Chapter 3.2 - Haribhadra’s Prakrit version (regarding Yasodhara’s story)

The story of Yasodhara occurs in the fourth Bhava of Samaraiccakaha in connection with the story Dhana and Dhanasri. Haribhadra's version is a detailed narrative, and important as recording the story as it was current two hundred years before it was handled by Somadeva. Its most notable feature is the absence of the episode of Maradatta and the projected human sacrifice in the temple of Candamari. It may be surmised, although we cannot be sure on the point, that this was a later addition to the story of Yasodhara. Apart from this and certain other minor divergences, the Prakrit version does not materially differ from the story as we have it in Somadeva's Yasastilaka. Another noteworthy feature is that the names of the principal characters differ in the earlier version, and the name Yasodhara occurs only at the end. As in Somadeva's romance, the narrative is in the form of an autobiographical record, and related by the monk Yasodhara to Dhana, the hero of the fourth Bhava of Samaraiccakaha. The story as told by Haribhadra may be summarized as follows. Surendradatta was the son of Amaradatta, the king of Visala. Yasodhara was his mother and Nayanavali his wife. Surendradatta succeeded his father on the throne, and on a certain occasion made up his mind to renounce the world on discovering a white hair on his head, saying that the messenger of Dharma had arrived. On the eve of his departure from worldly life, he passed a night with his consort Nayanavali in her mansion, and was surprised to see her slink away from his side at the dead of night. Fearing that she might have gone out to commit suicide in her grief at the impending separation from him, he followed her footsteps, sword in hand, and was amazed to see her in the embrace of a hunchback, who was employed as a watchman at the palace. The king, who observed them unseen, drew his sword and was about to kill the guilty pair, but restrained himself, thinking of his past affection for the queen, the follies He then returned of women, and the young prince Gunadhara, his son. to bed and feigned to be asleep, and was shortly afterwards joined by who quietly laid herself to rest by his side. the queen, Next night the king saw in a dream that he was sitting on a throne on the top of the palace, but was thrown to the ground by his mother Yasodhara, speaking something that was contrary to his wishes. He went 1 Ed. by Jacobi, Bibliotheca Indica, No, 169, Calcutta 1926.

rolling to the seventh floor below, followed by his mother who also rolled down after him, but he managed somehow to rise and climb up the Mandara mountain. The dream was unpleasant in the beginning, but pleasant towards the end, and the king could not guess its significance; yet he remained indifferent, bent as he was on the conquest of the life beyond. Ahad Next morning the king appeared in court, and his mother also joined him there, but he gave her a different version of the dream with a view to making her more readily consent to his idea of renouncing the world. He spoke of having dreamt that he had transferred the kingdom to prince Gunadhara and become a monk and fallen from the top of the palace. The mother, who was an adept in the science of dreams, at once suggested that, in order to counteract the evil effect of the vision, he should assume the garb of a monk for a few days, and sacrifice different kinds of animals at the altar of the tutelary goddess. The king was horrified at the idea of killing animals, as he held ahimsa to be the basis of Dharma. The mother, however, persisted in her demand; and the king, finding it impossible to reconcile his religious principles with obedience to his mother, drew his sword to kill himself and asked her to worship the tutelary goddess with his blood. This led to a commotion among those present at the court, and the mother got frightened and deterred her son from the attempt. At this moment a cock crowed, and the old lady suggested that he should sacrifice before the goddess not a live cock, but one made out of paste. The king agreed and 'killed' with his sword an artificial cock in the shrine of the goddess, while the mother prayed for his longevity and health. The paste model was then roasted as if it were a real cock, and despite the objection of the king to the eating of meat, he was induced by his mother to partake of the sacrificial offering, on the plea that it was not real meat that he had been asked to eat. Next day the young prince Gunadhara was installed on the throne, and preparations were made for the king's departure as a religious mendicant, The queen Nayanavali now thought if she did not accompany the king and share in his ascetic life, it would cause a great scandal; on the other hand, if he died, it would be possible for her to abstain from suttee on the plea that she would have to act as regent during her son's minority. Accordingly she decided to murder her husband by poisoning. The hour of dinner arrived, and Nayanavali took her meal with the king. She had, however, secretly mixed poison with a digestive pill, and gave it to her husband at the end of the meal after the withdrawal of the guards. The king, suspecting nothing, took the pill and retired to his chamber and at once showed symptoms of poisoning. A hue and cry

was raised by the doorkeeper, and physicians were sent for; but Nayanavali, thinking that medical consultation would not be to her advantage, cried aloud and rushed upon the king, and weeping without tears, strangled him to death. Yasodhara also died the same day as her son. The births and rebirths which the king and his mother undergo after their death are practically same in both the versions of the story until we come to the birth of Abhayaruci and Abhayamati, these names being common to the two versions. In Haribhadra's version Abhayaruci and Adhayamati are not brought to the temple of Candamari for sacrifice, but are reborn as gods in the Sahasrara heaven. On the termination of their life in heaven, Abhayaruci is born as the son of Vinayandhara, the king of Ayodhya, and named Yasodhara; while Abhayamati is born as the daughter of Isanasena, the king of Pataliputra, and named Vinayamati. When they were grown up, Vinayamati was sent to Ayodhya with a great retinue as svayamvara bride for Yasodhara, and preparations were at once made by the latter's father for the wedding of the young couple. But, on the day fixed for the marriage, while Yasodhara was going in a procession on the back of a white elephant to the bride's quarters, he happened to see a monk begging at a merchant's house, which at once revived the memories of his previous births, and he fell into a swoon. The trouble was thought to be due to the toxic effect of betel, and sandal-water was sprinkled over the prince, who soon regained consciousness, opened his eyes, and felt a deep disgust for the world. Yasodhara then asked his father to call the queens and the notables; and when they were all assembled in a road-side pavilion, he related the long story of his previous existences beginning with his birth as Surendradatta, king of Ujjain. He spoke about the terrible consequences of sin and his own indifference to the prison of the world, and finally declared his unwillingness to proceed with the marriage. The remonstrances of his father were of no avail; and a priest was at last sent to the bride to intimate to her the decision of the prince and his desire to renounce the world. The priest went on his mission and began to relate the story of Yasodhara's previous birth, but as soon as the princess heard the names Surendradatta, Yasodhara and Nayanavali, she in her turn remembered her past lives and fell into a swoon. Regaining consciousness, Vinayamati bewailed the strange way of the world, and declared that she was no other than Yasodhara, the mother of Surendradatta. She, too, expressed her desire to renounce the world and asked for permission to do so. Yasodhara's father was deeply moved by these happenings, and became convinced of the illusory nature of life; and the queens, too, realised the transient character of the world resembling a troop of actors. Yasodhara's

younger brother Yasovardhana was then installed on the throne; while Yasodhara, his father, Vinayamati, the queens, and the chief notables renounced the world and took the monastic vow under a celebrated teacher named Indrabhuti. Thus ends the story of the monk Yasodhara, as related by him to the merchant Dhana. It will be seen that the sequel of Hraibhadra's version differs completely from that of the story as found in Somadeva's Yasastilaka. A comparison of the two versions reveals certain other points of difference in the treatment of the story. Firstly, Somadeva does not pay much attention to Amrtamati after the murder of Yasodhara beyond the fact that she appears occasionally in certain episodes, according to the requirements of the story; and we are told at the end that she went to hell. Haribhadra, on the other hand, gives a more detailed picture of the guilty woman after her crime. The prose description of Nayanavali's affliction with leprosy is followed by several verses, in which her former beauty is contrasted with the physical havoc wrought by her dreadful disease. This reminds us of certain verses in Somadeva's description of the cremation ground in which he contrasts the decaying corpse of a courtesan with her former beauty and charms." Haribhasays, for instance (p. 262): dra vayanena thanaharenam caranehi ya jita nijiya asi | savvavilyanamahiyam soha sasikalasakamalanam || tie ciya peccha kaham amguli vigamakhaya samgamehim ca | te ceva hamdi desa dhaniyam ubvevaya jaya || Haribhadra touches also the subject of Nayanavali's redemption. Abhayaruci begs the sage Sudatta to give her religious instruction and initiate her into the Jaina religion. The sage replies that she is beyond the scope of religious instruction, that her disease of Karma has been aggravated by her misdeeds acting like prohibited food, and that she is doomed to hell and unfit to receive the blessings of Jainism on account of her great delusion.2 Secondly, the motive of the murder is not the same in the two versions. Somadeva represents Amrtamati as acting in self-defence, while in Haribhadra's version Nayanavali murders her husband just to avoid taking the monastic vow. This is a weak point in Haribhadra's treatment of the story. The delineation of Amrtamati by Somadeva is far more complex, involving as it does a study of character and analysis of motives. 1 1, 95 ff. See Chapter VII. 2 'avisao khu esa dhammakahae | samtappio imie akajjayaranapacchasevanae kammavahi, buddham ca taccapudhavie parabhavauyam, ao paviyantramavassam tie narayattanam, na pavajjai ya esa mahamohao jinadhammarayanam ti | ' p. 278. 3 See below.

Thirdly, there is hardly any theological bias in Haribhadra's version. Somadeva employs the dialogue between Yasodhara and his mother in Book IV on the subject of animal sacrifice as a vehicle for launching a series of attacks on Hinduism; and the aim of the writer is also to establish the claim of Jainism to greater consideration than it seems to have received among his non-Jaina cantemporaries." In Haribhadra's version, the mother, indeed, asks her son to sacrifice animals 'according to the Vedic procedure', but the latter confines himself to pointing out that a propitiatory rite is not compatible with the killing of animals, and that he best performs a santikarma who regards all living beings with the same consideration as himself (p. 246): ihaloe paraloe ya samtiyammam anuttaram tassa | jaha pecchai appanam taha jo savve saya jive || As regards the mother's contention that it is permissible to commit sin for the sake of health, the son asserts that it is rather on account of the protection given to living creatures that a man acquires longevity, beauty and health, besides winning universal admiration in the life to come (p. 247): dihaubha suruvo nirogo hoi abhayadanenam | jammamtare vi jivo sayalajana salahanijo ya || The controversy between the king and his mother, in Haribhadra's version, comes to an end with a declaration by the former of the evils of flesh-eating and the benefits of abstention therefrom. Throughout the episode the Jaina standpoint is stressed, but attacks on the Brahmanical religion are entirely absent. It is obviously far from the intention of Haribhadra to make the mother and the son protagonists of two rival faiths, as is done by the author of Yasastilaka. Thoughts on the treachery of women are common to both the versions, and that of Haribhadra contains besides a condemnation of marriage in the episode of Yasodhara and Vinayamati. Most of the birth stories generally agree in the two versions, but there are certain episodes which Haribhadra with his lucid and simple style treats in a more realistic fashion. The torture of the buffalo that killed the king's favourite horse, is, for example, repulsive enough in Somadeva, but it is more so in the detailed picture of refined cruelty whith Haribhadra presents before his readers. On the whole, the latter's version of the story of Yasodhara is a well-balanced narrative with qualities which we miss in the intricate prose of Somadeva's Yasastilaka. 1 See Chapter XIII. 2 Book V.

48 PIDA YASASTILAKA AND INDIAN CULTURE ANALOGOUS STORIES An Considered as a folk-tale, the story of Yasodhara is of considerable interest, although the motif of adultery is quite common in folklore and legend. The chief interest centres round the character of Amrtamati , who represents a type recognised very early in Indian literature . ancient Buddhist text, for example, speaking of the seven kinds of wives, refers to the first variety as vadhaka 'murderess' and describes her thus: padutthacitta ahitanukampini ajesu ratta atimanjate patim | dhanena kitassa vadhaya ussuka ya evarupa purisassa bhariya || -Anguttaranikaya (Sattakanipata LIX). The vadhaka wife, we are told, is corrupt in mind and addicted to evil; she despises her husband and reserves her affection for others; she is bent on murder, and may be purchased by wealth. Guilty of adultery and murder, Amrtamati is vadhaka, but the characteristic thing about her is that she, a woman of high rank, has a lowborn paramour. b The closest parallel to the tale of Yasodhara and Amrtamati is found in another Jaina story, that of Devarati and Rakta. Devarati was the king of Ayodhya and Rakta his queen. It is said that Rakta had a paramour in the person of a lame gardener, and got rid of the king by murdering him and throwing the corpse into a river. The story of Devarati and Rakta seems to be as old as the Yasodhara story, as it is referred to in Jasaharacariu (II. 10) of Puspadanta', who, like Somadeva, belongs to the tenth century. The story is mentioned also in Anagaradharmamrta (4. 77) of Asadhara who wrote about the middle of the thirteenth century.³ Jaina narrative literature acquaints us with the existence of Amrtamatis in middle-class society as well. In the story of the wealthy young merchant Dhana and his wife Dhanasri, occurring in the fourth Book of Haribhadra's Samaraiccakaha, Dhanasri has a paramour in the person of her servant Nandaka, administers poison to her husband, throws him overboard during a sea-voyage, and succeeds in killing him even after he has escaped and become a monk. In the similar story in the sixth Book of the same work, Laksmi, the wife of the young and wealthy 1 nasamgami dutthai vairinie uvayaravimukka sairinie | ujjhahiu devarai tti mrdu pamgulanimittu rattai chudu 1 2 The story of Devarati is referred to in the Bhagavati Aradhana of Sivarya; and it is given, in short or eleborately, in different Kathakosas. See Brhatkathakosa (ed. A. N. Upadhye, Bombay 1943) Intro, p. 76, Story No. 85, Notes p. 388.

merchant Dharana, is no better than Dhanasri: she first prefers a robber and then a merchant from China to her husband whom she attempts to murder. Two other women Gopavati and Viravati give evidence of similar propensities in stories which seem to be drawn from the life of the common people. Both the stories are are mentioned in Jasaharacariu of Puspadanta (II. 9) and in Anagaradharmamrta of Asadhara (op. cit.), who alludes to Rakta, Gopavati and Viravati together, showing that the three women were notorious in Jaina tradition for their treachery and crimes. It may be mentioned that Dasakumaracarita (Book VI) and Kathasaritsagara 10. 9 also contain a popular tale in which a woman attempts to murder her husband for the sake of a mutilated wretch, the two versions showing variations in details. The placid complacence of Yasodhara after the discovery of his consort's crime is a noteworthy feature of our story and seems to go beyond the ordinary limits of forbearance. But the pardoning of the guilty wife is a trait that fits in with the religious character of the story; and the motif occurs also in the ancient Buddhist tale in which the Bodhisattva, while a king, once pardoned his chief queen, who had been found guilty of a serious offence and taken to the place of execution. Kings are not, however, always lenient in regard to their guilty wives; and Jaina tradition records stories of how some of them dealt with their adulterous queens. The Vivagasuya, the eleventh Anga of the Jaina canon, records the story of the young priest Bahassaidatta, who is surprised by king Udayana of Kosambi in the inner apartments of his palace in the queen's company, and in consequence arrested and sentenced to death. Another story occurs in Hemacandra's Parisistaparvan (2. 547 ff.), in which one of the wives of a king pays a nocturnal visit to an elephant-driver, as in the story of Yasodhara, but is discovered; and a dreadful sentence is passed on the guilty pair.