Studies in Jainism

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

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STUDIES IN JAINISM
I have given an idea of the attitude of Vimalasūri in adapting the Valmiki Rāmāyaṇa and the beauty of that adaptation. He has given us a new Rāvaṇa with whom we can sympathise. His bold venture resulted in a new creation. His work stands as a monument of his creative imagination. He set the model for all the later poets to imitate. Thus he formed a school of his own. Of writers in Prakrit i.e., Jaina Apabhramsa, on the Jaina Rāmāyaṇa imitating Vimalasūri may be mentioned the poet Caumuha, author of Paumacaria. He is mentioned by Dhavala, author of the Harivaṁsapurāṇa, which was composed in the tenth century. 23 Another work of the same name containing 12,000 slokas composed. in part, by Svayambhudeva is known to exist. He could not finish his work. Tribhuvana Svayambhu, another writer, completed it. But in course of time the portion of the work so completed by him was lost and Jasakirti Bhaṭṭāraka of Gwalior restored it by composing it anew. The date of Svayambhudeva falls between the 7th and the 10th centuries. I have not been able to get at these two works and my inclusion of them under the school of Vimalasūri, though tentative, is based upon the similarity of the titles of the works and the known voluminous nature of one of them.
The earliest Sanskrit writer following Vimalasūri is Ravisena, author of the Padma Purana or Mahā Rāmāyaṇa. His is an enlarged edition of Vimalasūri. Descriptive passages abound in great numbers swelling the size of the work. His diction is easy and direct. Sometimes his stanzas appear to
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Vimalasūri has a charming and flowing style well-suited for the movement of narravive poetry. It has grace, dignity, and polish. It rises to heroic grandeur or moving pathos as the incidents and situations demand. His work, as it is, is very voluminous on account of the many dreary tales connected with the several personages of the story and the main story is surrounded by a lot of extraneous matter. Realising the tragic conception of the character of Ravana, if one takes upon himself the task of giving an unified and abridged version of Paumacaria, he will be rendering valuable service to Prakrit literature.
Allahabad University Series, vol. I, pp. 157-185.
Ibid.