Yashas-tilaka (IAST: Yaśas-tilaka) is a 10th-century champu (prose and verse) Sanskrit text that promotes the Jaina doctrine using the story of king Yashodhara.
The text provides information about the literary and socio-political aspects of the contemporary period, as well as Jaina and non-Jaina philosophical and religious doctrines.
Alternative titles for the text include Yashas-tilaka-champu (Yaśastilakacampū) and Yasho-dhara-maharaja-charita (Yaśodharamahārājacarita, "the story of king Yashodhara").
[1] The colophon of the text mentions that he wrote it in 959 CE, in a town called Gangadhara near the Chalukya capital Lembula-pataka (Vemulavada).
[2] The text states that its manuscript was created by a well-known calligrapher named Rachchhuka (IAST: Racchuka), who was known as Lekhaka-shikha-mani ("top jewel among scribes").
[3] The story of Yasho-dhara is much older than Somadeva, and appears in the Prakrit-language text Samarā-ichchakahā, written by the earlier Jaina writer Haribhadra, whose date is not certain.
The core story of Haribhadra's version is similar to that of Somadeva, and the names Abhaya-ruchi and Abhaya-mati appear in both the texts.
The texts diverge in minor ways, for example, Haribhadra does not describe the episode of Mara-datta, and the names of other principal characters are different.
[5] Jaina writer Uddyotana-suri, in his Kuvalaya-mala (779 CE), mentions another text called Yasho-dhara-charita ("the story of Yasho-dhara"), written by Prabhanjana.
[6] Vasava-sena, a later writer refers to two earlier texts narrating Yasho-dhara's story, written by Prabhanjana and Harishena.
[16] Abhaya-ruchi narrates their previous births, stating that Abhaya-mati was once Chandra-mati, a consort of king Yashorgha of Ujjayini.
Pamarodara is described as a supporter of the Charvaka philosophy, who disregards the caste rules and employs outcaste Chandalas.
[21] King Yasho-dhara then narrates how he engages in amorous sports in a garden named Madana-mada-vinoda ("the frenzied gaiety of love"), and how he plays water-sports with his mistresses at a place called Yantra-dhara-grha ("hall of the mechanical showers").
He describes the hall for water sports, which contains various mechanical water-ejecting devices, in form of clouds, animals and people.
For example, a woman-shaped mechanical device discharges streams of liquid sandal when the various parts of the woman's body are pressed.
[23] Yasho-dhara describes an episode from his married life, which is the main theme of the story:[24] One night, the queen got out of their bed, dressed to appear like a maid, and left the bedroom.
The elephant driver beat her up for coming late, but she profusely apologized and confessed her love for him, stating that even while sleeping with the king, she only thought of him.
The king was initially puzzled why Amrta-mati fell for an ugly cripple, but then remembered that the elephant driver was an expert singer whose melodious songs captivated women.
The queen-mother criticized the courtiers for allowing the Jaina Digambaras to influence her son, and exhorted the king to worship the traditional gods - Shiva, Vishnu, or Surya.
When the queen Amrta-mati learned about the events at the court, she realized that the king must have caught her cheating on him the previous night.
There, the monk Sudatta proved the superiority of the Jaina doctrine of Ahimsa (non-violence) before the leaders of other faiths (a Buddhist, a Shaiva, a Bhagvata, and a Brahmana).
Meanwhile, Yasho-mati killed the birds with an arrow while demonstrating his ability to hit the target simply by hearing sounds.
The children, named Yashas-tilaka and Madana-mati, were better known as Abhaya-ruchi and Abhaya-mati because their mother had ensured abhaya (fearlessness) for all creatures.
[32] One day, King Yasho-mati saw the naked Jaina monk Sudatta and felt disgust, because a companion called it an inauspicious sight.
Now feeling sorry that he had harboured ill-well against the monk, Yasho-mati thought of cutting and presenting his head to the sage as an expiatory offering.
His grandmother Chandra-mati and his father Yashorgha had to suffer through several rebirths because they had committed the sin of sacrificing a cock made out of flour, and were now reborn as his children.
[35] Sudatta continues his discourse, using stories to explain the Jaina religious practices, such as prohibition of wine and meat.
He then narrates another set of stories to explain the consequences of engaging in evil deeds such as theft, breach of trust, falsehood, lust, and greed.
[6] Sudatta ends his discource with a description of the Jaina system of worship, explaining concepts such as japa and dhyana.