy material and draws the attention of the 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 the deepest patches stand the chance of rehabilitation if they can be brought back to the right path. There are cases where a man 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 of the community"

29 Jaina dogmas explained: 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 narrativesNamokkara : Some stories illustrate the efficiency of Namokkara which is simultaneously a form of obeisance and mantra to be repeated on the heads. The five vows : 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, nonaccumulation and non-sex. leads to liberation or at least improves the quality of one's life. Some stories also teach how non-observance of these vows leads to the derailment from the right path and suffering. Renunciation, Role of karma & transmigration of soul : In almost all the stories, renunciation has been upheld as the most laudable means for attaining ideal life. Renunciation is connected with the idea of transmigration of souls. The idea of jatismara (remembering one's past life) is also closely linked up with the transmigration of the soul. One important theme of many Jaina stories is the ability of many monks to reveal the operation of Karma effect in the life of men. In doing so, they have thrown light on the previous birth of the questioner. Like a true seer, they tell the questioner where his soul will go when it is dislodged

30 from here. Not only monks, even lay men has their long memory revived at the sight of a familiar personality or scene or at the occurrence of some familiar event. They had their past lives revealed to them and this served as an inspiration to them to renounce this worldly life. Life of Mahavira : A large number of stories are connected with the life story of Mahavira and they are highly instructive to the reader. The lives of great teachers and monks have always been a source of inspiration to others. When that is presented through the medium of short stories, they reach even the common people.