A Study of the Perunkatai

“In this book the author has attempted to trace out the story of Udayana in an authentic way from Perunkatai. The story aspect is compared with the various versions in different Indian languages like Paisaci, Sanskrit and Prakrit. The author deals the subject in the following headings i.e, the Peruńkatai, the Bṛhatkatha and related works; the position of the Perunkatai in Tamil literature; the contribution of the Peruńkatai to the reconstruction of the Udayana legends, and its significance for Indian literature; a comparative study of the Naravana kantam of the Perunkatai and the other versions of the Bṛhatkatha; an analysis of the story of Udayanan in the Perunkatai from the historical and geographical points of view and the Mythological, Cosmological, Metaphysical, Ethical, Theological and Ritualistic ideas of Jainism as reflected in the Perunkatai.”

- Dr.S. V. Subramanian

Vijayalakshmi Rangarajan holds a D.Phil. degree from the University of Oxford, England. She was awarded a stipendium from the Alexander-von- Humboldt Stiftung to work on versions of the
Brhatkatha in Sanskrit, Tamil and Prakrit in the University of Hamburg. This book on the study of the Perunkatai is partly the outcome of this research.