Story Of Rama In Jain Literature

SR No.: 022775
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: V M Kulkarni
Publisher: Saraswati Pustak Bhandar
Publication Year: 1990
Total Pages: 278
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 27 MB

Page 263

The Development of the story of Rama in Jain Literature
(c) Aparajita dreams four dreams and Sumitra seven which indicate the birth of two mighty sons.
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(d) Khara was the husband of Candraṇakha, and Dusana and Trigiras were his younger brothers.
(e) Hemacandra speaks of four Mahadevis of Rama but does not refer to the larger number of 8,000 wives.
(f) According to Hemacandra, Rāma goes in search of his wife whom he has repudiated. Not finding her, he believes her to be devoured by some wild beast. He goes home and performs her Śráddha.
(xi) Satrunjaya Mahatmya of Dhanesvara Sari (14th century A.D.): Dhanesvara adds the episode of king Anaranya and the image of Parsvanatha with a view to glorifying the power and grace of Parsvanatha's image and the Satruñjaya mountain. Kaikeyl asks for the banishment of Rama (and Lakṣmaṇa too) in addition to her demand of the kingdom for her son Bharata. This is after Valmiki's version, although there Lakṣmaṇa is not mentioned in this connection. According to Dhanesvara, the Vanaras do not interrupt Ravana in his acquisition of Bahurůpå-vidya. Again, we meet with a few unimportant changes--Aparajita is called here Kausalya, and Bhanu-karna called Kumbhakarna (of course, after Valmiki).
While condensing the story of Hemacandra (although the poet never states this) he has omitted many episodes, stories of previous births etc., as they have practically no significance for the course of the narrative.
(xiv)
Punyacandrodaya-Purana of Krsnadāsa: Krsnadāsa wrote this Purana in 1528 A.D. "Judged from the contents of the work as given by Rajendralal Mitra (Notices of Sanskrit MSS, Vol. VI, 70-74), it appears to belong to the tradition of Gunabhadra."
(xv) Rama-Caritra of Devavijayagunin: In the year 1586 A.D. Devavijayaganin, a pupil of Rajavaijaya Suri, wrote a Rama-Caritra in prose. The author himself says that he is following Hemacandra's Rāmāyaṇa. As the work is not published, it is not possible to say whether Devavijaya contributes towards the development of the story of Rama. Laghu Triṣasti of Meghavijaya Gantva a: Meghavijaya (17th century A.D.) coinposed his work after the famous Trisasti-Šalakāpuruşa-Carita of Hemacandra. It is no more than an abridged edition of Hemacandra's Rāmāyaṇa.32
(xvi)
31.
After settling the problem of the origin of the Jain Ramayanas and tracing the development of the Rama-story in Jain literature we now touch upon the question of the
32.
Dr. Narasimhachar, I.H.Q., Vol. XV.
The Dhurtakhyāna of Haribhadra casually treats some legends from Rāmāyaṇa, so too Dharma-Parikṣa of Amitagati. We may therefore ignore these works.