Contributed by Nalini Balbir
It would be irrelevant and almost impossible to give an exhaustive list of all versions of the story of Śālibhadra. The table includes a representative selection. More are mentioned in Shah 1983 (pages 22 to 37), coming to a total of 50. Of these, nine are in Sanskrit and 41 in Gujarati, with several of them undated.
Author |
Title |
Details |
Date and language |
Key concept |
Publication reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
unknown |
Maraṇa-samāhi |
stanzas 444 to 447 |
|
fasting to death |
|
unknown |
Āvaśyaka-niryukti |
initial episodes in the story of Kr̥tapuṇya |
|
giving alms to monks |
Balbir 1990: 26–28 |
Jinadāsa |
Āvaśyaka-cūrṇi |
initial episodes in the story of Kr̥tapuṇya |
|
giving alms to monks |
Balbir 1990: 26–28 |
Dharmadāsa |
Uvaesa-mālā |
verse 85 and commentaries |
|
giving up copious wealth |
|
Haribhadra |
Āvaśyaka-ṭīkā |
initial episodes in the story of Kr̥tapuṇya |
|
giving alms to monks |
Balbir 1990: 26–28 |
Jayasiṃha-sūri |
Dharmopadeśa-mālā-vivaraṇa |
story number 32 in the collection |
|
giving alms to monks |
|
Jineśvara-sūri |
Kathā-kośa-prakaraṇa |
|
|
|
|
Pradyumna-sūri |
Mūla-śuddhi-prakaraṇa |
story number 33 in the collection |
|
full story in the section on giving alms |
|
Malayagiri |
Āvaśyaka-vṛtti |
|
giving alms to monks |
Balbir 1990: 26–28 |
|
Nemicandra-sūri |
Ākhyānaka-maṇikośa |
story number 8 in the collection, and the commentary by Āmradeva-sūri |
|
full story in the section on giving alms with several dialogues |
|
Hemacandra |
Triṣaṣṭi-śalākā-puruṣa-carita |
within Mahāvīra’s biography, Book X, chapter 10 |
|
|
Johnson 1962: 254–262 |
Pūrṇabhadra of the Kharatara-gaccha assisted by Sarvadeva-sūri |
Dhanya-Śāli-caritra |
full independent story |
|
|
|
Dharmakumāra assisted by Pradyumna |
Śālibhadra Carita |
full independent story |
|
|
published in Yaśovijaya Granthamālā, Banaras, 1910; Bloomfield 1923 |
Padma |
Śālibhadra-kakka |
|
|
|
critical edition and German translation in Baumann 1975: 102–133 |
Rājatilaka |
Sālibhadra-rāsu |
|
|
|
Bhayani and Nahta 1975: 63–67 |
Sādhuhaṃsa |
Śālibhadra-rāsa |
|
|
|
|
Jinakīrti of the Tapā-gaccha |
Dhanya-Śāli-caritra or Dāna-kalpa-druma |
|
|
|
published by Devchand Lalchand Jain Pustak Fund, 1919 |
Dayāvardhana |
Dhanya-Śāli-caritra |
|
|
|
published in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, 1914 |
Jayānanda-sūri |
Dhanya-carita |
|
|
|
|
Matiśekhara |
Dhannā-rāsa |
|
|
|
|
Vinayasāgara-gaṇi |
Śālibhadra-caritra |
|
|
|
|
Guṇavinaya Upādhyāya of the Kharatara-gaccha |
Dhannā-Śālibhadra copāi |
|
|
|
Shah 1983 |
Matisāra (Bender 1992) or, unlikely, Jinarāja-sūri (Shah 1983: 28) |
Śālibhadra-rāsa |
|
|
|
Bender 1992 |
Jñānasāgara-gaṇi |
Dhanyakumāra-caritra |
independent story |
|
|
|
Most of the famous Sanskrit independent versions are ample verse compositions in several chapters. The story is often expanded by didactic breaks, consisting of either praises of charity or alms-giving to monks and other virtues, or by descriptions.
The numerous Gujarati narrative poems – called kakka, rāsa, copaī or caupaī and sajjhāya – dedicated to this story range from short compositions to highly developed ones (see Shah 1983: 24–37). The earliest one seems to date back to the 14th century and there is a peak in production in the 17th century. These works use the metres and musical modes characteristic of poems written in this language. The kakka form follows a special device while telling the story, unfolding the full alphabet, so that one couplet starts with the syllable ka, the next one with kā, the next with ga, then gā and so on. (Baumann 1975: 102–133). Though they are in Gujarati, these poems normally use either the Sanskrit or Gujarati forms of the names of the two main protagonists, as follows:
The version of the Story of Śālibhadra by Matisāra is known by the title Dhanna-Śālibhadra-carita or Dhanna-Śālibhadra-copaī. Composed in Old Gujarati, Matisāra's 17th-century verse version of the tale is well known among Śvetāmbara Jains. As is often the case with Gujarati narrative poems, information on the date of composition and author is found at the end of the work.
The story is divided into sections associated with musical modes – rāga – which is usual in Gujarati verse of this period. The tale includes all the episodes associated with the full story.
The personalities of the story's characters come through strongly in this spirited version, which has been published several times in India. A scholarly treatment in English appeared in 1992.
On JAINpedia, the story of Śālibhadra is found in a manuscript held in the British Library in London and is one of the highlights of JAINpedia.
The beginning and end of the text emphasise the concept of giving alms, while the story is divided into 29 sections called ḍhālas, each having approximately 35 to 40 stanzas. Each section is associated with a musical mode – rāga – in accordance with the rules of composition in Gujarati poetry. Each section ends with a stanza written in a metre different from the rest, a couplet known as dūhā.
Matisāra's version of the Śālibhadra tale opens with an initial homage to Mahāvīra and other Jinas, which is a fairly standard way of beginning a Jain work. Then the power of giving alms is praised:
Śālibhadra obtained happiness and prosperity through alms-giving. By relating his story one drives sins far away. Pay close attention to the tale of Dhanya which is combined with it
Translation by Bender 1992, page 303
The text covers all the episodes described in the plot outline above, summarised in the table.
Ḍhāla section |
Story |
---|---|
1 and 2 |
Initial alms-giving to a monk |
3 to 7 |
Rebirth as Śālibhadra |
8 |
Śālibhadra’s enlightenment:
|
9 to 17 |
Śālibhadra’s decision to turn to ascetic life:
|
17 to 21 |
Dhanya and Subhadrā |
22 to 25 |
Dhanya and Śālibhadra as monks |
26 |
Second alms-giving to monks |
27 to 29 |
Fasting unto death:
|
The story contains many monologues and dialogues and is told in a lively style. Although it includes a number of clichés, it is full of spontaneity in the way the various protagonists express their feelings or wishes. Outbursts of emotion are frequent in this version. Śālibhadra’s mother, Bhadrā, appears as a determined character who entirely runs her son’s life. Until he turns to monastic life, he seems a dominated and fragile child – although he is depicted as married to 32 wives. His brother-in-law is called by his Gujarati name, Dhannā, although Śālibhadra has the Sanskrit version of his name.
Matisāra's version is quite popular and has been published in India several times. It has also been the subject of a critical edition, English translation and grammatical analysis by the American scholar Ernest Bender (1919–1996), which was published in 1992 in the American Oriental Society Series.
British Library. Or. 13524. Matisāra. 1726