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Kṣṇa and his rivals in the Hindu and Jaina traditions1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2009

Jonathan Geen
Jonathan Geen*
Affiliation:
King's University College, University of Western Ontario
*
jgeen@uwo.ca
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Abstract

This paper compares the relationship between the vāsudeva Kṣṇa and his prativāsudeva rival Jarāsandha in the Jaina tradition (primarily in Hemacandra's Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacarita) with Kṣṇa Vāsudeva's rivalries with Jarāsandha, Śiśupāla and Pauṇḍraka in the Mahābhārata and Hindu purāṇas. Three main points arising from this comparison are proposed. First, the Jainas conflated characteristics of the Hindu figures Jarāsandha, Śiśupāla and Pauṇḍraka in order to create a new Jarāsandha, who was now a single powerful nemesis for Kṣṇa. Second, this new relationship between Kṣṇa and Jarāsandha provided the template for a new class of Illustrious Beings (śalākāpuruṣas) in the Jaina Universal History: the recurring and paradigmatic vāsudevas and prativāsudevas. And third, this evolution of Kṣṇa mythology in the Jaina tradition may have influenced the parallel development in the Hindu tradition, including the creation of the vaiṣṇava ten avatāras doctrine, and the expansion of the purāṇic mythology surrounding both Jarāsandha and Śiśupāla.

Type
Articles
Information
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 72 , Issue 1 , February 2009 , pp. 63 - 99
Copyright
Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies 2009

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Footnotes

1

The author wishes to express his gratitude to Phyllis Granoff and Wendy Doniger for their kind review of prior drafts of this manuscript.

References

References

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Uttarapurāṇa of Ācārya Guṇabhadra. (Edited and Hindi translation by Jain, Pannalal.) New Delhi: Bharatiya Jnanpith, 11th edition, 2007.Google Scholar
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa: Critical Edition (in 7 volumes). (Ed. Bhatt, G. H. and Shah, U.P..) Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1960–75.Google Scholar
Vāyu Purāṇa. (Translated into English by Tagare, G. V. in the Ancient Indian Tradition and Mythology Series, volumes 37–38.) Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1987–88.Google Scholar
Vishnu Purana. Third Edition. (Translated into English by Wilson, H.H..) Calcutta: Punthi Pustak, 1961 (First Edition, London, 1840; Second Edition, London, 1888).Google Scholar
Balbir, Nalini. 1990. “Stories from the Āvaśyaka commentaries”, in Phyllis, Granoff (ed.), The Clever Adulteress and Other Stories. Oakville: Mosaic Press, 17–74.Google Scholar
Basham, A.L. 1967. The Wonder that Was India. (Third Revised Edition.) London: Sidgwick & Jackson.Google Scholar
Bauer, Jerome H. 2005. “Hero of wonders, hero in ceeds: Vāsudeva Krishna in Jaina Cosmohistory”, in Beck, G.L. (ed.), Alternative Krishnas: Regional and Vernacular Variations on a Hindu Deity. Albany: State University of New York Press, 151–76.Google Scholar
Bruhn, Klaus. 1961. “Introduction”, in Bhojak, Pt. A.M. (ed.), Caüppaṇṇamahāpurisacariyam by Ācārya Śrī Śīlāṅka. Ahmedabad: Prakrit Text Society, 1–31.Google Scholar
Bruhn, Klaus. 1969. The Jina-Images of Deogarh. Leiden: E.J. Brill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruhn, Klaus. 1983. “Repetition in Jaina narrative literature”, Indologica Taurinensia 11, 27–75.Google Scholar
Bryant, Edwin F. 2003. Krishna: The Beautiful Legend of God. New York: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Cort, John. 1993. “Overview of the Jaina Purāṇas”, in Wendy, Doniger (ed.), Purāṇa Perennis. Albany: State University of New York Press, 185–206.Google Scholar
Dundas, Paul. 1992. The Jains. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Geen, Jonathan. 2006. “Jaina origins for the Mahābhārata story of Draupadī's past life”, Asiatische Studien 60/3, 575–606.Google Scholar
Geen, Jonathan. 2008, forthcoming. “The rescue of Draupadī: a few remarks upon Kṣṇa and the Pāṇḍavas in the Jaina tradition”, South Asian Studies.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glasenapp, Helmuth von. 1999. Jainism: An Indian Religion of Salvation. (Translated from the original German [1925] by Shrotri, Shridhar B..) Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.Google Scholar
Goldman, Robert P. 1985. “Karma, guilt, and buried memories: public fantasy and private reality in traditional India”, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 105/3, 413–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jaini, Padmanabh S. 1977. “Jina ṣabha as an Avatāra of Viṣṇu”, BSOAS 40, 321–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jaini, Padmanabh S. 1993. “Jaina Purāṇas: a purāṇic counter tradition”, in Wendy, Doniger (ed.), Purāṇa Perennis. Albany: State University of New York Press, 207–49.Google Scholar
Jha, Shaktidhar. 1978. Aspects of Brahmanical Influence on the Jaina Mythology. Delhi: Bharat Bharati Bhandar.Google Scholar
Kirfel, W. 1959. Symbolik Des Hinduismus und des Jinismus, Volume 4. Stuttgart: Anton Hiersemann.Google Scholar
Kulkarni, V.M. 1990. The Story of Rāma in Jain Literature. Ahmedabad: Saraswati Pustak Bhandar.Google Scholar
O'Flaherty, Wendy Doniger. 1976. The Origins of Evil in Hindu Mythology. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Preciado-Solis, Benjamin. 1984. The K ṣṇa Cycle in the Purāṇas: Themes and Motifs in a Heroic Saga. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.Google Scholar
Schubring, Walther. 2000. The Doctrine of the Jainas, Described after the Old Sources. Second Revised Edition. (Translated from the revised German edition by Wolfgang, Beurlen). Lala Sundarlal Jain Research Series Volume XV. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.Google Scholar
Sharma, V.K. 2001. History of Jainism with Special Reference to Mathurā. New Delhi: D.K. Printworld.Google Scholar
Sumitra Bai, B.N. and Zydenbos, Robert J.. 1991. “The Jaina Mahābhārata”, in Arvind, Sharma (ed.), Essays on the Mahābhārata. New York: E.J. Brill, 251–73.Google Scholar
Upadhye, A.N. 1983. “Bhat-Kathākośa”, in Upadhye: Papers. Mysore: Prasārāṅga, University of Mysore, 1–107.Google Scholar
Winternitz, M. 1983. A History of Indian Literature, Vol. 2. (Translated from the Original German [1932] by Srinivasa Sarma, V..) Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.Google Scholar
Ācārāṅga. In Jacobi, Hermann (trans.), Jaina Sūtras, Part I. (Sacred Books of the East Series, Volume 22 [Oxford University Press 1884].) Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1964.Google Scholar
Agnipurāṇam. Kalikātānagaryyām: Sarasvatīyantre Mudritam, 1882.Google Scholar
Antagaḍadasāo. Barnett, L. D. (trans.). London: The Royal Asiatic Society, 1907.Google Scholar
Āvaśyaka-niryukti, with the ṭīka of Haribhadra, Part 1. Mumbaī: Śrī Bherulāl Kanaiyālāl Koṭhārī Dhārmika Ṭrasṭa, 1981.Google Scholar
Bhagavatī Sūtra, Vol. II. (Prakrit Text with English Translation and Notes by Lalwani, K.C..) Calcutta: Jain Bhawan, 1974.Google Scholar
Brahma Purāṇa. (Translated into English by a Board of Scholars in the Ancient Indian Tradition and Mythology Series, volumes 33–36.) Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1985–86.Google Scholar
Buddhacarita of Aśvaghoṣa, New Enlarged Edition. (Sanskrit text edited and translated into English by Johnston, E.H..) Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1984.Google Scholar
Caüppaṇṇamahāpurisacariam of Ācārya Śrī Śīlāṅka. (Edited by PtBhojak, Pt. Amritlal Mohanlal.) Ahmedabad: Prakrit Text Society, 2006.Google Scholar
Garuḍapurāṇam. Kalikātānagare: Sarasvatīyantre Mudritam, 1890.Google Scholar
Harivaṁśa with the Commentary of Nīlakaṇṭha. Benares: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series, no date.Google Scholar
Harivaṁśapurāṇa of (Punnāṭa) Jinasena. (Edited by Darbārīlāl, Paṇḍit.) Bombay: Maṇikacanda Digambara Jaina Granthamālā, 1930–31.Google Scholar
Jambūdvīpa Prajñapti Sūtra. (Edited by Maharaj, Pravartak Shri Amar Muni ji.) Delhi: Padma Prakashan, 2006.Google Scholar
Kalpa Sūtra. (Translated into English by Lalwani, K.C..) Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1979.Google Scholar
Mahāpurāṇa of Mahākavi Puṣpadanta, 3rd Edition. (Edited by Vaidya, P.L..) New Delhi: Bharatiya Jnanpith, 2006.Google Scholar
Mahābhārata. (Critically edited by Sukthankar, V. S. et al. ) Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1933–41.Google Scholar
Padmapurāṇa of Ācārya Raviṣeṇa. (Edited and Hindi translation by Jain, Pannalal.) New Delhi: Bharatiya Jnanpith, 2006.Google Scholar
Padmapurāṇam. (Edited by Krishnadas, Khemaraj Shri.) Bombay: Venkateśvara Press, no date.Google Scholar
Paümacariya of Ācārya Vimalasūri, Part 1 (2nd Edition). (Edited by Jacobi, Hermann, revised by Punyavijayaji, Muni Shri.) Varanasi: Prakrit Text Society, 1962.Google Scholar
Samavāyāṅga Sūtra. (Jināgama Granthamālā, Granthāṅka 8.) Beawar, Rājasthān: Śrī Āgamaprakāśana Samiti, 1982.Google Scholar
Skandapurāṇam (khaṇḍas 1–5). (Gurumandal Series No. 20.) Calcutta: Mānasukharai Mora, 1959–62.Google Scholar
Skanda Purāṇa. (Translated into English by Tagare, G. V. in the Ancient Indian Tradition and Mythology Series, volumes 49–68.) Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1992–2003.Google Scholar
Śrīmadbhāgavatam. Madras: Sri Ram Publishers, 1974.Google Scholar
Sthānāṅga Sūtra. Delhi: Padma Prakāśana, 2004.Google Scholar
Sūtrak tāṅga. In Jacobi, Hermann (trans.), Jaina Sūtras, Part II. (Sacred Books of the East Series, Volume 45 [Oxford University Press 1895].) Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1964.Google Scholar
Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritamahākāvyam. Vol. 1 (Parvan 1) edited by Mahārāja, Munirāja Śrīcaraṇavijayajī; Vol. 2 (Parvans 2–4) edited by Munirāja Śrīpuṇyavijayajī Mahārāja; Vol. 3 (Parvans 5–7) edited by Śrīramaṇīkavijayajī Gaṇi and Vijayaśīlacandrasūri; Vol. 4 (Parvans 8–9) edited by Śrīramaṇīkavijayajī Gaṇi and Vijayaśīlacandrasūri. Ahmedabad: Kalikālasarvajña Śrīhemacandrācārya Navama Janmaśābdī Smti Śikṣaṇa-Saṁskāranidhi, 2001.Google Scholar
Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra. 6 volumes. (Translated into English by Johnson, Helen in the Gaekwad Oriental Series: volumes 51 (1931), 77 (1937), 108 (1949), 125 (1954), 139 (1962a), 140 (1962b).) Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1931–62.Google Scholar
Uttarādhyayana. In Jacobi, Hermann (trans.), Jaina Sūtras, Part II. (Sacred Books of the East Series, Volume 45 [Oxford University Press, 1895]). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1964.Google Scholar
Uttarapurāṇa of Ācārya Guṇabhadra. (Edited and Hindi translation by Jain, Pannalal.) New Delhi: Bharatiya Jnanpith, 11th edition, 2007.Google Scholar
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa: Critical Edition (in 7 volumes). (Ed. Bhatt, G. H. and Shah, U.P..) Baroda: Oriental Institute, 1960–75.Google Scholar
Vāyu Purāṇa. (Translated into English by Tagare, G. V. in the Ancient Indian Tradition and Mythology Series, volumes 37–38.) Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1987–88.Google Scholar
Vishnu Purana. Third Edition. (Translated into English by Wilson, H.H..) Calcutta: Punthi Pustak, 1961 (First Edition, London, 1840; Second Edition, London, 1888).Google Scholar
Balbir, Nalini. 1990. “Stories from the Āvaśyaka commentaries”, in Phyllis, Granoff (ed.), The Clever Adulteress and Other Stories. Oakville: Mosaic Press, 17–74.Google Scholar
Basham, A.L. 1967. The Wonder that Was India. (Third Revised Edition.) London: Sidgwick & Jackson.Google Scholar
Bauer, Jerome H. 2005. “Hero of wonders, hero in ceeds: Vāsudeva Krishna in Jaina Cosmohistory”, in Beck, G.L. (ed.), Alternative Krishnas: Regional and Vernacular Variations on a Hindu Deity. Albany: State University of New York Press, 151–76.Google Scholar
Bruhn, Klaus. 1961. “Introduction”, in Bhojak, Pt. A.M. (ed.), Caüppaṇṇamahāpurisacariyam by Ācārya Śrī Śīlāṅka. Ahmedabad: Prakrit Text Society, 1–31.Google Scholar
Bruhn, Klaus. 1969. The Jina-Images of Deogarh. Leiden: E.J. Brill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruhn, Klaus. 1983. “Repetition in Jaina narrative literature”, Indologica Taurinensia 11, 27–75.Google Scholar
Bryant, Edwin F. 2003. Krishna: The Beautiful Legend of God. New York: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Cort, John. 1993. “Overview of the Jaina Purāṇas”, in Wendy, Doniger (ed.), Purāṇa Perennis. Albany: State University of New York Press, 185–206.Google Scholar
Dundas, Paul. 1992. The Jains. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Geen, Jonathan. 2006. “Jaina origins for the Mahābhārata story of Draupadī's past life”, Asiatische Studien 60/3, 575–606.Google Scholar
Geen, Jonathan. 2008, forthcoming. “The rescue of Draupadī: a few remarks upon Kṣṇa and the Pāṇḍavas in the Jaina tradition”, South Asian Studies.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glasenapp, Helmuth von. 1999. Jainism: An Indian Religion of Salvation. (Translated from the original German [1925] by Shrotri, Shridhar B..) Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.Google Scholar
Goldman, Robert P. 1985. “Karma, guilt, and buried memories: public fantasy and private reality in traditional India”, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 105/3, 413–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jaini, Padmanabh S. 1977. “Jina ṣabha as an Avatāra of Viṣṇu”, BSOAS 40, 321–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jaini, Padmanabh S. 1993. “Jaina Purāṇas: a purāṇic counter tradition”, in Wendy, Doniger (ed.), Purāṇa Perennis. Albany: State University of New York Press, 207–49.Google Scholar
Jha, Shaktidhar. 1978. Aspects of Brahmanical Influence on the Jaina Mythology. Delhi: Bharat Bharati Bhandar.Google Scholar
Kirfel, W. 1959. Symbolik Des Hinduismus und des Jinismus, Volume 4. Stuttgart: Anton Hiersemann.Google Scholar
Kulkarni, V.M. 1990. The Story of Rāma in Jain Literature. Ahmedabad: Saraswati Pustak Bhandar.Google Scholar
O'Flaherty, Wendy Doniger. 1976. The Origins of Evil in Hindu Mythology. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Preciado-Solis, Benjamin. 1984. The K ṣṇa Cycle in the Purāṇas: Themes and Motifs in a Heroic Saga. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.Google Scholar
Schubring, Walther. 2000. The Doctrine of the Jainas, Described after the Old Sources. Second Revised Edition. (Translated from the revised German edition by Wolfgang, Beurlen). Lala Sundarlal Jain Research Series Volume XV. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.Google Scholar
Sharma, V.K. 2001. History of Jainism with Special Reference to Mathurā. New Delhi: D.K. Printworld.Google Scholar
Sumitra Bai, B.N. and Zydenbos, Robert J.. 1991. “The Jaina Mahābhārata”, in Arvind, Sharma (ed.), Essays on the Mahābhārata. New York: E.J. Brill, 251–73.Google Scholar
Upadhye, A.N. 1983. “Bhat-Kathākośa”, in Upadhye: Papers. Mysore: Prasārāṅga, University of Mysore, 1–107.Google Scholar
Winternitz, M. 1983. A History of Indian Literature, Vol. 2. (Translated from the Original German [1932] by Srinivasa Sarma, V..) Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.Google Scholar