2023-03-16 06:44:16 by ambuda-bot
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The thirty-two Bharaṭaka stories.
My venerable friend Upadhyaya Indravijayji informs me
that in the commentary on this work, contained in the edition of
the Jaina Atmananda Sabha of Bhavnagar, the following passage
occurs: तेषामन्तर्मेंदा भरटभक्तलैङ्गिकतायसादयो भवन्ति । भरटा-
दीनां व्रतग्रहणे ब्राह्मणादिवर्णनियमो नास्ति । यस्य तु शिवे भक्तिः
स व्रतीं भरटादिर्भवेत् ।
6
The Somadeva passage referred to above has been treated by
the author of these lines in his paper 'Ein altindisches Narrenbuch'
(i. e. An old Indian book of noodles; see Saxon Berichte, ph.-h. Kl.
1912, vol. 64, fasc. 1). In this paper it has been shown that Soma-
deva intercalated between the single books of his abstract from the
Panchatantra an abstract from a book of noodles, which he calls
. This work, probably divided into 5 books, must have
existed before A. D. 492, since we have a remaniement of it in
Chinese, written in this year by the Bauddha monk Sanghasena.
As it is customary with the Bauddha monks, Sanghasena sadly
mangled the original work, making out of the niti work, the artha-
katha, a dharma-katha. For as the Panchatantra and the artha-
kathah contained in the Mahabharata, those mugdha-kathah belonged
The only difference is that works of the
Panchatantra type were mainly intended to show how a person
should act in order to secure welfare, whereas the 'books of noodles'
gave their instructions indirectly, showing how a man desirous of
success should forbear acting.
to the artha-sastra.
No original work of this second type had hitherto
been accessible. The giffgat, of which we here
give an edition, is the first work of the kind laid
before the public.
To prove the correctness of this view it will be sufficient to
refer the reader to the introduction of the work, and to the con-
clusions of stories 2, 4, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, 23, 28, 29, 30.
The value of this little work is still increased by the fact that
all of its stories are directed against the Bharaṭaka
monks. There are only two stories in which besides them the
village poets are ridiculed; ep. nos. 5 and 22. Of these village
poets we have a very good description by the son of such a man
in Pandian's excellent book 'Indian Village Folk: Their Works and
Ways' (London: Elliot Stock 1897), p. 107 ff. On page 109 f. the
author says: "There is one great source of weakness in the village
poets. They know little or nothing of the grammar of their
language; all they care for is to fill their brains with various poetical
works, and store poems and clever sayings in their memories. In
a sense we may compare them to the parrot, which can repeat
only what it has been taught'.
My venerable friend Upadhyaya Indravijayji informs me
that in the commentary on this work, contained in the edition of
the Jaina Atmananda Sabha of Bhavnagar, the following passage
occurs: तेषामन्तर्मेंदा भरटभक्तलैङ्गिकतायसादयो भवन्ति । भरटा-
दीनां व्रतग्रहणे ब्राह्मणादिवर्णनियमो नास्ति । यस्य तु शिवे भक्तिः
स व्रतीं भरटादिर्भवेत् ।
6
The Somadeva passage referred to above has been treated by
the author of these lines in his paper 'Ein altindisches Narrenbuch'
(i. e. An old Indian book of noodles; see Saxon Berichte, ph.-h. Kl.
1912, vol. 64, fasc. 1). In this paper it has been shown that Soma-
deva intercalated between the single books of his abstract from the
Panchatantra an abstract from a book of noodles, which he calls
. This work, probably divided into 5 books, must have
existed before A. D. 492, since we have a remaniement of it in
Chinese, written in this year by the Bauddha monk Sanghasena.
As it is customary with the Bauddha monks, Sanghasena sadly
mangled the original work, making out of the niti work, the artha-
katha, a dharma-katha. For as the Panchatantra and the artha-
kathah contained in the Mahabharata, those mugdha-kathah belonged
The only difference is that works of the
Panchatantra type were mainly intended to show how a person
should act in order to secure welfare, whereas the 'books of noodles'
gave their instructions indirectly, showing how a man desirous of
success should forbear acting.
to the artha-sastra.
No original work of this second type had hitherto
been accessible. The giffgat, of which we here
give an edition, is the first work of the kind laid
before the public.
To prove the correctness of this view it will be sufficient to
refer the reader to the introduction of the work, and to the con-
clusions of stories 2, 4, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, 23, 28, 29, 30.
The value of this little work is still increased by the fact that
all of its stories are directed against the Bharaṭaka
monks. There are only two stories in which besides them the
village poets are ridiculed; ep. nos. 5 and 22. Of these village
poets we have a very good description by the son of such a man
in Pandian's excellent book 'Indian Village Folk: Their Works and
Ways' (London: Elliot Stock 1897), p. 107 ff. On page 109 f. the
author says: "There is one great source of weakness in the village
poets. They know little or nothing of the grammar of their
language; all they care for is to fill their brains with various poetical
works, and store poems and clever sayings in their memories. In
a sense we may compare them to the parrot, which can repeat
only what it has been taught'.