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The Origin of the Story of Räma in Jain Literature
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Bharata's appointment to the throne of Ayodhyā by Daśaratha, the exile into forest of Răma, Laksmana and Sita, the abduction of Sitā by Rāvana, the Raksasa chief of Lankā; the sending of Hanumat as a messenger to bring the tidings of Sită after Rāma's alliance with Sugriva, the fights with Ravana and his downfall, the bringing home of Sita, the scandal-mongering in which the citizens of Ayodhya indulge, the repudiation of Sita and the lamentations of Rāma, the birth of twin sons to Sitā--these landmarks in the story of Rama are common to both the epics, notwithstanding numerous divergences regarding the details. We point here to certain noteworthy'minor' things which are highly eloquent of Valmiki's influence over Vimala Suri: (a) Padma is the name of Rama in the poem, yet the names Rāma, Rāghava,
Raghunatha occur very frequently. Srisaila is the personal name of Hanumat but the name Hanumat is very often met with in the poem. Pavanāñjaya and Anjanā-sundari were, we are told, the names of Hanumat's parents but later on the poet uses the names as Pavana and Anjana. The names of Sita's twin sons were Ananga-lavana and Madanankuša but the names Lavana (or Lava) and Arkusa (which have close affinity with lava and Kusa of the Rāmāyaṇa) are used frequently enough. Bhānukarna is the name of Kumbhakarņa but the poet uses very often the name Kumbhakarņa. Sutara is the name of Tărâ, the wife of Sugriva, yet the name Tāra is more often used. Indra who, according to Vimala Sūri, was the overlord of Vidyadharas and not the chief among gods is often called 'Surendra', 'Suradhipati', 'Devendra' and 'Surapati' (see Cantos 12 and 13). This one fact alone is a proof of the promi ; which Valmiki's Rāmāyana has had on the author of the Paimaa-C..yu On a close comparison of verses which treat of the same subject we do not find any remarkable verbal resemblance between the two epics although occasionally we come across rare Subhasita-like lines that seem to be borrowed by Vimala from his predecessor, for example,
Ih)
(1)
Umla huo... I
--V.R. VI. i 12.25 मरीताइ वंति वेराणि
--Pc.C. 75.. 911 yaza Y YAG V.R. VI. 131.107 wift... Entreteni...Pc.c. 118. w. 94-95
(2)
