Browsing: Jasahara-cariu (Beta 1471)

A large peacock perches on a woman lying on an ornate couch, its beak touching her face. The richly dressed woman raises her hand, pressing it against the bird's breast. Lying next to her is a blue-skinned male figure, with staring eyes and animal-like teeth. At the foot of the bed a peacock turns away from the couple. The domes and towers at the top of the panel indicate that the scene is set indoors.

This picture shows a peacock attacking Queen Amṛtamati while she lies with her lover, the hunchbacked elephant-keeper.

The peacock is the first rebirth of King Yaśodhara, murdered by his faithless wife, Amṛtamati. In the palace of King Yaśomati – his son – the peacock leads a happy life, roaming around freely. Once it goes to the top of the palace, where it discovers a scene that reminds it of a bad memory from its earlier life as Yaśodhara. On the terrace of the palace, the peacock finds Amṛtamati enjoying amorous pleasures with her paramour. He is shown as a repulsive man, with dark complexion and protruding teeth.

King Yaśodhara had stopped himself from committing violence when he first discovered the lovers, despite his rage and hurt. However, as a peacock, he cannot control himself. Full of anger, the bird attacks the lady, striking her with its nails and beak.

The peacock is shown a second time at the foot of the bed. Here it is going out of the room, after one of its legs has been injured by the angry couple.

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 41, which is the folio number.

Script

The script used for the main text is the Jaina Devanāgarī script. It is used for writing numerous Indian languages, here Apabhraṃśa Prakrit.

As punishment for the violence of having sacrificed a cock made of flour to the Goddess Caṇḍamāri, King Yaśodhara and his mother Candramatī have to suffer many rebirths where they will meet and remain connected. In the first set of parallel rebirths, Yaśodhara is reborn as a peacock and Candramatī as a dog.

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:

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.

Common Era

The period of time starting with the year when Jesus Christ was traditionally believed to have been born. Using CE is a more secular way of dating events in a multinational, multi-religious world.

Digambara

'Sky-clad' in Sanskrit, used for one of the two main divisions of Jainism, in which monks are naked. There are some differences of doctrine or belief between these two sects and to some extent their followers consider themselves as belonging to distinct branches. Divisions can be fierce in practical matters, for example, over the ownership of pilgrimage places, but all sects see themselves as Jains.

Hiṃsā

Violence, the fact of harming in any way.

Jain

Follower of the 24 Jinas or an adjective describing Jain teachings or practices. The term 'Jaina' is also used although 'Jain' is more common.

Kathā

Story, narrative literature.

Saṃsāra

Cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth caused by karma binding to the soul as a result of activities. Only by destroying all karma can this perpetual cycle finish in mokṣa – liberation. The karma gained in life affects the next life, and even future lives, for example:

• in which of the three worlds the life is lived out
• which of four conditions – gati – the body takes, namely human, divine, hellish or as a plant or animal.

Apabhraṃśa

Apabhraṃśa is an umbrella term for the dialects that were the forerunners of modern Indian languages. Taken from the Sanskrit term apabhraṃśa, which literally means 'corrupt' or 'non-grammatical language', Apabhraṃśa was used to write a large number of Jain texts. Though Apabhraṃśa developed over the 6th to 13th centuries, literary works date back to the 8th century.

Jaina Devanāgarī

The distinctive version of the Devanāgarī script found in Jain manuscripts.

Folio

A single sheet of paper or parchment with a front and a back side. Manuscripts and books are written or printed on both sides of sheets of paper. A manuscript page is one side of a sheet of paper, parchment or other material. The recto page is the top side of a sheet of paper and the verso is the underside.