Peruṅkatai
Peruṅkatai, a Tamil epic whose title translates to "great story," is a significant work within Jain literature. It draws inspiration from two earlier Sanskrit texts: the Bṛhatkathā, attributed to the poet Guṇāḍhya, and the Utayana Kumara Kaviyam by Durvinta. The narrative primarily follows King Utayana of Kosambi, exploring his luxurious life filled with achievements and pleasures, before ultimately depicting his transformation into an ascetic as he seeks deeper meaning beyond worldly satisfaction. The poem, consisting of 16,000 lines, is crafted in the akaval meter, showcasing some artistic merit despite its general undervaluation by scholars due to perceived deficiencies in poetic quality. While it emphasizes Jain moral and philosophical principles, Peruṅkatai also features character development, indicating the poet's intent to create a nuanced narrative rather than simply promoting religious doctrine. Its combination of storytelling and ethical exploration offers readers insight into Jain values through the lens of Tamil literature.
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Peruṅkatai
Related civilization: India (Tamil).
Date: c. 900 c.e.
Locale: India
Authorship: Konguvelar from Vijayamankai in Kongumandalam
Peruṅkatai
Peruṅkatai (peh-REWN-kah-tahi) in Tamil literally means “great story.” This Jain epic is believed to be based on two Sanskrit works, the Bṛhatkathā (The Brhatkatha: A Reconstruction from Brhatkathaslokasamgraha, 1974) and Utayana Kumara Kaviyam (n.d.), which describe King Utayana of Kosambi city in Vattanatu. The Bṛhatkathā, ascribed to Guṇāḍhya, a poet of the Sātavāhana court, was originally written in Prākrit, and although that version was lost, fragments have been preserved in Sanskrit as Bṛhatkathā manjari (c. 1037 c.e.) and Bṛhatkathā saṃgraha (c. 1064-1081 c.e.; The Brhatkatha, 1974). The Utayana Kumara Kaviyam by Durvinta, a king of the Gaṅga dynasty in the first half of the seventh century c.e., extols the virtues of King Utayana. The Tamil epic loosely narrates the story of King Utayana and then his son, Naravanan. Utayana lives a perfect life, enjoying all the pleasures that his kingdom offers and achieving greatness in every walk of life only to become an ascetic in his later years, being satiated with life.
Celebrated only for a few beautiful passages, Peruṅkatai is not valued highly by scholars and critics because of its apparent lack of poetic or literary merit. However, although the poem extols the moral and philosophical tenets of Jainism, the poet resists the temptation to make the work a mere tool for propaganda but instead has attempted some characterization in the epic. The poem consists of 16,000 lines, is written in the akaval meter, with a four-foot line and a difference in rhyme, and in diction and meter displays some artistry.
Bibliography
Ramanujam, A. K. Poems of Love and War from the Eight Anthologies and the Ten Long Poems of Classical Tamil. New York: Columbia University Press, 1985.
Zvelebil, Kamil Veith. Tamil Literature. Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz, 1974.