As with most humanities research, the path that led to this book was not one with fixed decisions and obvious predetermined directions. Rather, it was shaped by the intellectual and personal encounters I had during my PhDâwhich forms the basis of this bookâboth directly and indirectly, with people, spaces, primary material and other academic research. What started from an interest in philosophy and theories of othering was soon oriented towards an exploration of the comic and of humour in Indian literature, eventually leading me to follow the stream of studies on literary language choice, multilingualism, and translation and adaptation. In recent years, this latter theme has been increasingly popular and fertile in mapping Indiaâs literary language order and its development, as well as in understanding the uniqueness of Indiaâs premodern literary landscape in the context of global literary history. This book contributes to that field by adding the perspective of eight centuries of Jain literary tradition.
Each of these streams of interest sprung from the textual corpus on which my research was built: the various versions of the DharmaparÄ«ká¹£Ä. This didactic narrative is interesting on multiple levels. Firstly, as its title announces, the narrative examines the validity of various systems of beliefs and exposes several moral flaws. In this way, the many versions of the DharmaparÄ«ká¹£Ä reflect the polemic history of the Jains vis-à -vis other religious communities with whom boundaries were often fluid and ambiguous. Secondly, as a product of the Jainsâ rich narrative tradition it contains all the ingredients of an engaging story: there are the semi-divine vidyÄdharas, the rich store of folk motifs, the easy-to-remember repetitive structure, and the undercurrent of laughter and humour. In this way, the DharmaparÄ«ká¹£Ä stands as a prime example of Indian storytelling. Thirdly, the DharmaparÄ«ká¹£Ä was retold and adapted over at least nine centuries in different regions and multiple languages. As such, it joins the likes of the more well-known Jain RÄmÄyaá¹a, MahÄbhÄrata and PurÄá¹as, and serves as a lense through which to view the evolutions of language choice in Jain literature of a more popular nature.
While it is this last aspect that provides the primary motor behind the bookâs narration and argumentâaddresssing the authority of Sanskrit, the shift to the vernacular in South and North India, and the continued use of Sanskrit in other contextsâI have also tried to bring forward the other dimensions of the DharmaparÄ«ká¹£Ä. This I have done to give the reader of this book a comprehensive insight into the nature of this textual corpus. In my opinion, such close engagement with a text and its tradition is the only effective way to understand a text and the historical context in which it was produced, particularly when that context is not oneâs own cultural background. To begin to understand a textâs meaning, one must take into account the various facets of its character, but also consider the way in which a text was received through commentaries, adaptations or manuscript copies. With that in mind, I have included throughout this book several textual examples from the different adaptations of the DharmaparÄ«ká¹£Ä, as well as from other texts with which there exist intertextualities. I am sure lovers of literature will find this a welcome enrichment. (Something from Sensitive Reading). Nevertheless, as with any analytic book, there remain aspects of the DharmaparÄ«ká¹£Ä that I have not been able to showcase here.
My views on literary research and philology are certainly shaped by my training in Indology at Ghent University, Belgium. After completing my BA and MA there, I also undertook my PhD project resulting in this book there. It is to this institutional setting and its teachers that I owe my knowledge of Sanskrit, Middle Indic and Hindiâa combination of languages that I have learned to be rather exceptional outside of India. I am especially grateful to Eva De Clercq, who inspired my love for Indic storytelling and who has been my mentor throughout this journey. I also want to thank my other colleagues from my time at Ghent University. Tine Vekemans and Marie-Hélène Gorisse deserve particular acknowledgement for their friendship and ever stimulating questions. Their expertise in very different areas of Jain Studies always proved effective in opening new questions and furthering my insights.
My research project and this book also benefitted greatly from the support and critical engagement of the international Jain Studies community. Many of these scholars contributed directly or indirectly to my work, but John Cort deserves special mention for his incomparable encouragement. John has been and continues to be a steadfast support for many early career scholars of Jain Studies, not just through his published work but also through his active engagement with upcoming academic research.
Other scholars I wish to acknowledge for reading drafts of this book or commenting on parts of its research are Andrew Ollett, Gregory Clines, John Nemec, and Ellen Gough, besides my anonymous reviewers.
Finally, I want to thank the Jan Gonda Foundation (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences) and its editorial board for their generous support of this publication. I am honored to have been able to contribute to its series in which I feel entirely at home, one that values in-depth philological detail and a text-focused approach. I am also deeply grateful to Peter Bisschop, the series editor, for his relentless time and effort in reading my manuscript. His critical eye allowed me to make crucial improvements to my work.
There, surely, are several people I forgot to mention here, not in the least my parents, partner and friends, but I hope they know my appreciation for their role in making this book possible.
10Â August 2025
Room 208, MIC, UZ Ghent
Belgium