Paumchariyam Part 1

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

Page 26

THE DATE OF VIMALASORI
13
probably popular epics, which have been lost to us, and of which the Paumachariya is the only remnant"! it follows that in the absence of works belonging to that early period we are not in a position to judge correctly whether a particular metre is old or not. If Professor Dhruva places the work in the 7th or the 8th Century A.D. on the basis of metres, Professor Abhyankar holds that “The work can be said to be old enough on the strength of the language, the grammatical forms and the metres. The peculiar Giti varieties and one or two old metres which are governed by Matrās and not by Gaņas show that the work belongs to a period immediately after the period of the Āguma works".!
Regarding the use of the poet's own name Vimala - as a key-word it is easy to see that it does not necessarily speak of the modernity or antiquity of the work.
In regard to the language of the Padmachariya it is very surprising that Prof. Dhruva should describe it as 'modern'. Jacobi notes the peculiarities of the language of the Puumachariya, "the oldest Kāvya in Jaina Mahārāştri that has come down to us" and observes that "It is therefore a primitive and not yet grammatically refined Prakrit".' Dr. Ghatage, while discussing the relation between Ardhamägudhi and Jaina Mahārāsţri, remarks "The various Nijjuttis and narrative works like Paumachariya, Vasudevahindi and others may be taken to represent the archaic form of JM. (Jnina Māhārāsţri), the language of the noncanonical books of the Sveta hbara writers". The work does present a nnmber of vulgarisms which foreshadow the Apabhramsa slage Jacobi analyses and illustrates the vulgarisms of various nature that appear in the Paümachariya. He, however, does not describe the language of the Paumachariya as Modern on the strength of the Apabbraisa vulgarisms. In this connection it is pertinent to reproduce Dr. Ghatage's observation :
"In this context, it must be clearly understood that this so called Ap. (Apabhramśa) influence originates from the spoken languages (in all probability the mother tongues of the writers) and traces of it can be detected even in the Amg. (Ardha-Māgadhi) canon (acchahin U. 22. 16) and the older works in JM. (Jaina Mābārāştri)". It is, therefore, not legitimate to infer from the absence of early Apabhramsa works and the fact of Apabhramsa not being mentioned by Bharata in his Natyaśastra and of the Apabhrarśa language or dialect not being trented of by Vararuchi's Prakrit-Prakaśa, that works showing Apabhraíśa influence must be late.
The hypothesis that the Paümachariya is an abridged edition in Prakrit of Ravişeņn's Padma. cbarita (-Purāņa) in Sanskrit has been refuted by Pandit Premi.? He has advanced a number of arguments, some of which are thoroughly sound and convincing, and established that the work of Ravisena is an
1. "Some Ancient Jaina Works" - Modern Review, December 1914. 2. Foreword to Paumachariyar (Chs. 27 & 28) edited by S. C. Upadhyaya, Ahmedabad, 1934. 3. "Some Ancient Jaina Works" Modern Review, December, 1914. 4. Introduction to Kahāpaya-Tigarh (p. 62), Kolhapur, 1951. 5. Introduction to Bhavisattakaha (Translated from the original German by Dr. Ghosal): Journal
of the Oriental Institute, Baroda, June 55, Vol. IV - No. 4 (pp. 363-65). 6. Introduction to Kanāņaya-Tigais, p. 63, Kolhapur.
Many MSS of the Vikramorvasiyad include Apabhramsa verses in the 4th Act to be recited by King Pururnvas, who is love-lorn and 'unmatta'. There is a controversy regarding their genuineness as well as regarding the age of Kalidāsa. These Apabhrathğa verses cannot, there.
fore, be of any use in the present context. 7. Jaina Sahitya Aura Itihāsa (second edition, 1956): Padmacharita Aura Paimachariya, pp. 89-91.