A History of Sanskrit Literature c18.s5.7

c18.s5.7

A second Jain revision was undertaken to please a minister Soma by a monk Pūrṇabhadra in 1199.¹ The work is marked by the appearance of twenty-one new stories, including a famous one of the gratitude of animals and the ingratitude of man (i. 9), while from the *Mahābhārata* hints are taken for the story of the pious pigeon and the hunter (iii. 8). Pūrṇabhadra's version appears to rest in part on our *Tantrākhyāyika*, in part on the prototype of the Simplicior rather than on that text, and in part on some other unknown version. In this connexion it may be noted that the Jains evidently took to study of the Nītiçāstra as they became important at courts; the Āvaçyaka legends, perhaps of the seventh century, have parallels to *Pañcatantra* tales, perhaps derived from one of the older forms of that text. Some of Pūrṇabhadra's matter may have arisen in Jain circles, though his work has no special Jain touches. Its language is marred by Gujarātī and Prākrit intrusions. But, like the author of the Simplicior, he is by no means a bad writer. In his case the title appears as *Pañcākhyānaka*, a name also applied sometimes to the Simplicior. From the two Jain versions are derived various contaminations; one of these, the *Pañcākhyānoddhāra* of Meghavijaya (1659–60), is noteworthy, as it contains many fables of special interest to the investigators of connexions with the west.