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How appropriate is the proposition of Neo-Digambaras..
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referred to by the learned scholar- 'Padmacarita' of Ravişeņa, 'Harivarśapurāņa of Punnāța Jinasena, and 'Vịhatkathākośa' of Harişeņa actually appear to be ascribed to Yāpaniya tradition. Because many of their beliefs are different from both, the Digambaras and the Svetāmbaras and such a sect cannot be other than the Yāpanīya. To call them by the name of Neo-Digambaras is totally imaginary, because the sect that partly resembled and was partly different from the Svetāmbara and Digambara traditions was none other than Yāpanīya sect, which has already been proved on the basis of ample literary and inscriptional evidence.
Revered Dr. Hampa Nagarajaiah ascribes Padmapurāna of Ravişeņa and the portion relating to the story of Rāma in the Harivansapurāņa of Jinasena to the Neo-Digambara tradition for the reason that they are different from those in the Digambara tradition and follow the story of Paumacariyam of Vimalasūri. However, if he believes that in Padmacarita, Ravişena has followed the story of Vimalasūri of the Yāpanīya tradition, he should ascribe Ravişeņa to the Yāpaniya and to the Neo-Digambara tradition. Here, to substantiate his view, he puts forth the story of Kaikeyi. He writes, . 'Kaikeyī, the queen of Daśaratha, has been shown liberated, and because the Yapanīyas believe in the liberation of women, Vimalasūri must be an Yāpanīya. However, as Ravişeņa has not mentioned about the liberation of Kaikeyi in his Padmacarita, he should belong to NeoDigambara and not to the Yāpanīya sect." He was not accepted as a Neo-Digambara just because he did not mention the liberation of Kaikeyi. In Padmacarita itself, there are number of facts that prove Ravişeņa to be an Yapanīya. When we compare the Paumacariyam and Padmacarita, it becomes clearer that the Padmacarita of Ravişeņa is generally a Sanskrit version of the Prakrit Paumacariyam of Vimalasūri. If Prof. Nagarajaiah believes Vimalasūri to be Yāpaniya, then he should also accept every one who follows his (Vimalasūri's) story of Räma, as Yāpanīya. Not only this, in many instances,
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