A dark-skinned figure in a strange pink costume and matching hat sits on a lion-footed throne under a royal canopy. His dark complexion indicates he is considered of low birth or equal to an 'outcaste'. He holds a stick and raises his other hand. Below him a richly dressed man gestures to smaller figures kneeling on the ground. The curving white and blue bands and the white flowers of the background signal that the scene is set outside.
The Śaiva ascetic Bhairava tells King Māridatta that he is a devotee of the Goddess Caṇḍamāri, whose worshippers sacrifice living creatures to her. When Bhairava says he can grant Māridatta the ability to fly, the king asks what he must do to gain this power. The reply is: 'Bring pairs of various living beings – pairs of animals and birds and one pair of human beings with all favourable characteristics', such as beauty and youth.
The picture shows Bhairava with the trappings of high status. His hand gesture indicates that he is giving orders to King Māridatta, who is kneeling on the ground. The king has agreed to obey the ascetic Bhairava in return for being granted magical powers. He gestures in turn towards two men, probably his officials. They are kneeling down in respect with folded hands, ready to obey. Their smaller size also indicates their subordinate position. One of them is probably Caṇḍakarma, who is named later in the story.
The long protruding eye is a typical feature of western Indian painting. Its origin is unclear.
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 script used for the main text is the Jaina Devanāgarī script. It is used for writing numerous Indian languages, here Apabhraṃśa Prakrit.
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:
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 |
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1 |
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2 |
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3 |
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4 |
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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.
Wellcome Trust Library. Beta 1471. Raïdhū. Perhaps 15th century
Wellcome Trust Library. Beta 1471. Raïdhū. Perhaps 15th century