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SOURCES, CONTRIBUTION AND INFLUENCE OF PCV.
with the preceptors and they were handed over orally to the successive disciples. During the course of time some changes were bound to creep in them (See also JSI, p. 95. fn. 2. and pp. 95-97). If two or three authors are supplied with a set of salient features of the same story as mentioned above for developing them into a full story they are bound to differ as far as the details of the story are concerned.
This case is not with the Jainas only. The Brahmanical and the Buddhist works also tell us the same thing1.
Let us take the case of the Rama-story of the Brahmanical tradition. We find that in several works there are differences on various important points of Rama-story such as birth and parentage of Sita; seniority of Lakṣmaṇa and Bharata; intentions of Kaikeyī; parentage of Ravana and Vibhiṣana; deer incident; building of a bridge across the sea; killing of Śambūka; and progeny of Hanuman.
We cannot altogether reject the influence of one tradition on the other and the influence of one work on the other, may be, belonging to different sects and religions. So the influence of the VR which had become so popular, cannot be denied on the Jaina works such as Paumacariyam, Vasudevahindi and the Uttarapurāna.
G. Sources of Intervening Stories.
A detailed comparative study of the intervening stories of Paumacariyam has been made in the fourth chapter. Before we deal with their sources let us discuss over the date of the VH which contains a number of similar stories.
(i) Probable Priority of Vasudevahinḍi:
Vasudeva, hero of the theme of Vasudeva hindi narrates to his grandsons his experiences in the form of a number of stories. Among these stories there is a Rama-story also. Some of the intervening stories of in the PCV are also found in this work. A comparative study of them and some other elements show that Vasudevahindi was composed earlier than the Paumacariyam. Professor. B. J. Sandesara on the evidence of the Viseṣaṇavati of Jinabhadragaņi Kṣamāśramaņa (609 A. D2), which refers to Vasudevahindi, says that the Vasudevahindi
1. For clarification see details in Supra, Chs. 3 and 4 as well as the book 'Rama Katha by Dr. C. Bulcke.
2. An old palm-leaf manuscript of Visesavasyaka Bhasya of Jinabhadragani Kṣamāśramaņa notes the year 531 of Saka Era. On this basis the date of 609 A. D. is assigned to its author. But Muni Punyavijayaji considers 609 A. D. as not the date of composition of Visesavasyaka Bhasya but regards it as the date of presentation or of writing a new manuscript of the works (Vide personal talk with him at Ahamadabad-July, 1961).
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