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How appropriate is the proposition of Neo-Digambaras..
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referred to by the learned scholar- 'Padmacarita' of Ravişeņa, 'Harivamsapurāņa of Punnāța Jinasena, and 'Vșhatkathākośa' of Harişeņa actually appear to be ascribed to Yāpanīya tradition. Because many of their beliefs are different from both, the Digambaras and the Svetāmbaras and such a sect cannot be other than the Yāpanīya. To call them by the name of Neo-Digambaras is totally imaginary, because the sect that partly resembled and was partly different from the Svetāmbara and Digambara traditions was none other than Yăpanīya sect, which has already been proved on the basis of ample literary and inscriptional evidence.
Revered Dr. Hampa Nagarajaiah ascribes Padmapurāņa of Ravişeņa and the portion relating to the story of Rāma in the Harivarśapurāņa of Jinasena to the Neo-Digambara tradition for the reason that they are different from those in the Digambara tradition and follow the story of Paumacariyaṁof Vimalasūri. However, if he believes that in Padmacarita, Ravişeņa has followed the story of Vimalasūri of the Yāpaniya tradition, he should ascribe Ravişeņa to the Yapanīya and to the Neo-Digambara tradition. Here, to substantiate his view, he puts forth the story of Kaikeyi. He writes, "Kaikeyį, the queen of Daśaratha, has been shown liberated, and because the Yāpanīyas believe in the liberation of women, Vimalasūri must be an Yāpanīya. However, as Ravişeņa has not mentioned about the liberation of Kaikeyī in his Padmacarita, he should belong to NeoDigambara and not to the Yāpanīya sect." He was not accepted as a Neo-Digambara just because he did not mention the liberation of Kaikeyi. In Padmacarita itself, there are number of facts that prove Ravişeņa to be an Yāpanīya. When we compare the Paumacariyaṁ and Padmacarita, it becomes clearer that the Padmacarita of Ravişeņa is generally a Sanskrit version of the Prakrit Paumacariyaṁ of Vimalasūri. If Prof. Nagarajaiah believes Vimalasūri to be Yāpanīya, then he should also accept every one who follows his (Vimalasūri's) story of Rāma, as Yāpanīya. Not only this, in many instances,
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