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PRABUDDH JEEVAN
DECEMBER 2016
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Plastic must be reused and recycled. If it could be avoided altogether nothing would be better than it
Animals, plants, wild places need to be saved. These are not there just for our entertainment or to serve us but we need them more than before. Our survival is completely dependent on it.
Endangered animals also must be saved, as they are very important part of the ecosystem.
LESSON SIXTEEN NEXT MONTH 76-C, Mangal Flat No. 15, 3rd Floor, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road. Matunga, Mumbai-400019. Mo: 96193/79589 798191 79589. Email: kaminigogri@gmail.com
THE STORY OF JAINA RAMAYANA
Dr. Renuka Porwal
Ramayana was first told by Lord Mahavira to his disciple Gautamswami who composed the same in sutra form. This was carried forward in oral tradition. Later on in 1st A.D. Acharya Vimalasuri framed the same in epic form in Prakrit. Afterwards, it was composed by many Acharyas to stress on the life of Shri Ram. The available Ramacharitras are seventeen and Sitacharitras are thirty including the work of Acharya Haribhadrasuri, Hemchandracharya, Pampa, Mallisena, Merutungasuri, Meghavijay, Dhananjay, Ashadharpandit, etc. The latest version in Gujarati is written by A. Gunaratnasuri of Acharya Bhuvanbhanusuri's tradition.
The question arises in our mind that practically almost every family in India is very much aware of the story of Ramayana, then why to repeat the same old story again and again? The reason behind its repetition is that people awaken their own spiritual culture and live happily. Also the common people could learn more on seeing the trouble taken by their Nayaka (Ram) to obey his father's words as well as to fight for establishing peace and justice. People still remember him as a great emperor whose kingdom was called Ramrajya.
The epic on Shri Ram by Vimalasuri is Paumachariyu, where Ram is called Padma - the lotus, symbolising perfectness of soul. It narrates the long descriptions of towns, hills, mountains and seasons. Even sports in the sea as well as marriage ceremony also is well recounted in the epic. He showed that Raksasas were not man eating demons but were Vidyadharas - a class of beings endowed with many super natural qualities and also highly civilised. The dynasty of Vidyadharas at Lanka came to be called Raksas after their great celebrity hero named Raksas.
Accordingly Ram was the king of Ayodhya in the period of 20th Tirthankara Muni Suvratsvami. All its narration is similar to Valmiki Ramayana except that Hanumana and Ravana are in human form and many characters of the epic renounce the world. As per present Acharya Gunratnasuriji, one must see Rama's ideal character and try to live like him as he had lived - extreme love for brothers and to learn from enemies, etc.
Ram was in the descendant line of Rishabhadeva after whom the vansa was called Iksavaku. One of the grandson of Rishabhanatha was Adityayasha who started Suryavansa. After few generations, king Anaranya presented Ayodhya kingdom to his very young son Dasharatha and took Diksha. Dasharatha in his young age married three queens Kaushalya, Sumitra and Kekai. In course of time Kaushalya delivered a boy named Ram. In his young age Ram was very brave and very often fought with cruel people to save the innocent subject. We are very much familiar with the legend that Ram along with Sita and Laksamana went to the jungle for 14 years to keep the promise given by his father to their step mother Kekai. Ravana took Sita to Lanka and tried to lure her but couldn't succeed. Hanuman was sent to Ashok vatika at Lanka where he presented Shri Ram's ring to Sita. She became very happy to receive it. Ram won the battle against Ravana with the help of Hanuman and returned to Ayodhya in Pushpak Viman. Many vidyadharas accompanied him. There they constructed marvellous shrines and palaces. After hearing ill comments about Sita, Ram sent her to the jungle. She became very sad as she was innocent and also pregnant. After few months she gave birth to twins Luv and Kush at a Rishi's Ashram. Both the children met their father at the battlefield and recognised each other. They returned to Ayodhya with Sitamaiya. Ram renounced the world after the death of Laksaman and came to be known as Ramarshi.
The valuable work on Jaina Ramayana - Paumachariya was first published in English in 1914 A.D. edited by Herman Jecobi. Its second revised edition was edited and published in 1962 A.D. by Muni Punyavijayji with the help of other material not used by Dr. Hermon Jacobi.
