Līlāvatīsāra (epitome of Līlāvatī) is a poem composed by
Jinaratna. Jina Ratna belonged to
Khartara Gachchha of the
Svetambara sect of
Jainism
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...
. It tells the stories of the lives of a group of souls as they pass through a series of embodiments on their way to final liberation from the continual cycle of death and rebirth. The purpose of these stories, which are related to Queen Līlāvatī and her husband King Sinha by the teacher-monk Samarasena (Samara-sena), is to promote the ethic of
Jainism
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...
, which holds that strict adherence to a nonviolent way of life is the key to liberation from the troubles of the world. In the end, Queen Līlāvatī, King Sinha and the other leading characters attain perfect knowledge and liberation.
As its title suggests, ''The Epitome of Līlāvatī'' is an epitome of a much larger work,
Nivvāṇa-līlāvaī-kahā ''The Story of the Final Emancipation of Līlāvatī'', composed in 1036 by
Jineshvara, also a
Jain
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...
monk.
Jinaratna wrote his epitome at the request of those who wished to concentrate on its narrative.
The primary purpose of
Jain narrative literature was to edify lay people through amusement; consequently the stories are racy, and in some cases the moralising element is rather tenuous. The main feature of
Jain narrative literature is its concern with past and future lives. There developed a genre of soul biography, the histories, over a succession of rebirths, of a group of characters who exemplified the vices of anger, pride, deceit, greed and delusion.
Critical edition of Līlāvatīsāra
''Jinaratna's Līlāvaī-Sāra: A Sanskrit Abridgement of Jineśvara Sūri's Prakrit Līlāvaī-Kahā'' edited by H.C. Bhayani, Ahmedabad, 1983
L.D. Institute of Indology96.
English translations
The
Clay Sanskrit Library
The Clay Sanskrit Library is a series of books published by New York University Press and the JJC Foundation. Each work features the text in its original language (transliterated Sanskrit) on the left-hand page, with its English translation on the ...
has published a translation of ''Līlāvatīsāra'' by R.C.C. Fynes under the title of ''The Epitome of Queen Lilávati'' (2005, second volume 2006).
References
*
See also
*
Nivvāṇalīlāvaīkahā
*
Jinaratna
{{DEFAULTSORT:Epitome Of Lilavati
Sanskrit literature
Jain texts