Did poetical language and Buddhism co-create each other around the turn of the Common Era in South Asia? If so, how? And what are the implications for the beginnings of Indic literature and for the development of Buddhist, Vedic, Jain, and other literary and religious traditions of Asia? Our seminar hosts four research presentations on sources from early to early medieval South Asia, bringing them into conversation with each other through formal responses and general discussion. In this second session, Andrew Ollett and Aleksandra Restifo respectively examine the cultivation of kāvya by Buddhist poets in the first three centuries of the common era, and how Jains envisioned aesthetic experience in the context of renunciation through early dramatic literature. Laurie Patton's and Thomas Mazanec's responses will broadly contextualize their presentations and raise questions in light of major scholarly paradigms concerning the history and development of Indic and Chinese literature.
Renunciant traditions are known for their ambiguous views on drama since aesthetic experience distracts mendicants and laypeople from the right path rooted in equanimity and self-discipline. Having recognized the powerful effects of drama, however, Jains developed some of the earliest theories on drama and aesthetics, which they imbued with social and ritual efficacy. For instance, in the Piṇḍanijjuti, a drama about the world-emperor Bharata encourages five hundred kṣatriyas to renounce the world. In the Rāyapaseṇiya, a devotional performance by the god Sūriyābha represents a ritual internalization of the Jina’s biography. Through the analysis of these and other examples from early Jain literature, this paper argues that Jains envisioned aesthetic experience produced by drama and poetry as a source of social and ritual transformation, which affected individuals and communities.