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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GEOGRAPHICAL PLACES, PEOPLES AND TRIBES 503 Ramyaka, Hairanyavata and Airavata. There are fourteen rivers which
flow in Jambudvipa. They are Gang膩, Sindhu, Rohit膩, Rohit膩峁兣浤�,
Hari, Harik膩nt膩, S墨t膩, S墨tod膩, N膩r墨, Narak膩nt膩, R奴pyak奴l膩, Suvarn-
ak奴l膩, Rakt膩, and Rakt膩vat墨, two rivers flowing in each country
respectively.
According to the TP (4. 12f, 90f) the seven countries and the six
mountains as mentioned above are said to be successively occupying
Jambudvipa from south to north, stretching from east to west and
touching the Lavana ocean on both the sides. The JP (10) gives a
detailed account of these countries.
According to the Brahmanical literature also the Jambudvipa has
got the Meru mountain situated in its centre (Vn. Pu, 2. 2. 7f). There
are also other six mountains, three to the south and the other three to
the north of the Meru mountain. They are the Himavat, Hemak奴ta,
Ni峁dha; and N墨la, Sveta, and S峁沶gin. The last, 艢峁沶gin is identical with
艢ikharin and the Sveta with Rajatamaya or Rukmin of the Jaina tradition
respectively. Thus the names of all the six mountains of the Brahmanical
account agree with those of the Jaina tradition. The seven countries
of Jamb奴dv墨pa are mentioned as Bh膩ratavar峁, Ki峁僷uru峁 Harivar峁,
Il膩v峁泃avar峁, Ramyaka, Hirra峁噛amaya and Uttarakuru (Vn.2. 2. 12f).
The first, third, fifth and the sixth country are identical with those of
the Jaina tradition. Uttarakuru is called as Air膩vatavar峁 in the
Mahabharata (VI. 6. 37) and the latter is identical with Air膩vata of
the Jaina tradition. The second country namely, Kimpuru峁 is named
as Haimavatavar峁 in the MB (VI. 6.7) which is identical with
Haimavata of the Jaina tradition. Thus the names of six countries
out of the seven of the Jaina tradition are in agreement with those
of the Brahmanical tradition鹿.
In the Buddhist literature the Meru mountain is said to have been
situated in the middle of the four islands or continents虏. The four
countries are named as Pubbavideha, Aparagod膩na, Uttarakuru and
闯补尘产奴诲惫墨辫补鲁.
1. Shri Ramak峁涐梗峁嘺d膩sji in his article named 'Caturdvipaka Bhugola', identifies
the Himavat with the Himalayas and the Hemak奴ta with Tibet. This
Hemk奴峁璦 of the Brahmanical literature is the Mah膩himav膩t (Mah膩hima-
vanta) of the Jaina tradition. It is said that the country lying between
Himavat and Mah膩himavat always has a great snow-fall, hence it is called
Hemavaya (Jamb奴, S奴. 78). The Ni峁dha is further identified with the
Hindukusa range and the Uttarakuru with the western Turkistan (Vide
JPS, Intro).
2. Vide HGAI, p. 8.
3.
IDETBJ, p. 2.
