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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2
SOCIAL CONDITIONS
1 319
differ from those of the Jaina tradition, only the name of C膩k峁峁
being common to both the traditions. They are Sv膩yambhuva,
Sv膩roci峁, Uttama, Tamasa, Raivata, C膩k峁峁, Vaivasvata. The next
seven are S膩var峁噄, Dak峁s膩var峁噄, Brahmas膩var峁噄, Dharmas膩var峁噄,
Rudrasavarni, Ruci and Bhauma. Manu. (8.129) states that a king
should successively resort to warning, public censure, fine & corporal
punishment (v膩gda峁囜笉am, dhigdan岣峚m, dhanada峁囜笉am and
惫补诲丑补诲补峁囜笉补尘).
Bhogabhumi:鈥擜 picture of the way in which the wants of the
early society were fulfilled is drawn in the Paumacariya峁�. It states
that before the dawn of 'K峁泃ayuga' (Kayajuga) there was all round
prosperity in Bh膩ratavar峁. At that time it was called Bhogabh奴mi
because the people did not make any efforts for their maintenance.
Their wants were fulfilled by the wish-trees which were of ten kinds
(3.37f) and they bore the desired articles. These wish-trees
(Kalpadrumas) were called Tu岣峣yanga (Tru峁璱t膩nga-of music),
Bhoya峁嘺nga (Bhojan膩nga-of food), Vih奴sa峁嘺nga (Vibhu峁峁嚹乶ga鈥攐f
ornaments), Mayanga or Cittarasa (Mad膩nga or Citrasas膩nga 102.122-
of intoxicant), Vatthanga (Vastr膩nga-of coitumes), Giha (G峁涐弗a鈥�
of dwelling), Joi (Jyoti艣-of natural light), Diviyanga (Dipik膩nga-
of lamps), Bh膩ya峁嘺 (Bh膩jana鈥攐f utensils) and Mallanga (M膩ly膩ng or
Kusuma 102.115-of flowers) tree which provided all the requirements
of life without undergoing any labour. People enjoyed according
to their whishes and remained happy. They were
were
endearing to
one another and were good-looking. They were fearless. The
beasts were not ferocious and they strolled freely. People were
born in couples consisting of a male and a female (husband and
wife) and every couple gave birth to a fresh couple just before its
own death. There was no social distinction because the society was
uniform. There was complete absence of the rulers and the subjects.
No body was disfigured and crippled. There were no poverty and
misery. There was no complaint of any disease and all lived like gods
(102. 126-132).
The above account is corroborated by the TR (4. 340-342) and
the AP (3. 39).
The above picture of Yugala-dharma i. e, taking birth in the
form of couples as husband and wife reveals that in the primitive
1. Visnupur膩峁嘺, 3.2.
2. Bh膩gavatapur膩峁嘺, 8,15,13. It mentions Devas膩var峁噄 and Indras盲var峁噄 for
Ruci and Bhauma. 8.13 (30,33).
