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Book Review
THE ILLUSTRATED MANUSCRIPT OF JAINA RAMAYANA by Muni Kesaraj, Shri Dev Kumar Jaina Oriental Library, Arrah, 1991. Pages XII+82+Bha. Price Rs. 850,00.
Rāma, the eldest son and successor of king Dasaratha of Ayodhyā, is one of the foremost personages of Indian proto-history. He was born in the line of Ikṣvāku of the celebrated Solar race of ancient Indian Ksatriyas, and was noted for his super qualities of head and heart, his noble ideals, exemplary character and remarkable achievements. The renowned Sanskrit epic Rāmāyaṇa, composed by the sage Valmiki, who is said to have been the first poet of classical Sanskrit usually assigned by modern scholars to the second or first centry B.C., has immortalised its hero Rama and the latter's life-story. Rama was not, however, confined only to the Brahmanical tradition as represented by Valmiki's Rāmāyaṇa, but has been equally claimed, esteemed, and revered in the Sramanic tradition as well, the other equally ancient and celebrated current of ancient Indian culture.
During the past two milleniums or so, Rama's story has diffused not only over the entire length and breadth of the vast Indian subcontinent, but also penetrated into the Indianised kingdoms of Greater India, at least in the south and the far east, influencing the life, art, literature and folklore of the peoples inhabiting those regions. Vast literature in different regions, styles and forms have been produced relating to Rama's life-story in its entirety, or to certain episodes or particular characters connected therewith. In the Brahmanical tradition, especially with the emergence of the Bhagavata Dharma and its Vaiṣṇava cult and later of the Rama cult itself as a sub-branch of the Vaisnavite creed, Rama gradually came to be accepted as an important incarnation of the God Vişņu. Hence numerous temples dedicated to him were erected and many sites haloed by their association with him came to be sanctified as popular places of pilgrimage. Public recitations of Rama-kathā, depiction in painting and sculptural art, and enactment of Rāma-lilās vastly added to the popularity of the lore.
Of the three religious systems--Brahmanical, Jaina and Buddhist
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