Studies in Jain Literature

Author(s): V M Kulkarni
Publisher: Shardaben Chimanbhai Educational Research Centre

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STUDIES IN JAIN LITERATURE
Sītā etc., become Jain nuns. Again, in Vālmīki's Rāmāyana Rāma is the central figure but in the Paümacariya Laksmana plays a leading part. It is he, not Rāma, who kills Rāvaņa. (vii) VIMALA : AS POET
Vimala calls his work a "Purāna" in the introduction (Canto I. 32) and at the end (Canto CXVIII. 111). His real aim is edification and instruction. He is full of burning enthusiasm for the Jain faith. He writes with an eye to the liberation of mankind by means of Jainism. He delights in singing the glory and greatness of Jainism. The Paümacariya is to him only a means to propagate the doctrines of his faith. He is primarily a preacher and only secondarily a poet, Naturally, he touches on the various aspects of Jain ethics, philosophy, dogma, mythology, cosmography, the dreadful consequences of killing and of the eating of flesh, the gruesome torments of hell, the worthlessness of this worldy existence, the denigration of women, the doctrine of Karma, the past and future births of various characters figuring in the narrative, and thus renders his work open to the charge of “the extreme difficulty in making anything picturesque out of the dry and scholastic Jain tenets and the somewhat narrow views of life prevalent in Jain circles” (A History of Sanskrit Literature, Keith, p. 295) or that it is "of the type of respectable dullness or that "it does not attain the level of literature". Jacobi observes that "it (the Paümacariya) has very little poetic value". This observation of Jacobi is true only so far as this portion of the work is concerned. It is, however, extremely unfair to Vimala to condemn the whole work as poetically worthless.
It is equally unjust to Vimala to institute any comparison between him and Vālmīki, the Ādikavi whose Rāmāyana is a popular epic and ornate poetry at the same time. It is idle to compare him with Kālidāsa, Bhäravi or Māgha. Their mahākāvyas are chiefly meant to give pleasure, whereas the Purānas like the present one are mainly intended to serve the purpose of instruction. A close and careful study of the Paümacariya shows that we cannot claim for Vimala rich poetical genius of high descriptive powers. It is, indeed, very difficult to point to any single canto in the whole work which is poetically of high merit. We, however, come across many pretty and beautiful descriptions of towns, rivers, mountains, seasons, water-sports, love-scenes, etc. in the work which demonstrate that Vimala is capable of some moderately good poetry. The attention of readers is particularly drawn to the descriptions of the water-sports at Canto X.36-44, of the rainy season at Canto XI. 119, of the evening at Canto XVI.46-54, of Sītā at Canto XXVI. 98-102, of old age at Canto XXIX. 21-28, of the