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Story of Rāma in Jain Literature
with merely adding poetic descriptions of cities, towns etc., without tampering with the principal narrative of Rāma believed to have been delivered by Mahāvira. It appears that the poet traces the origin of the story to Lord Mahavira in order just to invest it with authority and sanctity and the statement that the lives were given in the Pūrva-texts is just intended to induce devout readers to accept the truth of the story when, he found It necessary to give the followers of Jaina faith a worthy substitute for the enormously popular epic of Valmiki. That Vimala Sūri is considerably indebted to Valmiki and that his Rāmāyana was used by him when he composed his own work is quite obvious.?
3. The Version of Rāma story attacked by Vimala Sürl
The author of the Paüma-Carlya does not specifically mention the name of the poet and the name of his work which, according to him, is full of inconsistencies and lies and absurdities, and to replace which he himself undertakes to narrate the true life of Rāma. But the various points of doubt he has raised® clearly point to the fact that he has in mind Valmiki's Rāmāyana. The questions or doubts that presume some versions of Rāmāyana and the corresponding passages from the Rāmāyana of Válmīki which give rise to these doubts are set forth as follows: (a) How the great Räksasas, though very strong, were killed by the Vänaras--
monkeys? 2. 105 How that mighty hero of the Räkşasas, viz. Rāvana, was defeated by the Vanaras,
who are 'tiryak --lower animals? 3. 9 Valmiki Rāmāyana does represent the Vānaras as lower animals, e.g., Yuddhakānda Book VI (Canto 4, w.63-67) speaks of their 'kilakila cries and lashing of their tails,
We have many parallels in the Hindu literature: e.g., the author of Manusmrti (Chapter 1) traces its origin to the Creator, so too Bharata's Natyaśāstra (Chapter 1) finds divine origin. Such fictitious traditions are fabricated intentionally in order to show that these works possess divine authority. Vimala Sūri, being a Jain, introduces a tradition representing Mahāvira, the Jina, as the expositor of the Rama story and thus claims his story to be a genuine account. See the next Section He only says: ... ag faaf9944, PER TANTOT BRUT II. 116 Again, HaRİ HET, HET EERS #31 उप्पाइया पसिद्धी, कुसत्थवादीहि विवरीया ॥
III.8 and, .... enfifa za grasvit HEYETUI III. 15 The reading in the text as given by Jacobi is an (A) See Canto 2, w. 105-117 and Canto 3, w. 8-13.
9.
