________________
SOURCES, CONTRIBUTICN AND INFLUENCE OF PCV.
261
only that but even the Ramopākhyāna and the first chapter of the Balakānda of VR itself (i.e. Adi Rāmāyana) refer to one boon only and Kaikeyi demands two things on the strength of that single boon (See Supra, Ch. 3 Sec. B).
The PCV mentions that Bharata's mother did not demand Rama's exile. It is supported by the Dasaratha Jataka and Dasaratha Kathanam (See Supra, Ch. 3 Sec. 3B).
The PCV mentions that Rāma preferred a voluntary exile. It is supported by the Anāmakam Jätaka (See Supra, Ch. 3 Sec. 3B).
The PCV does not mention any definite period of Rāma's exile. It is supported by the Anāmakam Jātaka. Even in the Ramopākhyāna, Kaikeyi does not mention definite period of Rama's exile (MB, 3.277. 26). It is at Lankā that the spirit of Dasaratha asks Rāma to return to Ayodhyā as the period of fourteen years has completed (MB, 3.291 29) (See Supra, Ch. 3 Sec. 3B).
The PCV unlike the VR does not refer to any spying work by Rāvana's men. It is held that even in the VR it is a spurious portion (Bulcke, p. 380).
The severing of the head of imaginary Rāma, the duel between Rāvana and Sugrīva before the commencement of the battle are not mentioned in the PCV. The same is the case with the Ramopakhyāna It is held that these two episodes did not form part of the Adi Rāmāyana also. They are later interpolations (Bulcke, p. 380; See Supra, Ch. 3 Sec. 8 A).
In the PCV Rāma is said to have lived for 17000 years while in the VR for 11000 years. But the Dasaratha Jātaka mentions that Rāma lived for 16000 years. Thus the reference in the PCV is to some extent supported by the old tradition (See Supra, Ch. 3 Sec. 9. E. V).
The PCV refers to Hanumat's wives. In the whole of the VR there is no mention that Hanumat was married. But at one place it is said that Bharata offered 16 girls to Hanumat in marriage (VR, 6. 1 26. 44). Thus the account in the PCV has some traditional basis.
According to the PCV Hanumat, a Vánara scion was the son-in-law of Sugrīva as well as of Rāvana's sister. The Vanaras and the Raksasas formed two branches of the Vidyadhara lineage. In the VR there is no such reference but some scattered references in the VR and the Mahābhārata reveal that Sugrīva and Rāvana were filially related (See Infra, Vānaras under Ch. 10),
