Story Of Rama In Jain Literature

Author(s): V M Kulkarni
Publisher: Saraswati Pustak Bhandar

Page 78

Story of Räma in Jain Literature
nature. They introduced some new practices as a result of which they lost caste with the orthodox kulas like the Kotika sometime in the cighth century after Mahavira's Nirvāņa. This probably explains why Vimalasūri or succeeding Ācāryas of this Kula do not find mention in the Pitt us and the absence of independent pattāvalis or Guryāvalis of their own. The colophon a'so intorns that Vimalaxūri wrote his Raghava-Carita (the same as Padma C a, Jain Rāmāyana) after having heard the lives of Nājāyaṇa(here Lakşmana and Badeva(here Rāma) as described in the Pūrvas.39
The Puspikā at the end of the work describes Vimalācārya as the 'Praśişya' (pupil's pupil) of Rāhu a ventalle sun to the Nā:lavamsa, a man of great soul and a Pürvadhara (one who possesses the knowledge of Pūrva texts). The statement that Vimalasuri was a Pūrvadhara admits o: neither refutation nor proof. The name of Vimalasūri does not find mention in the traditional list of Purvadharas. The Svetāmbara tradition, however, states that the pūrvadharas flourished for a period of about a thousand years after the Nirvana of Lord Mahavira.
From the graphic description of the ounding of Mathurā (Canto LXXXIX) and the strong influence of Jainism suggested therein one gets the impression, and it is an impression only, that Vimalasūsi may have been intimately connected with Mathurā. Further, one may not be far wrong i: 0.1 were to infer from the poet's vivid and glorious description of the Jina-pujā, the Jinābhişeka and the Jina andana-bhakti 39 118 119 17:41, 29471641 HII
विजओ य तस्स सीसो, नाइलकुलवसनदियरा । सीसेण तस्स रइयं, राहवचरियं तु सू रविमलेन । 51 787
fait 413' 11 -CXVIII. 117-118. Incidentally it may be noted liore that the word 'al' in the atove verse is nisunderstood by some. Sri S. C. Upacha a takes it incant(at np. 100, 104, 109, 117 in his article referred to above. It is so insun erstood by Dr. Joti prasa da Jain too (sce his paper referred to above, p. 439). The word is an equivalent of Sanskrit Hii (an epithet of Balarāma) and stands for Baiadcvi or Balabhrt, Haladhara, the elder (step-) brother of Nārāyaṇa (or Vasudeva). Thus in the present context Narayana and Siri stand for Laksmana and Rāma. According to Jyotiprasad Jain the woris i gent F
a (meaning the life of Sri Narayana, that iş. Krsna-Carita or Harivamsa!) suggest that Vimalasuri had composed his Harivamsa before his Paumacar ya. It is quite clear that he entirely misunderstood the whole point. Here Vimalasuri points only to the trustworthiness of the source of his Paumacariya. His staterent that Svayan.bhu pays homage first to Vimalasüri (as ancient poet) and then to Ravişena is open to coubt. The name Vimalasuri is nowhere mentioned in the passage concerned. if he has in mind the identity of 1990 and कीर्तिधर, the अनुत्तरवाग्मिन् he should have have the point explicit and given his reasons
for the identification. 40 in the introduction to the Paumacariya Vimalasuri states :
एवं परंपराए परिहाणी पुव्वगंथ-अस्थाणं ।
A150 913H1T', 7 9707 TEE 11-1.11 The word CTETT, however, does not necessarily indicate total gxtinction.