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
This very lively scene shows a man with sword held aloft on the left. He stands behind a richly dressed woman, who is rubbing the legs of an ugly blue-skinned figure lying on a couch. Behind the couch are two white elephants.
Queen Amṛtamati has sneaked out of the palace to visit her paramour's house. He is a hunch-backed elephant-keeper, whose occupation is represented by the two elephants. His evil character and low social status are shown in his blue complexion and terrifying mouth with protruding teeth – he looks more like a demon than a human being. Despite all this, Amṛtamati is in love with him. She is rubbing his legs, which is a sign of her affectionate feelings towards him. Such a scene is meant to show that love makes one blind and removes all sense of judgement.
King Yaśodhara is the figure on the left. He has followed his wife and is horrified and angry at what he finds. Unseen by the pair, he is holding his sword up as if ready to kill, although he does not injure the lovers. Instead, he steals away unnoticed.
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:
26 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:
Yaśodhara finds Amṛtamati and her lover
- Source:
Wellcome Trust Library
- Shelfmark:
Beta 1471
- Author:
Raïdhū
- Date of creation:
perhaps 15th century
- Folio number:
26 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
This very lively scene shows a man with sword held aloft on the left. He stands behind a richly dressed woman, who is rubbing the legs of an ugly blue-skinned figure lying on a couch. Behind the couch are two white elephants.
Queen Amṛtamati has sneaked out of the palace to visit her paramour’s house. He is a hunch-backed elephant-keeper, whose occupation is represented by the two elephants. His evil character and low social status are shown in his blue complexion and terrifying mouth with protruding teeth – he looks more like a demon than a human being. Despite all this, Amṛtamati is in love with him. She is rubbing his legs, which is a sign of her affectionate feelings towards him. Such a scene is meant to show that love makes one blind and removes all sense of judgement.
King Yaśodhara is the figure on the left. He has followed his wife and is horrified and angry at what he finds. Unseen by the pair, he is holding his sword up as if ready to kill, although he does not injure the lovers. Instead, he steals away unnoticed.
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.
