Studies in Jainism

Author(s): Ramkrishna Mission Institute of Culture Culcutta
Publisher: Ramkrishna Mission Institute of Culture Culcutta

Page 163

154
STUDIES IN JAINISM
Jaina Rāmāyaṇas as well as the several other versions of the Rāmāyaṇa like the Adbhuta-, the Vasiştha- and the Adhyatma-have come into being. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the origin and growth of the Jaina Rāmāyaṇas starting from the Valmiki Rāmāyaṇa which as far as I know, has not been fully set forth hitherto anywhere.* Though Dr. Winternitz has noticed a few of these Rāmāyanas, his treatment is not as adequate as the subject demands. The learned Doctor himself is aware of this deficiency, for he states "It is very desirable however that a careful comparison of all the Jinistic adaptations of the Rāma legend be made."2 Not only are the Jaina versions of this epic both in Sanskrit and Prakrit considered in this essay but also adaptations of the same by Jaina writers in Kannada literature which is particularly rich in Jaina Rāmāyanas. I am not aware of the existence of any Jaina Rāmāyana in any other modern Indian language either Dravidian or IndoAryan.
It is well to start with a tradition concerning the Jaina Rāmāyanas. It was current even as late as the eighteenth century. Devacandra, the author of the Rāmakathāvatāra,4 the last but one of the Jaina Rāmāyaṇas in Kannada, traces back the origin of the Jaina Rāmāyana to the times of Ādideva, the first of the Tirthankaras, who narrated the story to his son, Bharata. This was handed down from generation to generation till at last Mahavira, the last of the Tirthankaras, came to be its possessor. He, in his turn, told the story to king Śreņika of Magadha, his devout disciple. In course of time several writers like Kûci Bhattāraka, Nandi Muņi, Kavi Parameșthi, Ravişena, Virașena, Siddhaşena,
I am indebted to Prof. A. N. Upadhye of Kolhapur for bringing. to my notice an article on the subject by Prof. Chakravarti in the 20th volume of the Jaina Gazette. HIL, vol. II, pp. 489-494. 2 Ibid., 494, note 3. Lives of Kannada Poets, vol. III, 150. It is interesting to note that it was this writer who helped Col. Mackenzie in his tour through Mysore in search of antiquities. This was written in 1797 A.D. (Ibid., 147).
4