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through his heroic achievements. He is the Pratinayaka in the main Rama-story where the 'vinasa' of Ravana is depicted. Thus we find that the hero of the main story gets elevated by bringing about the end of the khal-nayaka. It is a type of style of narration recognised by the rhetoricians.
The main story as already stated above and the story of Ravana are intercepted with many side stories, of which some are interesting in themselves. It is the previous-birth-stories of various characters which simply depict the "phalas' of karmas and have no other motive at all. A few of them merely enumerate serially the number of the previous births of one or the other character. The stories Anjanasundari and Hanumat; Harisena, Naghusa and Simhika, Sodasa and Prabhava and Sumitra are the examples of interesting side-stories. Similarly the stories of prudence are also not less interesting. The story of the origin of Brahmanas is quite an amusing one. Of all the intervening stories the story of Anjanasundari and Hanumat is the best from the view point of its plot and plan.
Poetic Merits
The Paumacariyam though a purana yet it is not devoid of poetic beauty. The very opening verses in which the poet pays obeisance to the Jinas indicate that the poet has got an easy grip over music and music is the soul of poetry. There are short and charmingly rythmical descriptions strewn all over the work. They ease the tension of the continued narration by their lullying and soothing effect. The style of its narration is not pedantic, rather it is simple and easily comprehensible.
Geographical Descriptions Country
In the very beginning of the second chapter, there is a conventional descrption of Magadha (2. 1-7). The poet at first speaks of the situation of the Magadha country in Jambudvipa. Then the description of the habitats, the people, their economic conditions and social behaviour follow systematically. It reminds us of Magadha described in the Vasudevahindi (I. p. 2).
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