Paumchariyam Part 1

Author(s): Vimalsuri, Punyavijay, Harman
Publisher: Prakrit Granth Parishad

Page 14

INTRODUCTION
PARTI
RĀMĀYAŅA 1. POPULARITY OF THE STORY OF RĀMA : No work of Indian literature has enjoyed a greater popularity in India down to the present day than the Rāmāyana of; Vālmīki. It is truly a popular epic, as it has become the property of the whole of India and has tremendously influenced the thought and poetry of the nation for more than 2000 years. For centuries the story of Rāma has remained alive in India and it continues to live among all grades and classes of people. Everyone is familiar with the characters and stories of the great epic. Teachers of the various religious schools refer to it and draw upon it to propagate religious and moral doctrines among the people. The story of Rāma occurs in the Mahabharata and the Puranas such as Brahma. Padma. Garuda, Närada, Bhāgavata, Agni, Skanda, Vāyu and so on. We have, further, the Adbhuta Rāmāyana. Adhyatma Rāmāyana, and Ananda Rāmāyaṇa. Many eminent Sanskrit poets including Bhasa, Kalidāsa. Bhasabhati anu Rajasekhara have again and again drawn the material for their poems and plays from the Rāmāyana and worked them up anew. There are the Buddhist forms of the Rāmāyana e. g., the Daśnratha Jataka) and Jaina forms of the story of Rāma also exist - wellknown among them are the PaumaChariya of Vimala-säri, the Padma-Parāņa of Ravişeņa, the Uttarapurāņa of Gunabhadra, and the Trisastišalakā.puruşa-Charita of Hemachandra. Versions of the Rāmāyaṇa are found in the principal languages of India such as Hindi (e.g., Rama-Charitamanasa of Tulasidasa), Bengali (e. g., Krttiväsa Rāmāyana). Kashmiri (Kashmiri Rāmāyaṇa, Marathi (e. g., Bhāvārtha Ramayana ), Gujarāti (e. g., Rāmāyana-sāra), Tamil (e. g., Tamila Rāmāyaṇa by Kambena), Telugu (e. g., Dvipada Rāmāyaṇa), Kanarese (e. g., PampaRamayana) and others. It has been translated into almost all modern Indinn languages and other languages of the world such as English, German, French, etc. Then there are the forms of the Rāmāyana that are known to exist outside India such as the one in Jāvā and China.
2. RAMAYAŅA IN JAINA LITERATURE: The three principal characters of the Rāma legend are drawn from among the 63 Salākā-puruşas. They are Padma (Rāma), Laksmana and Rāvona who form the 8th set of Baladeva, Vāsudeva and Prativāsudeva. Of all the 27 heroes they enjoy supreme popularity and Balarāma, Krsna and Jarasandha stand next to them in popularity. That the Rāma story is most popular with the Jainas can be seen from the number of works which treat of it right from the early centuries down to 17th century A.D. We give below a list of important works which sing of the glory of Rama :
1. Palma-chariya of Vimala-sori (close of the 3rd century) 2. Vasudevahindi of Sanghedāsa (not later than 609 A.D.) 3. Padmapurāņa of Ravişeņa (678 A.D.) 4. Pauma-Chariu of Svayambha (middle of the 8th century A.D. ?) 5. Chaupannamabăpurisachariya of Silāchārya (868 A.D.) 6. Uttarapurāņa of Gunabhadra (9th century A. D.) 7. Brhat-Kathākoşa of Harişeņa (931-32 A.D.)