Background
The 15th-century Digambara poet Raidhū composed a version of one of the most important Jain tales – the Story of Yaśodhara. Called the Jasahara-cariu, which means 'the story of Yaśodhara' in Apabhraṃśa Prakrit, Raidhū’s version has the subtitle of 'having the characteristic of compassion' – daya-lakkhaṇa. This underlines the main teaching of the story, which is a manifesto against violence of all types and a defence of non-violence.
A story with several episodes, the tale of Yaśodhara is a good representative of religious teaching in narrative form – dharma-kathā. Its importance comes from the fact that it shows very clearly the working of karma and rebirth and refers to key concepts, such as:
- violence – hiṃsā – both factual and intentional
- desire or greediness.
Ultimately, all the protagonists become pious Jains and will be emancipated.
The text is divided into four sections called sandhi, which go into detail about all the rebirths that are recounted in the story within a story:
|
Section |
Events |
|---|---|
|
1 |
|
|
2 |
|
|
3 |
|
|
4 |
|
This version of the story has not yet been published. It is known from very few manuscripts, which are all illustrated and in India. However, not a single manuscript is complete. So this one, held in the Wellcome Trust in London, is a precious document, even though it is only the first half of the story. It is probable that the second half of the document is a manuscript originally kept in Delhi, dated 1454 CE. It is also very likely that a single folio in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art is part of the same manuscript (see Balbir, forthcoming).
Like other versions of the tale of Yaśodhara, Raidhū's narrative poem is a major inspiration for illustrations in Digambara manuscripts.
Glossary
Description
The caption in the top margin says: devī pāpaḍī – 'the wicked queen'.
A male figure in an intricate headdress stands in the middle of the painting, his eyes directed upwards. At his feet kneels a well-dressed woman with her hands clasped. On the other side of the man is a seated woman, also richly costumed. She raises her hands too.
The flower and the curving bands of patterned white and yellow probably show this is an indoor scene.
King Yaśodhara has expressed his wish to renounce worldly life – perhaps indicated visually by his gaze away from the world – but his wife, Queen Amṛtamati, wants to postpone his decision. She pretends that she cannot live without him. She invites Yaśodhara to the ladies' apartments for one last feast before they both give up worldly life.
The artwork shows Queen Amṛtamati humbly kneeling down in front of her husband to make her request. Hearing her honeyed words and seeing her respectful and loving behaviour, Yaśodhara is convinced that he has imagined seeing his beautiful wife with her paramour.
The lady sitting on the left is probably Candramatī, Yaśodhara's mother, who is also invited to the feast.
The long protruding eye is a typical feature of western Indian painting. Its origin is unclear.
Other visual elements
This is a good example of an average manuscript. A red background is used for the painting but there is no use of gold, intricate design elements or elaborate script.
The bottom of the right margin contains the number 4, which is the folio number.
In the upper and lower margins there are syllables missing from the main text, or corrections. The number before them is the line number where they should be inserted.
Script
The script used for the main text is the Jaina Devanāgarī script. It is used for writing numerous Indian languages, here Apabhraṃśa Prakrit.
- Source:
Wellcome Trust Library
- Shelfmark:
Beta 1471
- Author:
Raïdhū
- Date of creation:
perhaps 15th century
- Folio number:
35 recto
- Total number of folios:
36
- Place of creation:
probably Madhya Pradesh
- Language:
Apabhraṃśa Prākrit
- Medium:
watercolour on paper
- Size:
27 x 12 cms
- Copyright:
Wellcome Library, London
- Image Copyright:
Amṛtamati invites Yaśodhara to a feast
- Source:
Wellcome Trust Library
- Shelfmark:
Beta 1471
- Author:
Raïdhū
- Date of creation:
perhaps 15th century
- Folio number:
35 recto
- Total number of folios:
36
- Place of creation:
probably Madhya Pradesh
- Language:
Apabhraṃśa Prākrit
- Medium:
watercolour on paper
- Size:
27 x 12 cms
- Copyright:
Wellcome Library, London
- Image Copyright:
Description
The caption in the top margin says: devī pāpaḍī – ‘the wicked queen’.
A male figure in an intricate headdress stands in the middle of the painting, his eyes directed upwards. At his feet kneels a well-dressed woman with her hands clasped. On the other side of the man is a seated woman, also richly costumed. She raises her hands too.
The flower and the curving bands of patterned white and yellow probably show this is an indoor scene.
King Yaśodhara has expressed his wish to renounce worldly life – perhaps indicated visually by his gaze away from the world – but his wife, Queen Amṛtamati, wants to postpone his decision. She pretends that she cannot live without him. She invites Yaśodhara to the ladies’ apartments for one last feast before they both give up worldly life.
The artwork shows Queen Amṛtamati humbly kneeling down in front of her husband to make her request. Hearing her honeyed words and seeing her respectful and loving behaviour, Yaśodhara is convinced that he has imagined seeing his beautiful wife with her paramour.
The lady sitting on the left is probably Candramatī, Yaśodhara’s mother, who is also invited to the feast.
The long protruding eye is a typical feature of western Indian painting. Its origin is unclear.
Other visual elements
This is a good example of an average manuscript. A red background is used for the painting but there is no use of gold, intricate design elements or elaborate script.
The bottom of the right margin contains the number 4, which is the folio number.
In the upper and lower margins there are syllables missing from the main text, or corrections. The number before them is the line number where they should be inserted.
Script
The script used for the main text is the Jaina Devanāgarī script. It is used for writing numerous Indian languages, here Apabhraṃśa Prakrit.
Yaśodhara finds Amṛtamati and her lover
Wellcome Trust Library Beta 1471 Raïdhū perhaps 15th century