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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A CRITICAL STUDY OF PAUMACARIYA峁�
a realistic form but he had some authentic traditional backing for the
same.
Thereafter, it has been brought out that on account of the R膩ma
story having its merely 'n膩m膩vali' form in the old literature of the
Jainas and on account of its oral tradition, its details differed with
various preceptors. Therefore, we find that there are two main Jaina
traditions of R膩ma story, one of the Paumacariya峁� and the other of
The latter two currents of the
the Vasudevahi峁囜笉t and the Uttarapur膩峁嘺.
other tradition.
As regards the intervening stories of Paumacariya峁� we find that
some stories, especially concerning the great personages of the Jaina
mythology, have their sources in the canonical literature and the Jaina
tradition. Some have their sources in the V膩lm墨ki R膩m膩ya峁嘺, Mah膩bh膩-
rata and the Pur膩峁嘺s while some are based on popular sources and
some are most probably invented by the author himself.
The author's special contribution is that he has preserved a
historical element in the fact that S墨t膩 had a brother. There is semi-
historical material about the R膩k峁sas and the V膩naras as some aborigi-
nal races. The superstitious aspect of R膩ma story which was a later
growth, has not been given place by him. He has advocated in the
cultural field, racial tolerance and respect for other races, specially for
a hero of a different race. There is also a message for free mixing of
different races. Under various circumstances the characters have been
elevated. Finally Vimalas奴ri has given the first Jaina and Pr膩k峁泃a
R膩ma epic to the Indian literature by including tens of stories in his
R膩ma narrative.
The Paumacariyam has been a source for many subsequent Jaina
works such as Padmacaritam of Ravi峁峁嘺, Paumacariu of Svayambh奴,
R膩makath膩 in the TSP of Hemacandra, Ramapur膩峁嘺 of Bh. Somasena
and many others. One thing specially noted during our studies is that
various Jaina authors freely consulted works of their predecessors with-
out having any sectarian prejudice.
The Paumacariyam has influenced non-Jaina Ramakath膩 works
also. Generally Brahmanical works are noteworthy. They are Pur膩峁嘺s,
sectarian R膩m膩ya峁嘺s as well as ornate Sanskrit works. Besides, the
R膩m膩ya峁嘺s composed in even modern Indian languages have been
influenced. Its impact is also seen on the works composed outside India
i.e. South Asia and Western Europe.
The greatest influence of the tradition of Paumacariya峁� is seen on
the Ananda R膩m膩ya峁嘺, Tulasi's works on R膩ma-story; Ser墨-R膩ma (of
Malaya), Padmapura峁嘺, Adhyatma R膩m膩ya峁嘺 and Ramakiyen (of Shyam).
