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अनुसन्धान ४७
Hemacandra follows the same tradition of Ramakatha in his Skt. work Trişaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacarita written in the 12th Century with few additions. So, when we consider Vimalasuri, all the abovementioned Ramakathās are covered.
The Rāmacarita presented in Skt. Uttarapurāņa (a part of Adipurāṇa) by Gunabhadra (9th Cen. A.D.) differs a lot from Vimalsūri and being a Digambara, presented his Ramakatha totally in new manner. The scope, characterization, incidents and style differs from that of Vimalasüri. Pandit Āśādhara (13 Cen. A.D.) a Dig. Jaina householder presents Guṇabhadra's Rāmakathǎ in a very compact manner in his Trisaṣṭismṛtiśāstra.
Śilanka (9th Cen. A.D.) presents a very small story of Pauma (Rāma) in his Jain Mahārāṣṭri Prakrit work Cauppannamahäpurisacariya. It is very remarkable that his account of Rāma is mostly a brief summary of Valmiki Rāmāyaṇa.
Dasaratha Jātaka presents the story of Rama Pandita in nutshell. This story, written in Pali, contains some queer Buddhist elements unlike Brahmanic or Jain versions.
Thus the observations and remarks in this research paper are based on the Ramakathas of (i) Vimalasūri, Raviṣena, Svayambhu and Hemcandra, (ii) Guṇabhadra and Āśādhara, (iii) Śilanka and (iv) Dasaratha Jātaka.
The Method followed in the Paper :
In the first place, the basic similarities in all Jain versions are pointed out. The searchlight is thrown on the typical Jain elements.
In the second part, the striking differences among these Jain versions are noted in the light of some important points.
In the last part, conclusive remarks are presented on the basis of the abovementioned observations.
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