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containing this subject-matter. This suggests that Puşpadanta was impressed with the general style of Caturmukha and Svayambhūdeva, but particularly with their Rāma-stories.
Given the presence of Svayambhūdeva's and Caturmukha's name and the absence of the names of any other poets including Gunabhadra, the question rises why Pușpadanta's Rāma-story was not modelled on the stories of Caturmukha or Svayambhūdeva. This was probably due to ideological reasons. Adopting the narrative of Caturmukha would never have been acceptable since this poet was probably a Brahmin. 12 Svayambhūdeva on the other hand belonged to the Yāpaniya-sect, a sect viewed by the Digambaras as heretics. 13 Nevertheless, Puşpadanta probably felt obliged to stick to the narrative of the school of Guņabhadra because it has an explicit orthodox Digambara background. '4 If this is the fact, then one may assume that the purpose of the first poems in the school of Vimalasūri was different from that of the poems in Guņabhadra's school: Gunabhadra's and Pușpadanta's shorter versions of the Rāma-story emphasise religious aspects and contains extended philosophical treatises on yajña, niti, etc., whereas the oldest carita's in Vimalasûri's tradition are to be considered rather as literary works against a more general Jain background, in which the ideology and philosophy is subordinate to the exemplary Rāma-theme.15 Similarities in Wording in Passages containing the Same Subject-matter.
Puspadanta's Rāma-story bears some resemblance in wording to Svayambhūdeva's Paūmacariu. Bhayani 16 already analysed some similarities between the first sandhi's of the Mahāpurāna and the Paūmacariu, containing the biography of Rşabha. Contrary to this episode the two poems follow different narratives concerning their Rāma-story. About 75% of Pușpadanta's account of the biography of the eighth Băladeva concerns the actual Rāma-story. The remaining portions consist of philosophical and ideological treatises often illustrated with stories of legendary kings. However, only about 20% of Puşpadanta's actual Rāma-story resembles Svayambhudeva's Rāmastory contextually. Therefore the similarities in wording between both
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