Devotion of a Jain minister: Discovering the complex identities of Vastupāla (13th century)

ABSTRACT

This article explores the multidimensional poetics of devotion in medieval accounts of the Jain minister Vastupāla, who emerges as a paradoxical figure and defies the other characters’ expectations. It argues that the portrayal of Vastupāla as a model devotee of the Jina is contingent upon his affinity to a Kṣatriya king and god incarnate, as in Jain ritual culture celestial kings and queens embody the paragon of devotion. This depiction of Vastupāla, a bureaucrat (niyogin) and merchant (vaṇik), ultimately re-inscribes the standard cultural paradigm in which heroism and divine status are solely the purview of a Kṣatriya king.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Aleksandra Restifo http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9341-0804

Notes

1. śāstrāmbhodhim atīvapīvaradhiyā nāveva yas tīrṇavān magnas tu prativāsaraṃ jitamadhau sādhau tadīye rase |

naṣṭaḥ pāpamalimlucāc ca kurute dharme guṇāropaṇaṃ tat kasyātra na vastupālasacivaś citrīyate cetasi || Karuṇāvajrāyudha 8.

2. Shulman (2012, 38) has shown that a dramatic work made a great impression on the audience in medieval India, which can be seen from the strong reaction of the characters to a play-within-a-play, where they are often portrayed as forgetting about the boundary between reality and performance. Thus, in the examples I consider here I take the characters’ reaction to represent, at least to a degree, the reaction of the audience.

3. Tejaḥpāla, Vastupāla's younger brother, is also portrayed as a warrior, but he does not merit as much of the authors’ attention. One episode that emphasizes Tejaḥpāla's martial valor recounts his battle with the vassal king (maṇḍalīka) Ghūghula. Tejaḥpāla volunteered to punish him for obstructing merchants’ trade. While Ghūghula was a powerful warrior and many soldiers ended up dead, with the divine help of the goddess Ambikā and yakṣa Kapardin Tejaḥpāla eventually seized the king alive (Prabandhakośa, pp. 107–8).

4. See, for instance, Baudhāyana Dharmasūtra 1.10.18.3.

5. For instance, see Śaṅkhaparābhava p. 82 (śaṅkharāja); Vastupālacarita 4.44 (śaṅkharāja), 4.64 (sindhusūnunarendra); Vasantavilāsa 5.31 (śaṅkhanṛpati).

6. For instance, see Hammīramadamardana p. 17 (maṇḍalesarasaṃgāmasīha / maṇḍaleśvarasaṅgrāmasiṃha and gujjaramahīhaṃḍamaṃḍalāhivaī / gūrjaramahīkhaṇḍamaṇḍalādhipati); Vastupālacarita 4.27 (maṇḍaleśvara).

7. Hammīramadamardana p. 5. Majumdar (1956, 154) conjectures that Lāṭa could have been divided between Śaṅkha and Sahajapāla, ‘who might have been Śaṅkha's uncle Siṃha, or his cousin, that is Siṃha's son.’

8. Śaṅkhaparābhava 49: deśo ‘yam pūrvajānām. See also Majumdar (1956, 153–4).

9. The depiction of Vastupāla as possessing conflicting identities is not unusual in Sanskrit literature. One can think of the Hindu god Śiva, who is often portrayed as both an ascetic and a lover, or the figure of Arjuna, who is presented as a warrior and an ascetic in Bhāravi's Kirātārjunīya; see Peterson (2003, ch.7). Peterson (2003, 128ff.) shows that Arjuna's defense of violence was grounded in the belief that actualizing his Kṣatriya dharma (svadharma) was more critical than ascetic values or even the ideal of liberation.

10. Perhaps the most well-known instance of class crossing is the sage Viśvāmitra, a Kṣatriya who spent thousands of years in penance to become a Brahmin sage. In his detailed study of Viśvāmitra, Sathaye (2015) argues that this example of class change demonstrates the impossibility of such a venture for ordinary people and does not encourage emulation.

11.  See Cort (2002a, 2002b) on the roots of bhakti in Jainism and on interpretations of devotional expression applicable to Jain ritual culture; and see Kelting (2001) on devotional songs performed by Jain laywomen in contemporary India.

12. For details on the life and career of Vastupāla and his younger brother Tejaḥpāla, see Sandesara (1953); Laughlin (2003a, 2003b); Kathavate (1961); Bühler (1961); Caturvijaya (1961); and Ray (1973, 1005ff). Vastupāla was also a poet under the pseudonym Vasantapāla. He penned a court epic titled the Naranārāyaṇānanda and several hymns of praise (stotras); see Sandesara (1953, 39ff). For a bibliography of texts that extol Vastupāla and tell his biography, see Sandesara (1953, 23–25).

13. On the dating of the Hammīramadamardana, see Leclère (2011, 158–9, note 13).

14. Vastupāla's intelligence as the key to victory is repeatedly praised in the play. See, for instance, Act III, p. 33, where King Vīradhavala states: ‘My tree of courage is nurtured by the nectar of his (i.e. Vastupāla's) intelligence’ (sikto ‘sya buddhisudhayā vibhavaty utsāhapādapo ‘yaṃ me |). The king then adds: ‘Equipped with the weapon that is the best minister's wisdom I have already conquered the entire world, and only the mlecchas (i.e. Hammīra) remain [to be conquered]’ (mayā sacivendramatimayāyudhena vyajīyata sakalam api mlecchakulāvaśiṣṭam etad viṣṭapam |). See also 1.14; Act I, p. 6; 2.10; 2.16; Act III, p. 27; 4.19–20.

15. For a discussion about the dating of the Mudrārākṣasa, see Dhruva (1923, vii–xii).

16. Act I, p. 4: asya mahāmātyamaulimāṇikyasya matisudhāsajjīvitacāṇakyasya.

17. Act I, p. 5. In this soliloquy, Vīradhavala also states that Vastupāla was enraged and preparing for a war with Śaṅkha (kruddhāvatā tena yuddhasannaddhena).

18. See Cort (2004) and Jaini (2000 [1985]).

19. On varṇa and caste in Jainism, see Jaini (1979, 74–76, 285–291); Glasenapp (1999, 352ff). An excerpt from the Mallikāmakaranda (‘Mallikā and Makaranda’), a play penned by the Jain monk and court poet Rāmacandra (1093–1174), is pertinent in this context. The merchant Makaranda speaks with the wizard (vidyādhara) Citrāṅgada and his assistant Kapiñjala and refutes the notion that only Kṣatriyas possess heroism (śauṇḍīrya) and true courage (sattva) (p. 41):

MAKARANDA

Who are you?

CITRĀṄGADA

(with anger) Ah blabbering merchant! You are asking me?! I am Citrāṅgada, prince of wizards.

MAKARANDA

(sarcastically) Then I am Makaranda, a supreme prince of wizards.

KAPIÑJALA

Ah lowly merchant! You’re equating yourself with the prince, an ornament of the kṣatriya dynasty, whose broad shoulders indicate his heroism.

MAKARANDA

Dog of a foot-soldier! You have no idea of what things are in reality!

Heroism has nothing to do with varṇa, it resides only in one's true courage (sattva),

And true courage may be found in a merchant and may not always be found in a Kṣatriya. (v. 22)

makarandaḥ

tvam api hi kaḥ |

citrāṅgada

(sakrodham) ate vācāṭakirāṭa | māṃ pṛcchasi | ahaṃ vidyādharakumāraś citrāṅgada |

makarandaḥ

(sākṣepam) ahaṃ tarhi vidyādharacakravartikumāro makarandaḥ |

kapiñjalaḥ

are vaṇikkīṭa | śauṇḍīryamedurāṃsasthalena kṣatravaṃśāvacūlena kumāreṇa saha spardhase |

makarandaḥ

are padātisārameya! anabhijño ‘si paramārthavartmanām | varṇānapekṣaṃ śauṇḍīryaṃ sattvamātre niṣīdati | sattvaṃ tu vaṇije ‘pi syān na syāt kṣatre ‘pi na ca kvacit || 22 (p. 41)

20. Tr. by Jacobi. Kalpasūtra 17: aṃtakulesu vā paṃtakulesu vā tucchakulesu vā dariddakulesu vā kiviṇakulesu vā bhikkhāgakulesu vā māhaṇakulesu vā.

21. The Jain rejection of a Brahmin birth may be also a reaction to Buddhists who allow a Buddha to be born either to a Kṣatriya or a Brahmin; see, for instance, Krishan (1998, 49).

22. Cort (2004, 101). Cort (2004, 101) also notes that Brahmins are said to have been created not by the first Tīrthaṅkara Ṛṣabha, like the other three varṇas, but later by his son Bharata. For a discussion of the inferior position of Brahmins in the Jain social hierarchy, see Jaini (2000 [1985]).

23. For a recent study of the Digambara siddhacakra worship that involves devotees’ transformation into gods and goddesses during āratī (lamp-offering), see Gough (2015).

24. yasya khaḍgalatayā hatam ājau hanta vajram api bhaṅgam upaiti |

tasya śaṅkhanṛpateḥ purataḥ kaḥ sthāsyatīti hṛdi cintaya mantrin || Vasantavilāsa 5.31

tat prayāhi sahasaiva hi yāvan naiṣi śaṅkhanayanādhvani saṅkhye |

naśyato ‘dya vaṇijas tava lajjābhājanaṃ bhuvi bhaviṣyati ko nu || Vasantavilāsa 5.32

Dalal (1917, vi) translates the second half of verse 5.32 in the following way: ‘Fly, therefore, before you come in his eye, as no one will be ashamed by the flight of a Bania.’

25. kṣatriyāḥ samarakelirahasyaṃ jānate na vaṇijo bhrama eṣaḥ |

ambaḍo vaṇig api pradhane kiṃ mallikārjunanṛpaṃ na jaghāna || Vasantavilāsa 5.43

dūta re vaṇig ahaṃ raṇahaṭṭe viśruto ‘situlayā kalayāmi |

maulibhāṇḍapaṭalāni ripūṇāṃ svargavetanam atho vitarāmi || Vasantavilāsa 5.44

26. Purātanaprabandhasaṅgraha 25.81, pp. 39–40. See also an abridged version in the Prabandhacintāmaṇi 137, pp. 81–2.

27. Purātanaprabandhasaṅgraha 25.81, p. 39: tathā vidheyaṃ yathā jālaṃ na patati tava deśe |

In the Indian imagination, natural disasters, poverty, and other calamities occur due to improper and non-dharmic conduct or governing of a king.

28. Purātanaprabandhasaṅgraha 25.81, p. 39: yadā rāsabhaḥ pracaṇḍas tadā turagena samaṃ katham upamīyate | tathā vaṇig nṛpaprasāde ‘pi kṣatriyapauruṣānvitaḥ syāt ||

29. Purātanaprabandhasaṅgraha 25.81, p. 39: agre ‘pi kaṭakaṃ hataprahataṃ kṛtam | śeṣam api tathā kariṣyati ||

30. Purātanaprabandhasaṅgraha 25.81, p. 39: bho śastraṃ kuru | ambaḍas tam aṅgāṅgena yuddhvā śiraḥ pātayet ||

31. ‘And Bhuvanapāla (Bhūṇapāla), born of the Gula gotra, a large-armed general, who had promised to kill Śaṅkha, bowed down to the minister and went into battle.’

atha śaṅkhavadhe kṛtapratijño gulagotraprabhavo bhaṭādhināthaḥ |

sacivaṃ praṇipatya bhūṇapālaḥ pracacāla pradhanāya bāhuśālī || Vasantavilāsa 5.96.

32. tad iti bhuvanapālodantam ākarṇya karṇajvarabharakaram antaḥkopasāṭopavaktraḥ |

saviṣayam api śaṅkhaṃ cūrṇatāṃ netum urvītaladhavalahetor vastupālaś cacāla || Vasantavilāsa 5.105

33. See the translation and analysis of Harihara's biography from the Prabandhakośa in Granoff (1995, 355ff).

34. niyogī tvaṃ vidvān asi na mama saṃrambhaviṣayas tato ‘haṃ mando ‘smi vraja nijam upādāya vibhavam |

samṛddhaṃ trāyantāṃ param aparavīrāḥ puram idaṃ samāyātu trātuṃ svayam atha sa vā vīradhavalaḥ || Śaṅkhaparābhava 15 (I am reading aparavīrāpuram as aparavīrāḥ puram.)

35. bhuyabaladaliyāe ajja de vāhiṇīe suhaḍaghaḍakaḍappummaddasaṃgammirāhiṃ | ruhiramasikibāṇīlehaṇīhiṃ lihaṃtī tuha samaraṇioe atthu vā vatthuvālo || Śaṅkhaparābhava 17

36. Śaṅkhaparābhava p. 81; I thank Phyllis Granoff for the translation of this idiomatic expression.

37. Taylor (2007, 173) shows that one's dharma (svadharma) is predicated on one's true nature (svabhāva) by citing the Bhagavadgīta: ‘Prowess, glory, steadfastness, ability, not fleeing even in battle, generosity and lordliness are the actions of a kṣatriya, which are born of his svabhāva.’ śauryaṃ tejo dhṛtir dākṣyaṃ yuddhe cāpy apalāyanam | dānam īśvarabhāvaś ca kṣatrakarma svabhāvajam || Mahābhārata 6.40.43

38. Śaṅkhaparābhava 60

39. aho kautukam | vibhindānā bhallair asibhir atha bāṇaiḥ pratibhaṭān puraḥ pratyāsannān vighaṭayati cāgre sarati ca | Śaṅkhaparābhava p. 77.

40. na jānāmy abhyastā samaraparipāṭī kuta iyam |

kuto vedaṃ dhairyaṃ kuta idam akhinnatvam athavā || Śaṅkhaparābhava 35

(vicintya) ahaha mantrīndreṇādya yāvat kva sacivapadavī vañcitaṃ viśvam etat kutreyaṃ samparāyācaraṇacaturatā sāhasaṃ kutra caitat | Śaṅkhaparābhava 36

41. Harihara's biography in the Prabandhakośa that is translated and studied by Granoff (1995) elaborates on the competitive relationship between Harihara and Someśvara at the Caulukya court.

42. ahiṃsāvratabhaṅgena kā syāt tasyātra vācyatā |

puruṣavratanirvāho yena tādṛk kṛtas tadā || Kīrtikaumudī 5.35

ahiṃsābhaṅgasambhūtāṃ mantrī mārṣṭuṃ manaḥkhidam |

cakre divyam iva snānaṃ sa śūraḥ śaravṛṣṭibhiḥ || Kīrtikaumudī 5.36

43. mantriṇā śaṅkhasya kathāpitam yat tvaṃ balavān asi, kṣatriyo ‘si, ahaṃ vaṇigmātraṃ | tata āvayor dvandvayuddham astu || Purātanaprabandhasaṅgraha p. 56

44. On the genre of Jain prabandha, see Granoff (1988, 1992, 1994a); Cort (1995); Vose (2013, esp. pp. 324ff). Granoff translated and studied many stories and biographies from the prabandhas; see, for instance, Granoff (1990, 1992, 1994b, 1995). On Jain plays, see Leclère (2013).

45. The malleable and complex relationships between kings, poets, and gods in the Indian context have been an important subject of scholarly thought; see Granoff (1994a, 1994b, 1995, 1998); Peterson (1992); Shulman (1985, 1992). For instance, Granoff (1995) translates and examines certain medieval biographies of poets in order to demonstrate that poets were often imagined as morally superior to their patrons and as possessing a considerable measure of freedom, despite their apparent financial dependence on the patron. Shulman (1992) discusses the explicit hostility of Tamil bhakti poets towards the practice of praising a king in order to secure patronage. He shows that the poets eventually resolve the tension between their loyalties to a king and a god by either seeing God through their royal patron or placing the king in the position of a humble devotee.

46. Additionally, Bālacandra's contemporaneous court poet Someśvara mentions Bilhaṇa in his Kīrtikaumudī (1.17); see McCrea (2010, 505, note 8); see also Sarkar (2014, 241).

47. ‘Not even one scholar on this earth would have known even the name of Rāma and other kings, if exceedingly wise poets did not compose their life-stories.’

nāmāpi rāmādimahīpatīnāṃ vijño ‘pi ko ‘jñāsyata bhūtale ‘smin |

asūtrayiṣyan kavayaś caritraṃ na ced amīṣām udayanmanīṣāḥ || Vasantavilāsa 1.7

Cf. Vikramāṅkadevacarita 1.26 cited in McCrea (2010, 506, note 9).

48. śīlena tuṣyanti mahīpatīnāṃ na bhūridānaiḥ kavayaḥ kadāpi | vālmīkimukhyaiḥ kimu kiñcid āttam āste mahīndo raghunandanasya || Vasantavilāsa 1.13

49. In the Sukṛtasaṅkīrtana of Arisiṃha, it is King Kumārapāla who appears to King Bhīma in a dream and commands him to appoint Lāvaṇyaprasāda as the master of all (sarveśvara) (3.23) and his son Vīradhavala as the heir (3.27). Vīradhavala, in his turn, demands that Bhīma hire a minister who is proficient in fighting in battle (pradhana), securing wealth (dhana), handling weapon (śastra), and the sciences (śāstras) (3.43). One can see that in the Sukṛtasaṅkīrtana, Vastupāla and Tejaḥpāla are also portrayed as extraordinary rulers in that they are learned counselors, economists, and adept warriors at once.

50. ‘But you are fully informed, wise man, that the most prosperous three eras have passed, and this is the Kali age, in which servants do not serve and masters do not have gratitude.’

vijñāpyase kintu viśeṣavijña yugatrayī dhanyatamā jagāma |

kalis tv asau yatra na sevakeṣu kṛtaṃ na nātheṣu kṛtajñatā ca || Vasantavilāsa 3.77

‘Today the eyes of kings are on wealth and servants follow suit, both of them commit crimes, and in the next life they fall into the raurava hell.’

bhūbhujo draviṇadṛṣtayo ‘dhunā sevakās tadanuvṛttivṛttayaḥ |

te’ pi te ‘pi kṛtaduṣkṛtodayā hi paratra nipatanti raurave || Vasantavilāsa 3.78

51. ‘If you seek justice, ward off avarice, stay away from slanderers, and spread peace, you are a good master and I will accept fully your command. Otherwise, I wish you the best.’

nyāyaṃ yadi spṛśasi lobham apākaroṣi karṇejapān apadhinoṣi śamaṃ tanoṣi |

susvāminas tava dhṛtaḥ śirasā nideśas tan nūnam eṣa mayakāparathāstu bhadram || Vasantavilāsa 3.80

52. Tr. by Olivelle.

bālo 'pi nāvamāntavyo manuṣya iti bhūmipaḥ |

mahatī devatā hy eṣā nararūpeṇa tiṣṭhati || Manusmṛti 7.8

See also verses 7.2–7.

53. For purāṇic examples, the mythological context of the deification of both sages and kings, and the consequent justification of violence, see Granoff (1984). See also Peterson (1992, 121ff).

54. viśvaṃ viśvambharābhāraṃ gatapāraṃ babhāra yaḥ | śrīmān aviṣvakseno ‘sau sadā kamaṭhatāṃ dadhat || Vasantavilāsa 4.31

55. dāśārhasya daśāpy evam avatārān ayaṃ spṛśan | idaṃ mrṣodyaṃ cakre yan na devacaritaṃ caret || Vasantavilāsa 4.40

56. tais tair vinā tatkalikāladoṣāt tatkīrtanaiḥ prāpi daśātidīnā |

tenādhunāhaṃ vasudhātale hā nirāśrayaḥ kiṃ karavāṇi vatsa || Vasantavilāsa 9.27 (I read daśābhidīnā as daśātidīnā.)

57. etā vaitālikānām avahitahṛdayas tūrṇam ākarṇya vācaḥ kāmaṃ karṇāmṛtāni draviṇavitaraṇopāttakarṇāvatāraḥ |

devaḥ śrīvastupālaś culukabhavaṇrpāmātyamālāmarālas talpaṃ vyāmohalīlājalanidhipulinākāram ujjhāñ cakāra || Vasantavilāsa 9.60

58. For more details and references on Vastupāla and Tejaḥpāla's ostensible and real building projects, see Sandesara (1953, 35ff); Laughlin (2003a, 2003b, 57–117).

59. Prabandhacintāmaṇi 225, p. 103: tvacaṃ karṇaḥ śibir māṃsaṃ jīvaṃ jīmūtavāhanaḥ | dadau dadhīcir asthīni … iti triṣu padeṣu paṇḍiteṣv adhīyamāneṣu paṇḍitajayadevaḥ samasyāpadam iva vastupālaḥ punar vasu || Note the alliteration in the last line: vastupālaḥ punar vasu. See also Tawney (1901, 163).

60. For the analysis of the Śibi tale that can be found in Buddhist jātakas, Mahābhārata 3.130–1, Hemacandra's Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra 5.4, Jinasena and Guṇabhadra's Mahāpurāṇa 63.42ff. and 63.241ff., Bālacandra's Karuṇāvajrāyudha, and other texts, see Appleton (2014, 96ff).

61. Dundas (1997) discusses the implications of the association between the practice of dāna (‘religious giving’) and the building of Jain temples for medieval Śvetāmbara Jainism.

62. Leclère (2013, 221) observes that it befits Vastupāla's lay status that his wife is named Good Rebirth (Sadgatī) and not Liberation (Siddhī).

63. jīrṇān uddharatā navān racayatā devālayāṃs tanvatā yenānūpanipānakūpasarasīsatraprapā bhūriśaḥ |

bhūpīṭhe paribhūya duryugakalām ullāsitaṃ manmahas tasmai samprati pāritoṣikaṃ ahaṃ dāsye sutāṃ sadgatīm || Vasantavilāsa 14.24