The caption in the upper margin says: mora vikṛyate – 'the peacock is sold'. Note that the language of this caption is meant to be Sanskrit, not Apabhraṃśa Prakrit like the text itself, but it is incorrect.
Two men dressed in frond-skirts and conical caps face each other while holding peacocks. Behind them stands a female who is dressed similarly but also has a frond-scarf and headdress. Her breasts are not covered because she is a tribal woman. All three wear large earrings but she wears bigger earrings. The couple raise their right hands. The curving white and blue bands along the top indicate that this scene is outside.
The painting shows a peacock being sold by one tribal man to a pair of other tribal people. They probably represent the village guards mentioned in the text.
This scene shows what happens after the tribal man has killed the peahen and taken the young peacock from the forest. His wife complains that they are too poor to feed another mouth. The tribal man sells the bird for one measure of grain to a village guard.
Although peacock flesh is considered edible, out of curiosity the guard decides not to eat the young bird. Instead, he takes it home and treats it as a pet. The bird enjoys life and everybody is charmed by its dance. Seeing its beauty and liveliness, the guard thinks that it would be a good idea to offer the bird to King Yaśomati, who is very fond of games and pastimes. He brings it to the palace, which is described in the text on folio 39 verso.
The tribal men who play a significant role in the story of Yaśodhara are always depicted in the same way in this manuscript. Their costume, which is rather crude, is made of tree-leaves while they wear large earrings and a kind of conical hat. They have a dark complexion. All these features are meant to underline their crudeness, closeness to nature and difference from 'cultivated' people.
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 |
---|---|
1 |
|
2 |
|
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