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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376
A CRITICAL 艢T脷DY OF PAUMACARIYA峁�
honorific word 'deva' (111. 15) and admirative words 'sundara' (111.
18) or 'supurisa' (supuru峁 14. 16) were used. The elder brother's
wife addressed her younger brother-in-law by his name (63.11),
or by relation 'devara' (80. 54) or used an auspicious term 'bhadda'
(bhadra 76. 20).
The younger
ones generally addressed their elders as below.
The children used to address their father as 't膩ya' (t膩ta 31.76),
'mah膩jasa' (mah膩ya艣a岣� 27.17), and to their mother as 'ammo' (ambe
31.95; 98.22), the younger brother to his elder brother as 's膩m墨 (sv膩min
45.18), 'pahu' (prabho 55.5), 鈥榤ah膩jasa' (44.50), to the elder sister as
'devi' (99.42), and to the wife of elder brother as 'bhadde' (bhadre
37.37). The maternal grandfather was addressed as 'ajjaya' (膩ryaka
50.17) and the maternal-uncle as 'm膩maya' (m膩maka 99.31). The
latter term was used by the son-in-law also in addressing his father-
in-law (24.22; 38.46), on account of marrying the daughter of the
meternal-uncle.
In the case of the equals the following terms were used. The
husband used to address his wife with an auspicious term 'bhadde'
(30.35) or an admiring term 'sundari' (16 74; 26.83; 31.71), while the
wife addressed their huband as 'n盲ha' (n膩tha 16 75%; 68.41), 'sami'
(46.28), 's膩miya' (94.65), 'pahu' (68.42) or 'mah膩jasa' (94.66;
31.125). It is noteworthy that a wife did not feel shy in mentioning the
name of her husband. S墨t膩 while requesting R膩vana to
save her
husband from being killed, mentions her husband's name-Padma
(69.27). The young girl-friend was addressed as 'bale' (17.15)
and the woman friend as 'hala' (hale 100.52) or 'bahine' (bhagin墨
100.54).
The king would call the wife of another king by addressing her
as 'laacchi' (lak峁i 95.18) or 'bhadde' (95.60). At the time of show-
ing sympathy to her, the minister of another king is said to have been
addressing her as 'vacche' (vatse 95.17).
The person inferior in status addressed their superior as follows.
A king was addressed as 's膩mi' 'pahu' or 'deva' by his feudal-lords
(45.19; 45.2; 95.5), ministers, warriors (81.8; 81.14), spies (86.23) or
messengers (45.33; 27.11; 6.24). The queen was addressed as 's膩mi峁噄'
(sv盲mini 94.58) or 'devi' (94.62). These terms indicate the authority
subjects. A woman of very high status was
servants as 'bhadde' (95.6), 'sundari' (95.9),
of the royal pair over the
addressed by the king's
'devi' (95. 13) and 'suya峁噓' (sutanu 63 13). The members of the royal
