Evangelists and Epigones: Sanskrit adaptations of Mahabharata by Jains in 13th-century Gujarat Ghent University
Sheldon Pollock’s influential theories on the cosmopolitan and ‘secular’ nature of Sanskrit literature and the vernacularisation of regional Indian literatures being a top-down process originating in royal court do not explain or account for the continued interest of Jains in composing Sanskrit adaptations of the epic Mahābhārata in 13th-century Gujarāt. As adherents of an Indian minority religion known for its insistence on non-violence, ...