Jain Ramayana- Paumacaryu (Rendering into English from Apabhrmsa

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About the Book The Ramayana has been popular with the masses of the country from the time immemorial. Initially it was known in fragments or in the form of folk tales but after the composition of the Ramayana by the sage Valmiki, there has been a boost in its popularity. The importance of the story of Rama became quite wide-spread and it influenced the hearts of the poets irrespective of the religious barriers. After the composition of the text by the sage Valmiki, the text influenced the poets of the other faiths like the Buddhism and Jainism. Though the adoption of the story was not quite impressive with the Buddhist but with the Jainas, however, it became quite popular and it was Vimala Sari who for the first time composed Paumacaryu (Padmacarita) by about the beginning of the Christian era. It was a short of reaction to various mythological statements of Valmiki or the critical appreciation of his work. Vimala Sari was indeed the forerunner of the Ramayana of the later Jaina poets. Thereafter there had been a continuous flow of Jaina Ramayana works right from the Gupta period to the late medieval times and over a dozen works on Rama were composed by these Jaina poets, and each one of them his own importance. The present work Jain Ramayana Paumacaryu has been composed by Svayambhu by about the 8th Century A.D. which has been rendered from Apabhramhsa Language into English for the convenience of the readers.

About the Author Shantilal Nagar, a graduate of the Punjab University, served in the curatorial capacity in the Central Asian Antiquities Museum, New Delhi, the Archaeological Museum, Nalanda, and Archaeological Section of the Indian Museum, Calcutta for a number of years. He has to his credit the scientific documentation of over fifty thousand antiquities, in these museums, representing the rich cultural heritage of the country and comprising of sculptures, bronzes, terracottas, beads, seals and sealing, ancient Indian numismatics, wood work, miniatures and paintings, textiles and Pearce collection of gems, ranging from the earliest times to the late medieval period. He was awarded, in 1987, a fellowship, for his monograph on the Temples of Himachal Pradesh, by the Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi.

Preface The story of Rama has been popular with the people in the country from the time Immemorial. Before its composition in the Manuscript form by Valmiki. It had been quite popular with the masses that enjoyed the narration of popular episodes of the story in different regions of the country. It was for the first time that Narada at the instance of Brahma communicated the brief of the story to Valmiki who gave the story a definite poetic form. With the completion of the story of Ramayana by Valmiki in a book form, the people had the opportunity to listen to the complete narration of the story, which influenced the masses to a considerable extent.

With the growing of the popularity of the theme with the masses, the need for developing the same in different languages which could be well-understood by the masses arose and as a result of this, the Ramayana was composed in different languages in the country. This further contributed to its popularity. Besides this, the story impressed other religions like Buddhism and Jainism as well. Though the story of Ramayana could not become so popular with the Buddhists, nevertheless, It was included in the Jataka stories which became popular. in the Buddhist religion during a couple of centuries before and after the beginning of the Christian era and ultimately the same were relegated to oblivion.

But in the Jainism, the story of Ramayana became more and more popular with the passage of time. Evidently the process was started by about the first century A.D. by Vimala Sort who composed the Paumacaryu which served more as critical appreciation of the work of Valmiki. But in subsequent literature, the principal characters of Rama's story were included in the sixty-three slaka-purasas.

**Contents and Sample Pages**