Prabandha Kosha

Prabandha-Kosha (IAST: Prabandhakośa) is an Indian Sanskrit-language collection of prabandhas (legendary biographical narratives). It was compiled by the Jain scholar Rajashekhara Suri in 1349 CE.^[1] It describes the lives of 24 people, including 10 Jain scholars, 4 Sanskrit poets, 7 kings and 3 Jain householders.^[2] It is also known as Chaturvinshati Prabandha.^[3]

The content of the collection is based on the information that Rajashekhara obtained from his teacher Tilakasuri. He composed the work at Delhi, under the patronage of Madanasimha, whose father had been honoured by Shri Mahamad Shahi (probably Muhammad Tughluq).^[4]

Only the 7th prabandha in the collection (the one about Mallavadi-Suri) is written completely in verse form; the rest of the prabandhas use colloquial Sanskrit prose.^[3]

Content

The Prabandha-Kosha contains 24 prabandhas (anecdotes), with 4,300 shlokas (verses), on the following persons:^[4]

Suris (Jain scholars)

Hemachandra Suri

1. Bhadrabahu and Varaha
2. Aryanandila
3. Jivadeva-Suri
4. Aryakhapata Acharya
5. Padaliptacharya
6. Siddhasena-Suri and Vriddhavadi
7. Mallavadi-Suri
8. Haribhadra-Suri
9. Bappabhatti-Suri
10. Hemachandra-Suri

Poets

1. Harsha
2. Harihara
3. Amarachandra
4. Madanakirti

Kings

1. Satavahana
2. Vankachula
3. Vikramaditya
4. Nagarjuna
5. Udayana
6. Lakshmana-Sena (or Lakshana-Sena) Kumaradeva
7. Madanavarman

Jain householders / courtiers

1. Ratna-Shravaka
2. Abhada-Shravaka
3. Vastupala-Tejapala

References

Bibliography

• J. G. Bühler (1873). "On the Age of the Naishadha-Charita of Sriharsha". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bombay. Asiatic Society of Bombay. 10 (28): 31. 
• Jayant P. Thaker, ed. (1970). Laghu-Prabandha-Saṅgraha. Oriental Institute. OCLC 20655908. 
• Phyllis Granoff, ed. (1993). The Clever Adulteress and Other Stories: A Treasury of Jaina Literature. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-1150-8. 
• Vishnulok Bihari Srivastava (2009). Dictionary of Indology. Pustak Mahal. ISBN 9788122310849.