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Story of Rāma in Jain Literature
Rāmāyana for its poetic value. In fact, none of the poets whether Hindu or Jain, equals Vālmiki, who remains thus unsurpassed. The Jain poets do not primarily aim at the Kavya style, though some of their works do possess poetic qualities. Bearing this in mind if we examine the Jain Rāmāyanas from the point of view of poetry, we find that Swayambhu and Puşpadanta stand out as poets of distinct poetic ability. They display the wealth of their poetic gift by giving us poetic ideas and flights of poetic fancy which are refreshingly original. Hemacandra stands next to them. His command of language, metre, and alankäras and his descriptive skill are beyond question. However, the fact remains that there is an air of conventionality about his descriptions. Ācārya Ravişena impresses us by his profound scholarship but not poetry.
On the whole, we may conclude that the Jain Rămāyanas, as a rule, are essentially Puranas. They are written not as Kavyas pure and simple but to glorify the Dharma of the Jinas and teach the people Jain doctrines and criticise the Brahmanical Dharma. It will, therefore, not be fair to the Jain poets to judge their works by the standard which we apply to the Maha-kavyas like the Raghuvarsa, Kumārasambyhava, etc., and condemn them on the ground of artistic defects.
