Mana Shah did her masters in Sanskrit and is currently Lecturer of Sanskrit at IIT Gandhinagar. Her research areas are Sanskrit pedagogy, manuscriptology and historical literature in Sanskrit, Prakrit and medieval Gujarati languages.
Abstract of the lecture
One Tale, Two Tongues, and the Sacred Jain Site of Śatruñjaya
The Jain tradition employed both mārga and deśī means for composing literature. The current lecture explores this practice with a case study of two texts that deal with the exact same plot, but in two different languages. They are Ambadevasūri’s Apabhraṃśa text Saṃghapati Samarāsiṃha Rāso (c. 1315 CE) and Kakkasūri’s Sanskrit text Nābhinandana-jinoddhāra-prabandha (c. 1336-37 CE). Both texts narrate the restoration of the sacred Jain pilgrimage site of Śatruñjaya after its destruction by the Khaljī army. The lecture discusses this plot as well as the language politics, major themes and impact of these two texts.
About this talk
Read this article on Medium which conveys the gist of this talk.
Readings
- Ghosh, Ranjan. 2007. “India, Itihasa, and Inter-Historiographical Discourse.” History and Theory 46 (2): 210–17.
- Majumdar, R. C. 1961. “Ideas of History in Sanskrit Literature.” In Historians of India, Pakistan and Ceylon, edited by C. H Philips, 13–27. London.