Prabandha

Definition

The prabandhas are semi-historical anecdotes about famous persons. The Prabandha Kosha of Rajashekhara Suri mentions two types of biographical narratives: charitas and prabandhas. It states that the charitas are the life-stories of tirthankaras, kings and religious leaders up to Aryarakshita-Suri (who died in 30 CE). The biographies of persons after Aryarakshita-Suri are called prabandhas. 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 prabandhas make heavy use 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 prabandhas 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 Shvetambara 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 prabandhas.

Prabandha Chintamani of Merutunga, 1305 CE

It contains 135 prabandhas categorized under 11 topics and 5 prakashas (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 kalpas or chapters covering biographies (that is, prabandhas).

Prabandha Kosha of Rajashekhara Suri, 1349 CE

Also known as Chaturvinshati Prabandha, it contains 24 prabandhas. The personalities covered include 10 Suris (Jain teachers), 7 kings, 4 poets, and 3 Jain laymen.

Puratana-Prabandha-Samgraha by anonymous writers, before 15th century

Also known as Prabandha-Chintamani-Samvada-Puratana-Sangraha, it contains 63 prabandhas, 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 prabandhas 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 prabandhas, which are brief accounts of Jain monks and laymen