The Date of the Devendrastava: An Art-Historical Approach

Lalit Kumar’s paper employs art‑historical methods to date the Jain hymn Devendrastava. Rather than relying solely on textual arguments, Kumar compares the hymn’s imagery—especially descriptions of celestial palaces and motifs—with early Mauryan and Śuṅga art. He notes parallels between the hymn’s depiction of lions, elephants and floral patterns and sculptures like the Sarnath lion capital and reliefs at Bharhut. Linguistic analysis suggests that the hymn’s Prakrit resembles that of early canonical texts. Kumar argues that these convergences point to a composition date between the third and first centuries BCE. Placing the Devendrastava in this period situates it within the early Jain artistic renaissance and demonstrates the value of combining art history with textual criticism to resolve dating issues.

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