Tale Of Elephant Driver In Avashyaka Version

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The article by Adelheid Mette discusses the "Tale of the Elephant Driver" (mintha-kathā), tracing its origins and evolution within Jain literature.

Hemachandra's Version:

• The tale is best known from Hemachandra's Pariśiṣṭaparvan (composed between 1159-1173 AD) in Sanskrit slokas.
• Scholars like Jacobi, Hertel, and Meyer had previously studied this version and believed Hemachandra was the first to compile its motifs from various sources.

The Avashyaka Version – The True Ancient Source:

• Discovery of Older Versions: The article highlights the discovery of older versions that predate Hemachandra's compilation.
  • In 1962, Nemicandra's Ākhyānakamaṇikōśa, with a commentary by Amradeva (composed around 1135 AD), was published. This contained parts I-V of the story in Prakrit āryā stanzas, written at least 25 years before Hemachandra's work.
  • However, the most significant discovery was an even older version embedded within the Avashyaka commentary tradition (specifically, the cūrṇi and ṭīkā). This tradition presents the tale in its complete form (parts I-VI) and suggests a dating back to at least the 7th century AD, when the Avaiyaka-cūrṇi attained its literary form.

The Catchword "Mintha" and its Significance:

• The term "mintha" (elephant driver) is mentioned in verse 846 of the Avashyaka-niryukti. This work is centuries older than the cūrṇi.
• The catchword was used to explain the Jain doctrine of "akāma-nirjarā" (involuntary extinction of karma). The elephant driver, condemned to death, suffers from thirst. A Jain believer promises him water if he invokes the Arhats. He dies while doing so, thus achieving akāma-nirjarā. This indicates the story, or at least its core elements, was known to the compiler of the niryukti.

Dating and Literary Analysis:

• Dating the Avashyaka Version: The article argues that the Avashyaka version, particularly its use of various meters and older linguistic features, points to its considerable age.
  • Meter Variety: The presence of different meters (āryā, śloka, prthvī, vaitaliya, tristubh) suggests a "contamination" from various sources, but some verses exhibit significant antiquity.
  • Older Āryā Meter: Verse 5, from part II of the story (the ordeal), is in an older form of the āryā meter. This meter was rare outside of early Jain and Buddhist texts and was forgotten later. Its preservation in the cūrṇi is remarkable, especially since the ṭīkā version makes the stanza unrecognizable.
  • Falsified Ordeal Motif: The content of verse 5, describing a woman deceiving a yakṣa (a type of demon) through a clever oath during an ordeal, suggests this part of the tale could date back to the 3rd century BC. This would make it older than the Greek romance of Leucippe and Clitophon, previously considered the earliest example of this motif.
  • Vaitaliya Meter: Part III, featuring the king's discovery of the queen's infidelity, uses the vaitaliya meter. This meter also disappeared after early Buddhist and Jain literature, further supporting the antiquity of this section.
  • Pali Jātaka Parallels: Several verses (8-11) in the Avashyaka version have close parallels with verses in the Pali Jātaka no. 374. This points to a common, ancient source outside both religious traditions. However, the relationship is complex, with differences in meter and wording.
  • Apabhraṃśa Influence: Verse 9 shows an Apabhraṃśa form, indicating a more recent poetic layer compared to verses 5 and 7.
  • Sanskrit Quotations: Verses 3, 4, and 6 are identified as Sanskrit quotations from other literary traditions, such as Kāmaśāstra literature and Cāṇakya-niti.

Key Themes and Motifs:

• Love and Deception: The story begins with a young man falling in love with a married woman.
• Ordeals and Cleverness: The woman undergoes a trial involving a yakṣa, where she skillfully deceives him to prove her innocence.
• Royal Intrigue and Infidelity: A father-in-law, unable to sleep due to grief, guards the king's harem and witnesses a queen's affair with an elephant driver.
• Skill and Exile: The elephant driver's extraordinary skill with an elephant saves him and the queen from execution, leading to their exile.
• Betrayal and Consequences: The queen abandons the elephant driver for a robber, who then abandons her. The elephant driver is mistakenly identified as the robber and executed.
• Rebirth as a God: After his death, the elephant driver is reborn as a vyantara god.
• Moral Lesson: The vyantara god teaches his former lover a lesson about greed and misbehavior by magically creating a jackal that loses its prey, illustrating the importance of the Jain path.

Overall Argument: Adelheid Mette's article strongly advocates for the Avashyaka tradition as the oldest and most comprehensive source for the "Tale of the Elephant Driver." The analysis of its metrical features, linguistic elements, and thematic parallels with other ancient texts, particularly the Pali Jātakas, firmly establishes its significant antiquity, predating Hemachandra's widely recognized version and even some previously assumed earliest occurrences of certain motifs in Indian literature. The author also suggests the tale's religious purpose and calls for a well-edited version of the Avashyaka text.