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## Chapter 18
[6] Uttara Charit
In Ayodhya, Ram and Lakshman return and begin ruling. Bharat, renouncing the world, takes initiation. Ram, troubled by public opinion, abandons pregnant Sita in the forest. Sita takes shelter with King Vajrangh. There, she gives birth to two sons, Lavana and Ankush. When they grow up, Lavana and Ankush fight with Ram and Lakshman. Finally, at Narada's request, father and sons reconcile. At the urging of Hanuman, Sugreev, Vibhishan, etc., Ram calls Sita. Sita undergoes the fire ordeal and then becomes an Arhatika. Through tapasya, she attains the sixteenth heaven and becomes Prati-Indra. One day, two Devas, Narayana and Balabhadra, come to test the love of Ram and Lakshman. They falsely tell Lakshman that Ram has died. Hearing this, Lakshman dies. Overwhelmed by grief for his brother, Ram wanders for six months carrying Lakshman's body. Finally, through the efforts of the Deva who was the commander of the army of Krtaantavaktra, the truth is revealed, and Lakshman is cremated. Ram, renouncing the world, performs tapasya and attains liberation.
**From the Padma Purana**
This narrative has widespread circulation in the Jain community. The Jain Ramayana by Hemchandracharya, which is a part of the Trishatisalaaka Purusha Charit, is developed along the lines of this narrative. The Rama Purana by Jindas, the Rama Charit by Padmadev Vijay Gani, and the Ramakatha found in various Kathas are all influenced by this narrative. The Paumachariu in Apabhramsha language by Svayambhu Deva and the Karnataka Padma Ramayana by Nagachand are also in line with this narrative.
**The second narrative is from the Uttara Purana by Gunabhadracharya.** Gunabhadra was a disciple of Jinasena. The mention "Kavi Parameshvara Nigadit Gadyakatha Matrukam Purocharitam" in Jinasena's work clarifies that he composed the Adi Purana based on the prose "Vagartha Sangrah" Purana by Kavi Parameshvara. Jinasena passed away before completing the Adi Purana, so the remaining Adi Purana and the Uttara Purana were composed by his enlightened disciple Gunabhadra. It is highly likely that Gunabhadra also used Kavi Parameshvara's "Vagartha Sangrah Purana" as the basis for composing the Uttara Purana, but this work is currently unavailable. Therefore, Gunabhadra's name comes first as the originator of this second narrative of the Ramakatha. In the 67th and 69th chapters of the Uttara Purana, in 1167 verses, Ram and Lakshman are described as the eighth Balabhadra and Narayana. This description differs from the descriptions in the Paumachariu and Padma Charit. A notable point is that Sita is not considered the daughter of Janaka but the daughter of Ravana and Mandodari. We will discuss Sita's birth in a separate section later. It will be clear that "Sita was the daughter of Ravana" was not only Gunabhadra's opinion but is also mentioned in the Tibetan Ramayana and other texts. Therefore, it is likely that this second version of the Ramakatha had gained significant popularity during Gunabhadra's time, and he received this opinion from his Guru Parampara. Therefore, he has mentioned it according to the Acharya Parampara. Although reading this narrative after reading the first narrative of the Padma Charit might seem strange, this narrative does not seem entirely baseless. In the Apabhramsha language Mahapurana, the great poet Pushpadanta, in the Kannada language Trishatisalaaka Purusha Purana, Chamunda Raya, and in the Punyasrava Kathasar, Nagaraj, have all written their works following Gunabhadra's narrative.
**The brief plot of the Uttara Purana is as follows:**
King Dasharatha of Varanasi has four sons: Ram from the womb of Kausalya, Lakshman from the womb of Sumitra, and later, when Dasharatha establishes his capital in Saketa, Bharat and Shatrughna are also born from some queen.
1. Although Ravishena has written about Lakshman as the son of Sumitra, he sometimes mentions him as the son of Kaikeyi, for example, in this verse:
"Sumitra's son, but sometimes when he refers to him as the son of Kaikeyi..."