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________________ Ramagiri In Jaina Literature V. V. MIRASHI The location of Ramagiri described in the Meghaduta of Kalidasa has 1 recently become a matter of keen controversy. Many years ago, while editing the Meghaduta, Prof. H. H. Wilson suggested that it might be identical with Ramtek, about 28 miles north of Nagpur, but beyond stating that the hill was covered with buildings consecrated to Rama and was periodically visited by numerous pilgrims, he did not substantiate the identification with any evidence. Besides, his identification of Mala with Malda in the Bilaspur District of Madhya Pradesh, and of Amrakuta with the Amarakantak hill where the Narmada takes its rise, are not in accordance with the description of those places in the Meghaduta. Prof. K. B. Pathak accepted this identification of Ramagiri with Ramtek near Nagpur in his first edition of the Meghaduta but in his second edition of that work published in 1916 he proposed to identify the place with the Ramgarh hill in the Central Provinces as the place intended by the poet owing to its extreme proximity to 1 Kalidasa describes Mala as a table-land situated to the north of Ramagiri, while Malda in the Bilaspur district lies southeast of Ramtek. Amrakuta cannot be Amarkantak; for the poet describes in the Meghadita that the Cloud-messenger saw the Narmada after flying considerable distance from Amrakuta with great speed. (at Ticare ai acestui: i patient etc.) Amarkantak is, on the other hand, the source of the Narmada.
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________________ RAMAGIRI IN JAINA LITERATURE : 125 Amrakuta or Amarakantak, the source of the Narmada'. The argument advanced for this identification does not bear scrutiny as shown elsewhere. More than twenty years ago we proved the identification of Ramagiri with Ramtek in an article published in the Nagpur University Journal, No. IX, pp. 3 f. Recently the controversy has been revived by Shri V. K. Paranjpe of Poona, who, in his Marathi and English books on the subject, has reiterated the identification of Ramagiri with Ramgarh, first proposed by Prof. K. B. Pathak. We examined his arguments in several articles in Marathi and also in English and showed how they are extremely fallacious, based as they are on forced interpretations of Kalidasa's words and wrong identifications of some other places like Mala and Amrakuta. It is not intended to repeat the arguments in favour of Ramtek or those against Ramgarh, but to state what light is thrown on the problem by the evidence afforded by Jaina literature. The suggestion for the examination of this evidence was made to us by Prof. V. M. Kulkarni, Gujarat College, Ahmadabad, when he read the controversy on the problem and drew our attention to it some years ago. We propose to deal with the subject here. The first mention of Ramagiri in Jaina literature occurs in the Paumacariya (Sanskrit, Padmacarita) of Vimalasuri.5 The date of this work is not certain. If the statement in that Prakrit kavya (118, 103) could be believed, it was completed in the year 530 after the nirvana of the Tirthankara Mahavira. The date of the Tirthankara is not yet definitely proved. Some place his nirvana in 526 B.C. while Jacobi places it in 467 B.C. According to the former view the work was completed in A.D. 4, while according to the latter it was finished in A.D. 63. But the statement in the Paumacariya is not accepted by scholars. It is pointed out that according to a statement of Vimalasuri himself he was a disciple of Vijaya, who was himself a disciple of Rahu of the Naila-kula-vamsa. This varsa is usually 2 Studies in Indology, Vol. I, pp. 15 f. 3 See Samsodhana-muktavali, Part IV, pp. 18 f.; Meghadutantil Ramagiri arthat Ramtek (Marathi), pp. 50 f. See also its Hindi version. 4 Studies in Indology, Vol. II, pp. 285 f. 5 For the citations given below I have utilised the edition of this work recently published in the Prakrit Texts Series, Vol. VI (edited by Jacobi and revised by Muni Jinavijayaji).
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________________ 126 : SHRI MAHAVIRA JAINA VIDYALAYA GOLDEN JUBILEE VOLUME identified with the Nagendra-gaccha, which, according to the Kalpasutra, was founded in A.D. 93. So Vimala could not have completed his work in A.D. 4 or even in A.D. 63. Besides, the Paumacariya contains references to dinara, lagna etc. which suggest a much later date. So Dr. Jacobi places Vimalasuri in the third century A.D. There is, however, no doubt that his work is the oldest Prakrit kavya now extant. Vimalasuri has taken the life of Rama as the subject for his kavya. Pauma (Padma) was another name of Rama. The oldest Sanskrit work that describes the life of Rama is the Ramayana of Valmiki. The Buddhist and Jaina writers who have dealt with the story of Rama have introduced several changes into it. Vimalasuri also has omitted or altered several incidents or descriptions in the Ramayana story which appeared to be fantastic and unbelieveable such as the killing of the Raksasas by monkeys, the six-month long sleep of Kumbhakarna, the ten-headed form of Ravana, or has given another explanation of them. He says, for instance, that the Vanaras who helped Rama in the Battle of Lanka were not monkeys but Vidyadharas. Ravana had only one face, but as it was reflected in the nine gems of his necklace he appeared to be ten-faced. Though Vimalasuri has thus altered some incidents in the Ramayana, his story of Rama is by and large the same as in the Ramayana. He describes for instance that Dasaratha, being very old, decides to crown Padma (i, e. Rama) as his successor. But his queen Kaikeyi reminds him of the boon he had given her and asks him to give the kingdom to her son Bharata. So Padma leaves for the forest, accompanied by Laksmana and Sita. Bharata does not like this, but at the bidding of Kaikeyi and Padma he agrees to administer the kingdom till the return of Rama. Vimalasuri has described some events in the life of Rama as in the Ramayana of Valmiki, but has altered some others. He describes that in the course of their wandering, Rama, Laksmana and Sita reached the place Vamsasthapura. Though they were pressed by the prince of the place to enter the town, they preferred to stay on the adjoining hill called Vasagiri. Vimalasuri thus describes the hill (40, 4) - nANAvihataruchanne naannaavihpkkhikulrbuggiie| varakusumagandhapavaNe nijjharapavahantavimalajale // (The hill was densely covered by trees of various kinds; birds of different kinds were singing sweetly there; it was wafted by breezes laden with the fragrance of excellent flowers; and streams of clear water were flowing therefrom.)
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________________ RAMAGIRI IN JAINA LITERATURE : 127 The prince of the place supplied all the necessaries of life to Rama and others and at Rama's bidding, erected many shrines of the Jinendras. 6 tattheva vaMsasele paumANatteNa naravarindeNaM / jiNavarabhavaNAI tao nivesiyAI pabhUyAI // After staying there for some days, Rama said to Laksmana,? aha annayA kayAI bhaNio rAmeNa tattha somittii| mottUNa imaM ThANaM annaM desaM pagacchAmo // nisuNijjai kaNNaravA mahANaI tIe atthi paraeNaM / maNuyANa duggamaM ciya tarubahalaM daNDayAraNaM // (Let us now leave this place and move to another. There is said to be a great river named Karnarava, after crossing which one comes across the great forest called) Dandakaranya abounding in trees, which is inaccessible to human beings.) So Rama, Laksmana and Sita left the place and proceeded to Dandakaranya. Vimalasuri then says, rAmeNa jamhA bhavaNottamANi jiNindacandANa nivesiyANi / tattheva tuGge vimalappabhANi tamhA jaNe rAmagirI psiddho|| (Since Rama got erected excellent and brilliant temples of the Jinendras on the high hill, it became well-known thereafter by the name of Ramagiri.) It is difficult to say how far the description of Ramagiri cited above from Vimalasuri's Paumacariya is historically correct. Much of it appears to be imaginary, but it clearly shows that in the age of Vimalasuri (i.e. in circa third century A.D.) there was a hill known by the name of Ramagiri north of Dandakaranya. Vimalasuri tells us that the hill got this name because Rama stayed there for some time and got some Jaina temples erected there. The geographical situation of this Ramagiri suits Ramtek. That this Ramagiri (Ramtek) lay to the north of Dandakaranya appears clear from the description in Bhavabhuti's Uttararamacarita.9 On the hill of Ramtek there is still shown the place where the Sudra ascetic Sambuka was practising 6 Paumacariya, 40, 9. 7 Ibid., 40, 12-13. 8 Ibid., 40, 16. 9 Act II.
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________________ 128 : SHRI MAHAVIRA JAINA VIDYALAYA GOLDEN JUBILEE VOLUME penance. He was beheaded by Rama, but immediately thereafter he was turned into a Siva-linga, now called Dhumresvara. This tradition is at least seven hundred years old; for it is mentioned in a stone inscription of the Yadava period fixed in the front wall of the temple of Laksmana on the hill of Ramtek. His name occurs there in a slightly different form, viz., Dhumraksa.10 We learn from Bhavabhuti's Uttararamacarita that the Dandakaranya containing large hills and dales infested by dreadful ferocious beasts stretched southward from the place of Sambuka's hermitage up to the confines of Janasthana, on the bank of the Godavari.11 The situation of Ramtek thus answers to the description in the Paumacariya. That the place was known by the name of Ramagiri in the fourth century A.D. is clear from the Rddhapur plates of the Vakataka dowager queen Prabhavatigupta, who made one of her grants there near the padukas of Ramagirisvamin (i. e. Ramacandra).12 Kalidasa also describes that the hill of Ramagiri had the venerable padukas of Raghupati (Rama) installed on it13. The way of the Cloud-messenger described in the Meghaduta suits Ramtek and no other place, 14 and there are reasons to suppose that Kalidasa sojourned for some time in the neighbouring Vakataka capital Nandivardhana, which lies only about three miles from Ramtek.15 The hill of Ramtek was thus undoubtedly known as Ramagiri in the fourth century A.D. and it is not unlikley that the place was known by the same name a century or two before in the age of Vimalasuri. In describing the hill of Rama's sojourn as Ramagiri which lay to the north of Dandakaranya, Vimalasuri was not simply drawing on his imagination, but appears to have known the tradition about Ramtek. In one respect, however, Vimalasuri's description appears to be imaginary. He tells us that at the instance of Rama several temples of Jinendras were erected on the hill, which later became known as Ramagiri. There are now no remains of any temples of the Jaina 10 See M RT U EEIFTEST: 974 : High: layiqHETSTIST 7914 fa: 11 Ep. Ind., Vol. XXX, p. 17. See etAni khalu sarvabhUtaromaharSaNAnyunmattacaNDazvApadakulasaMkulagirigahvarANi janasthAnaparyantadIrdhAraNyAni dakSiNAM fra i Act. II. 12 See Thattaifa: Tqara I C.I.I., Vol. V, p. 35. 13 See qre: gal gafavec Heli V. 12. 14 See Studies in Indology, Vol. I, pp. 15 f. 15 Ibid., pp. 19 f.
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________________ RAMAGIRI IN JAINA LITERATURE : 129 Tirthankaras on the hill of Ramtek. But there were evidently some in the vicinity of Ramtek. A huge and beautiful image of santinatha about 15 ft. in height, was discovered some years ago in the vicinity of Ramtek and has now been installed in a magnificent temple erected by the munificence of the Jaina community at Ramtek. In the same temple are also installed the images of the Tirthankaras Parsvanatha and Candraprabha. Ramtek has been known as a sacred place from very early times. There are several temples of Hindu gods and goddesses on the hill of Ramtek. On one of the off-shoots of the hill there is a cave known from very early times as the cave of Nagarjuna. At Mansar, which lies in the vicinity of Ramtek, there are remnants of a Buddhist Vihara. Its Jaina images have been mentioned above. The place was thus regarded as sacred by the followers of all the three great religions, Hindu, Bauddha and Jaina. The description of Ramagiri in the Paumacariya, on the other hand, definitely goes against the identification of Ramgarh with Ramagiri of Kalidasa's Meghaduta, for, firstly, there are no remains or vestiges of Jaina temples on or in the vicinity of Ramgarh and, secondly, there is no evidence that Ramgarh lay to the north of ancient Dandakaranya. JE U how G.J.V. 9