The interplay of courtly literary canon and Buddhist ideology in Sanskrit Jātakamālā collections (examining battle scenes)

Abstract

The research aimed to resolve the question of the influence of the courtly canon on the poetics of Buddhist narrative collections, specifically focusing on battle scenes in the Sanskrit Jātakamālās by Ārya Śūra (3rd-4th centuries CE) and Haribhaṭṭa (4th-5th centuries CE). The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that, for the first time, the place of the Jātakamālā as a type of narrative collection influenced by courtly poetics is clarified within the genre system of Sanskrit literature (previously, Jātakamālās were not considered a distinct genre). While its ‘high’ genres (epic poetry, drama) and, to some extent, urban narrative collections in general have been well-studied – despite the heterogeneity of their components – this article focuses on a type of narrative collection (the Jātakamālā) that, although previously not recognized as a separate genre, clearly functions as one. The results demonstrate that the authors of the Jātakamālās adopted the style of high courtly literature to imbue their collections with a status, if not equal to, then at least approaching that of the courtly epic poem (mahākāvya). A distinct challenge for them was the reconciliation of Buddhist and courtly ethico-aesthetic ideals within a single text; however, even when these ideals appeared contradictory, the Buddhist authors successfully synthesized them.

Research materials

1. Āryaśūra. Jātaka-mālā / ed. P. L. Vaidya. Darbhanga: The Mithila Institute, 1959.
2. Aśvaghoṣa. The Buddhacarita or Acts of the Buddha / complete Sanskrit text with English translation by E. H. Johnston. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1972.
3. Aśvaghoṣa. The Saundarananda or Nanda the Fair / transl. and notes by E. H. Johnston. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1932.
4. Арья Шура. Гирлянда джатак, или Сказания о подвигах Бодхисаттвы. Изд-е 2-е, доп. / пер. с санскрита А. П. Баранникова и О. Ф. Волковой; предисл. и прим. О. Ф. Волковой. М.: Издательская фирма «Восточная литература» РАН, 2000.
5. Восточная поэтика: Тексты. Исследования. Комментарии. М.: Издательская фирма «Восточная литература» РАН, 1996.
6. Дандин. Зеркало поэзии // Восточная поэтика: Тексты. Исследования. Комментарии. М.: Издательская фирма «Восточная литература» РАН, 1996.
7. Калидаса. Род Рагху (Рагхуванша) / пер. с санскр., введ. и прим. В. Г. Эрмана. СПб.: Центр «Петербургское Востоковедение», 1996.
8. Haribhaṭṭa's Jātakamālā, critically edited from the manuscripts with the help of earlier work by Michael Hahn / ed. M. Straube. Pune: Department of Pali, Savitribai Phule Pune University, 2019.

References

1. Алиханова Ю. М. Литература и театр древней Индии. М.: Восточная литература, 2008.
2. Гринцер П. А. «Кадамбари» Баны и поэтика санскритского романа // Бана. Кадамбари. М.: Ладомир, 1995.
3. Гурия А. Г. Структура повествовательного текста в древней махакавье. Saarbrucken: LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing, 2016.
4. Гурия А. Г., Фивейская А. В. Гетерогенность сюжетных мотивов в Джатаке о павлине Харибхатты (IV-V вв. н. э.) // Вестник Пятигорского государственного университета. 2023. № 1.
5. Гурия А. Г., Фивейская А. В. Образы царя и подвижника в литературной санскритской джатаке // Вестник Московского университета. Серия 13. Востоковедение. 2022. № 1.
6. Русанов М. А. Поэтика средневековой махакавьи. М.: Orientalia, 2002.
7. Шомахмадов С. Х. Защитные формулы-паритты в буддийских текстах палийского канона // Ориенталистика. 2022. № 5 (2). https://doi.org/10.31696/2618-7043-2022-5-2-265-281
8. Appleton N. Jātaka Stories in Theravāda Buddhism: Narrating the Bodhisatta path. L.: Ashgate Publishing, 2010.
9. Basu R. Eine Literatur-Kritische Studie zu Aryasuras Jatakamala, zusammen mit einer kritischen edition der anonymen Jatakamalatika und einer kritischen edition der Jatakamalapanjika des Viryasimha. Bonn, 1989.
10. Bronner Y. A Lasting Vision: Dandin’s Mirror in the World of Asian Letters. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023.
11. Cox W. India as Theory: Allusion, Poetics, Storytelling, and Translation // History of Humanities. 2024. Vol. 9. № 1. https://doi.org/10.1086/729080
12. Divine Stories: Divyāvadana / transl. from Sanskrit by A. Rotman. Boston: Wisdom Publications, Inc., 2008. Part 1.
13. Gerow E. A Glossary of Indian Figures of Speech. The Hague – P.: Mouton, 1971.
14. Hahn M. Haribhaṭṭa and Gopadatta // Studia philologica Buddhica. Occasional paper series. Tokyo: The international institute for Buddhist studies, 1992.
15. Hahn M. Notes on Buddhist Sanskrit Literature. Chronology and related topics // Studies in Original Buddhism and Mahāyāna Buddhism. In Commemoration of late Professor Dr. Fumimaro Watanabe / ed. by E. Mayeda. Kyoto: Nagata Bunshodo, 1993.
16. Hahn M. The Buddhist contribution to the Indian belles lettres // Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hung. 2010. Vol. 63 (4).
17. Warder A. K. Indian Kāvya Literature. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1990. Vol. 2. The Origins and Formation of Classical Kāvya.

Author information

About this article

Publication history

• Received: December 26, 2025.
• Published: February 26, 2026.

Keywords

• Арья Шура
• Харибхатта
• санскритская эпическая поэма
• придворная литература
• гирлянда джатак
• Ārya Śūra
• Haribhaṭṭa
• Sanskrit epic poem
• courtly literature
• Jātakamālā

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)
© 2026 Gramota Publishing, LLC

User license

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)