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

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.