Prabandha is a literary genre of medieval Indian Sanskrit literature. The prabandhas contain semi-historical anecdotes about the lives of famous persons. They were written primarily by Jain scholars of western India from 13th century onwards. The prabandhas feature colloquial Sanskrit with vernacular expressions, and contain elements of folklore.
Definition
The prabandhas are semi-historical anecdotes about famous persons. The Prabandha Kosha of Rajashekhara Suri mentions two types of biographical narratives: charitas and prabandhas. It states that the charitas are the life-stories of tirthankaras, kings and religious leaders up to Aryarakshita-Suri. The biographies of persons born after Aryarakshita-Suri are called prabandhas. It is not clear if this is Rajashekhara's own definition or if it is based on some other authority. However, several later texts do not abide by this definition. For example, there are texts titled Kumarapala-Charita, Vastupala-Charita and Jagadu-Charita about people who flourished after the end of the 1st millennium CE. Prabandhas were written primarily by Jain scholars from 13th century onwards. The authors were based in western India, and wrote primarily in colloquial Sanskrit. The prabandhas make heavy use vernacular expressions, and often appear close to the folk tradition.
Example texts
Trishashti-Shalaka-Purusha-Charitra by the 12th century Jain scholarHemachandra contains legendary narratives about 63 persons. However, the earliest collection explicitly titled Prabandha- is Jinabhadra's Prabandhavali. Some of the notable Prabandha collections include: ; Prabandhavali by Jinabhadra, 1234 CE ; Prabhavaka Charita by Prabhachandra, 1277 CE ; Laghu-Prabandha-Sangraha by anonymous, 13th century ; Prabandha-Chintamani of Merutunga, 1305 CE ; Vividha-Tirtha-Kalpa or Kalpa-Pradipa by Jinaprabha, 1333 CE ; Nabhi-nandana-jinoddhara-prabandha by Kakkasūri of the Upakeśa Gaccha, 1336 CE. ; Prabandha Kosha of Rajashekhara Suri, 1349 CE ; Puratana-Prabandha-Samgraha by multiple writers, before 15th century ; Kumarapala-Prabandha by Jinamandana, 1435 CE ; Bhoja-Prabandha by Ballala, 16th century ; Panchashati-Prabandha-Sambandha by Shubhashila Gani, 1464 CE
