Prabandha

Prabandha is a literary genre of medieval Indian Sanskrit literature. The ''prabandha''s contain semi-historical anecdotes about the lives of famous persons. They were written primarily by Jain scholars of western India (Gujarat and Malwa) from 13th century onwards. The ''prabandha''s feature colloquial Sanskrit with vernacular expressions, and contain elements of folklore.

Definition

The ''prabandha''s are semi-historical anecdotes about famous persons. The '' Prabandha Kosha'' of Rajashekhara Suri mentions two types of biographical narratives: ''charita''s and ''prabandha''s. It states that the ''charita''s are the life-stories of tirthankaras, kings and religious leaders up to Aryarakshita-Suri (who died in 30 CE). The biographies of persons born after Aryarakshita-Suri are called ''prabandha''s. It is not clear if this is Rajashekhara's own definition or if it is based on some other authority. However, several later texts do not abide by this definition. For example, there are texts titled '' Kumarapala-Charita'', '' Vastupala-Charita'' and '' Jagadu-Charita'' about people who flourished after the end of the 1st millennium CE.

Prabandhas were written primarily by Jain scholars from 13th century onwards. The authors were based in western India, and wrote primarily in colloquial Sanskrit (as opposed to Classical Sanskrit). The ''prabandha''s make heavy use of vernacular (that is, non-Sanskrit) expressions, and often appear close to the folk tradition.

Example texts

''Trishashti-Shalaka-Purusha-Charitra'' by the 12th century Jain scholar Hemachandra contains legendary narratives about 63 persons. However, the earliest collection explicitly titled ''Prabandha-'' is Jinabhadra's ''Prabandhavali'' (1234 CE).

Some of the notable ''Prabandha'' collections include:

; ''Prabandhavali'' by Jinabhadra, 1234 CE
: It contains 40 ''prabandha''s about historic personalities (most of them from western India), including '' Prithviraja Prabandha''. It was composed at the request of Vastupala's son Jaitrasimha.
: It is not available in complete form, but:
:* Some of its contents have been included in Jinavijaya's 20th century collection ''Puratana Prabandha Samgraha''
:* ''Valabhi-Bhanga'' ''prabandha'' in Merutunga's '' Prabandha-Chintamani'' is also copied from ''Prabandhavali''.
:* The ''Padaliptacharya Prabandha'' and ''Ratna-Shravaka-Prabandha'' in Rajashekhara's ''Prabandha-Kosha'' are taken from ''Prabandhavali''

; '' Prabhavaka Charita'' by Prabhachandra, 1277 CE
: It covers 22 Śvetāmbara Jain monks from Vajrasvamin to Hemachandra, as a continuation of Hemachandra's ''Parishishtaparvan'' (or ''Sthaviravali-Charita''). It also includes anecdotes about historical kings and poets.

; '' Laghu-Prabandha-Sangraha'' by anonymous, 13th century
: It was compiled by a Gujarat-based poet between 1243 CE and 1409 CE. It contains 10 small ''prabandha''s.

; '' Prabandha-Chintamani'' of Merutunga, 1305 CE
: It contains 135 ''prabandha''s categorized under 11 topics and 5 ''prakasha''s (sections). It is an important source of history of early medieval Gujarat.

; '' Vividha-Tirtha-Kalpa'' or ''Kalpa-Pradipa'' by Jinaprabha, 1333 CE
: 44 of its 63 chapters describes the Jain pilgrimage centres, but it also includes 7 ''kalpa''s or chapters covering biographies (that is, ''prabandha''s).

; '' Nabhi-nandana-jinoddhara-prabandha'' by Kakkasūri of the Upakeśa Gaccha, 1336 CE.
: Records the renovation of the Rishabhanatha Jain temple in Shatrunjaya, and provides a history of the author's spiritual lineage (Upakesha- gaccha)

; '' Prabandha Kosha'' of Rajashekhara Suri, 1349 CE
: Also known as ''Chaturvinshati Prabandha'', it contains 24 ''prabandha''s. The personalities covered include 10 Suris (Jain teachers), 7 kings, 4 poets, and 3 Jain laymen.

; '' Puratana-Prabandha-Samgraha'' by multiple writers, before 15th century
: Also known as ''Prabandha-Chintamani-Samvada-Puratana-Sangraha'', it contains 63 ''prabandha''s, some borrowed from the earlier ''prabandha'' collections. In 20th century, Muni Jinavijaya found its manuscript (titled ''Prabandha-Sangraha'') at Patan, and published it under the name ''Puratana-Prabandha-Sangraha''.

; ''Kumarapala-Prabandha'' by Jinamandana, 1435 CE
: Contains 9 ''prabandha''s about Kumarapala, and also provides information about his predecessors and ancestors.

; ''Bhoja-Prabandha'' by Ballala (or Vallalasena), 16th century
: This is a collection of stories about king Bhoja, which are historically unreliable, but provide entertainment value. It anachronistically places non-contemporary poets such as Kalidasa, Bana, Mayura, Bhavabhuti and Magha as Bhoja's contemporaries.
: Verses of other poets such as Kalidasa, Subandhu and Magha appear in this collection. It also includes some content from ''Panchatantra''.
: It is not to be confused with 5 other works titled ''Bhoja-Prabandha'' (by Merutunga, Rajavallabha, Vatsaraja, Shubhashila and Padmagupta).

; ''Panchashati-Prabandha-Sambandha'' by Shubhashila Gani, 1464 CE
: Contains 625 ''prabandha''s, which are brief accounts of Jain monks and laymen

References

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Sanskrit literature