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’s version.
Page 124 of: Paumacariya (critical study)
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External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE RĀMA-STORY 950 brings the whole peak of the mountain. Suṣeṇa with the help of those
herbs cures Lakṣmaṇa. In the VR these medicines are referred to for
four times. First of all when Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa are wounded by
Indrajit, Suṣeṇa asks for these herbs (Sañjīvakaraṇīm divya� Viśalyām.
-6.50.30). The second occasion is the wounding of Rama and
Lakṣmaṇa by Indrajit after the death of Kumbhakarna. Here
Jambavat points out the place where these herbs grow (6.74.29), On
the third time Suṣeṇa cures the injured warriors and Lakṣmaṇa who
had been wounded while destroying the Yajña of Indrajit (6.91.25).
And the fourth occasion is the wounding of Lakṣmaṇa by the hit of the
Sakti hurled by Rāvaṇa as mentioned above.
The places of their availability are mentioned as the Candra and
the Droṇa mountains situated in the Kṣīrodadhi (6.50.31). On the
other occasion the location is said to be the Oṣadhi-parvata situated
in the middle of the Rsabha and the Kailāśa mountains (6.74,29-31;
6.101.31-32).
According to the VR, the military physician (surgeon) Suṣeṇa is
said to be the father-in-law of Sugrīva³ (6.50.23). There is no reference
that while taking the medicinal herb Hanumat met with Bharata² and
no mention of the inevitability of producing the herb before the
sun-rise.
In the TR the relation of Suṣeṇa is not mentioned. He is brought
from Lankā by Hanumat. The former sends Hanumat to bring the
oṣadhi, but the name of the oṣadhi and the name of the place of its availa-
bility are not specifically mentioned. Here Ravana tries to foil the plan
of Hanumat by employing Rākṣasa Kālanemi, but he is unsuccessful
(9.55-58). Here when Hanumat is returning with the Oṣadhi mountain,
Bharata³ makes the former fall down by shooting an arrow to foil his
journey, considering him to be a Rākṣasa. After knowing the real
situation Bharata permits Hanumat to go to Rāma (6.60) so as to reach
the destination before the sun-rise. In the final fight with Rāvaṇa,
Lakṣmaṇa is said to have been once more wounded by the Sakti (which
was given by Brahmā) hurled by Rāvana. As soon as Lakṣmaṇa is
taken to Rama, the Sakti flees away into the sky automatically (6.83-85).
1.
At 4.22.13 Suṣeṇa is referred to as the father of Tārā, the wife of Vāli.
2. The Gaudiya version contains this episode.
3. The Gaudiya & the N.W. versions of Rāmāyaṇa contain this episode (Bulcke,
p. 379).
The Gauḍīya version contains this episode but Bharata does not shoot
Hanumat (Bulcke, p. 379).
