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.
Page 64 of: Paumacariya (critical study)
64 (of 671)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE R膧MA-STORY 35 According to the Uttarapura峁嘺 of Gu峁嘺bhadra (67. 148-165), Da艣a-
ratha rules at V膩r膩峁嘺s墨. He shifts his capital to Ayodhy膩 when Sagara,
the king of Ayodhy膩 dies. The names of the first two queens of
Dasaratha are Sub膩l膩 and Kaikey墨. The third one is anonymous. The
Mah膩pur膩峁嘺 (Tisa峁弓himah膩purisagu峁嚹乴a峁卥膩ra-mah膩kavva) of Puspadanta
follows Gunabhadra, but mentions one more queen (69. 14. 10).
I
In the R膩mop膩khy膩na (MB, 3. 174. 8) the queens are mentioned
in the same order as in the TR. In the Raghuvamsa their order agrees
with that of the VR. They are said to be the daughters of the kings of
Magadha, Ko艣ala鹿 and Kekaya countries (9. 17). It indicates that
Sumitra belonged to the Magadha country. This account agrees with
that of the Padmapur膩峁嘺 (Uttarakhanda, ch. 269) and Anandar膩m膩ya峁嘺
(1. 1. 32, 70-71). In the latter work king Ko艣ala is the father of
碍补耻蝉补濒测腻.
According to the Dasaratha J膩taka鲁 Da艣aratha is the king of
V膩r膩峁嘺s墨 and he has 16000 wives. The Dasaratha Kath膩na峁� mentions
four queens only.
According to the Ser墨 R膩ma and the Hikayata Mah膩r膩ja
R膩vana, Dasaratha has two wives, Mandu and Baliy膩dar墨. The
Serata Kanda' names them as Bali膩dar奴 and Bandodar墨.
In a
western account8 Dasaratha is said to have four wives.
B. Marriage of Kaikeyi and the granting of a Boon:
In the PCV the wedding of Apar膩jit膩 and Sumitr膩 to Dasaratha
is merely referred to while the episode of the marriage of Kaikey墨 with
Dasaratha is described in two chapters (23-24). At Lank膩, N膩rada comes
to know of the plot hatched by Vibh墨峁峁嘺 for assassinating Dasaratha to
save R膩vana, because S膩garavidhi, a naimittika had predicted that
the would-be son of Dasaratha would kill R膩va峁嘺 for the sake of the
would-be daughter of Janaka. N膩rada informs of the same to Dasaratha,
the latter soon absconds from his country and wanders incognito. A
1. In the Mah膩n膩taka (3. 11) Kausalya is called ko艣alakanyak膩 and in the
B膩la峁浤乵膩ya峁嘺 (6. 38f) as dak峁nako艣aladhipatiputri.
2. Its P膩t膩lakhanda (ch. 112) mentions four queens, viz. Kausaly膩, Sumitr膩,
Sur奴p膩 and Suves膩.
3. Jataka No. 461.
4. R膩m膩ya峁嘺 in China by Dr. Raghuvira.
5. Stories as found in Hindesi膩 (Indo-China). Vide Bulcke, p. 278.
6. Ibid.
7.
As found in Java. Vide Bulcke, p. 278.
8.
Hindu Manners, Customs ond Ceremonies by J. A. Dubois pp. 619-24. (19th Cent.);
Vide Bulcke, p. 279.
