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THE JAINA RAMAYANAS
167 of the Jaina Rāmāyaṇa. Since I am not aware of any work of this class, earlier than that of Guṇabhadra, 1 may call this school by his name. Gunabhadra gives his version of the Rāmāyaṇastory as a supplement to the life of Munt Suvrata Jina in chapter 68 of his Uttarapurāna. An outline of the story is as follows:
To king Prajāpati of Ratnapura and his queen Gunakānta is born a son named Candracūļa whose companion was Vijaya, son of the minister of the king. Both are banished by the king on account of an outrage which they attempted to commit, on the daughter of Kuvera. They are left on a hill where an ascetic named Mahābala was living. They go to the sage with reverence and become monks. He predicts that they are destined to become the eighth Baladeva and Vasudeva after three successive births. In course of time they die and are born in the heaven of Sanatkumära, as Kanakacūla and Manicūla. After this birth they are born as Rāma and Laksmana to king Dasaratha whose capital was Vārāṇasīpura in the territory of Kāśi. After their birth Dasaratha changes his capital to Sāketapura, where Bharata and Satrughna are born. King Janaka of Mithilā and his wife Vasudhā get a child whom they name Sītā. She was a foundling. Once Janaka wanted to perform a sacrifice, but on account of the fear of Rāvana, he could not do it. So he decided that any man who could help him against Rāvana would be worthy to become the husband of Sītā. Herein follows a lengthy protest against the sinful nature of all sacrificial acts.
The birth of Rāvana is then narrated. In the third of his former births, he was born as Naradeva in the Sārasamuccaya country. After this birth he was again born in Saudharma-kalpaas a god. This god was born as Rāvana to Pulastya and his wife Meghasri, who was the king of Lankā. Once Rāvana met a woman named Manimati who was engaged in penance and attempted to win her. Enraged at this, Manimati, having decided to kill Rāvana in the capacity of his daughter, died and entered the womb of Mandodari, who in course of time gave birth to a girl-child. There were many inauspicious omens when it was born. She was advised to abandon the child. She did so after having it packed in a box. Mārica took away the box and buried it
| SR No. | 006565 |
| Book Title | Studies in Jainism |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Ramkrishna Mission Institute of Culture Culcutta |
| Publisher | Ramkrishna Mission Institute of Culture Culcutta |
| Publication Year | 1997 |
| Total Pages | 182 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 11 MB |