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�
Geographical Horizon :-People were familiar with the geography
of north and south India. Important countries, towns, rivers, and hills
were known to them. It shows that there was a free passage between
the north and the south. India was inhabited by various tribes and
peoples, Aryan as well as non-Aryan. South India is said to have
been chiefly dominated by the Vidyadharas, the R膩k峁sas and the
Vanaras who were the ancient tribes of India. In this respect the
Paumacariya峁� has preserved valuable information about the authenti-
city of the the existence of these peoples in ancient times.
Literary Importance: The Paumacariya峁� is the first Jaina as well as
Pr膩k峁泃a Epic on Rama-story. It is composed in Mah膩r膩峁ａ弓r墨 Prak峁泃a.
Vimalas奴ri is the first Jaina poet who has presented to us a Puranic
narrative in a charming popular style. Its language is easily
comprehensible and the style is simple so the work is accessible even to
an average reader. The linguistic material in the work is very valuable
for the study of the development of the Middle-Indo-Aryan language.
Varieties of metres have their own importance for the history of
prosody.
Thus we find that the Paumacariya峁� besides its linguistic and
literary importance, provides us with a lot of cultural and historical
information comprising of social, political, economic and religious
conditions of the people of its time and furnishes us with a good data
about various geographical places, peoples and tribes of India. In this
respect it is a mirror that reflects the society of its time. Hence the
work occupies an important place in the ancient literature of India.
