Essay name: Paumacariya (critical study)
Author:
K. R. Chandra
Affiliation: Research institute of Prakrit, Jainology and Ahimsa Vaishali
This is a critical study of the Paumacariya: the earliest Jain version of Rama's life story, written in Prakrit by Vimalasuri dating to the 4th century AD. In this text, Rama (referred to as Padma) is depicted with lotus-like eyes and a blooming face. The Paumacariya places emphasis on the human aspects of characters rooted in Jain values, contrasting with the divine portrayal in Valmiki鈥檚 version.
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SOURCES, CONTRIBUTION AND INFLUENCE OF PCV. 279 The Paumacariya峁� has its originality in re-establishing the fact
that S墨t膩 was the daughter of Janaka born of his wife. In the
Mah膩bharata she is mentioned as 'Janakasya 膩tmaj膩' (MB, 3. 274.9),
but in the absence of any reference to the mother of S墨t膩 this 鈥樐乼maj膩'
term is not safe enough for concluding that S墨t膩 was the legitimate
daughter of Janaka. Similar is the case with the references in the VR
such as 'duhit膩 Janakasya' (3. 47. 3), Janak膩tmaj膩' (5. 13. 15) etc.
There are references in the Raghuvamsa such as 'duhit峁浥泆lka' (11. 38),
'Maithil墨 (11.93), 'Videh膩dhipate岣� suta' (12.26), in the Adhyatma
R膩m膩ya峁嘺 as 鈥榤ay膩tmaj膩' (1.6.20) and so forth in the Padmapur膩峁嘺 also,
but in all these works she is clearly said to be born of the furrow. In the
Vasudevahindi also S墨t膩 is called Janayata峁嘺y膩 (I. p. 242), but there
she is the legitimate daughter of R膩va峁嘺 and Mandodari. Therefore,
it is Vimalas奴ri who tells us in very clear terms that S墨t膩 was the
daughter of Janaka and his wife and thus removes all doubts about her
birth.
The Paumacariya峁� has further preserved a historical element in
telling us that S墨t膩 had a brother.
About the R膩k峁sas and the Vanaras the Paumacariya峁� has
preserved some semi-historical material in stating that they were some
original tribes of south India.
Having not given prominent place to many supernatural ele-
ments which had grown around the original R膩ma-kath膩 in later
times, Vimalas奴ri has preserved some realistic traits of the story.
these supernatural elements the most important ones are the strange
birth of Sita; episode of golden deer; R膩vana as a ten-headed monster;
Kumbhakarna, a diabolical character; the R膩k峁sas as demons; the
V膩naras as animals and Hanumat as a super-being.
Vimalas奴ri has assigned respectable place to R膩va峁嘺, the hero of
an aboriginal tribe and thus has voiced tolerance for other races. 鈥�
Rama's and Lak峁a峁嘺's various marriages with the girls belonging to
different races convey a message of tolerance and free racial miscege-
nation, though the ideal of monogamy emphasised in the Valmiki
R膩m膩ya峁嘺 has been obliterated.
He has further removed the shortcomings of the characters like
R膩ma, Lak峁a峁嘺, V膩li and specially Kaikey墨 and has elevated
them.
He made R膩ma-story popular among the Jainas by creating
Jaina environment around it and by assigning R膩ma, Lak峁a峁嘺 and
R膩vana a respectable place among the sixty-three illustrious persons of
the Jaina faith.
