Jain Ramayana
Also known as: Paumacariya, Padmacarita, Jain Padma-Charita, Jain Ramayan, Paumacariu
A Jain reimagining of the Ramayana in which Rama (Padma) is a virtuous, non-violent hero and Lakshmana slays Ravana. The poem reframes characters within Jain cosmology, culminating in Rama’s renunciation and spiritual liberation.
Description
The Jain Ramayana—most prominently preserved in Vimalasuri’s Prakrit Paumacariya—retells the Rama legend through Jain doctrinal lenses. Rama (Padma) exemplifies ahiṃsā and royal restraint, while his brother Lakshmana becomes the necessary agent of violence who defeats Ravana. The narrative integrates Jain karmic theory, cyclical time, and the taxonomy of great personages (śalākāpuruṣa), casting Rama as a Balabhadra whose destiny is ultimate renunciation. Episodes familiar from the pan-Indian Ramayana cycle—exile, Sita’s abduction, the crossing to Laṅkā, and the final war—are retained but ethically reinterpreted. In many Jain strands Sita is Ravana’s biological daughter, raised by Janaka, intensifying the moral critique of desire and power. The poem closes with Rama’s adoption of mendicant vows and liberation, while Lakshmana, burdened by violence, accrues darker karmic consequences.
Historiography
Composed in Maharashtri Prakrit, the Paumacariya is the earliest extant Jain Ramayana. It inaugurated a Jain subtradition elaborated in Apabhramsha and Sanskrit by authors like Ravisena (Padmapurana, 7th c.) and Svayambhudeva (Paumacariu, 8th–9th c.). Later universal histories (e.g., Hemachandra’s Triṣaṣṭi-śalākā-puruṣa-caritra) systematized Rama as a Balabhadra and Lakshmana as a Vasudeva. Manuscript transmission is regional and varied, with sectarian redactions and commentary aligning episodes to doctrinal exegesis.
Date Notes
Earliest surviving Jain redaction of the Ramayana tradition; later Jain retellings (e.g., Ravisena’s Padmapurana, Svayambhudeva’s Paumacariu) rework similar materials.
Symbols
Major Characters
- Rama
- Sita
- Lakshmana
- Ravana
- Hanuman
- Bharata
- Shatrughna
Myths
- Rama the Nonviolent Hero
- Lakshmana’s Slaying of Ravana
- Ravana as Devotee and King
- Rama’s Renunciation and Kevala
Facts
- Rama (Padma) is cast as a Jain Balabhadra who ultimately renounces and attains liberation.
- Lakshmana, not Rama, kills Ravana in the climactic battle.
- Ravana is depicted as a learned, powerful ruler whose downfall is tied to passion and pride.
- Many Jain tellings present Sita as Ravana’s biological daughter, later adopted by Janaka.
- The narrative emphasizes ahiṃsā, reassigning necessary violence to Lakshmana’s role.
- Hanuman and the vanaras are rendered as human forest-dwellers or vidyādharas, not simian beings.
- The Paumacariya is composed in Maharashtri Prakrit and is the earliest extant Jain Ramayana.
- Later Jain works (Padmapurana, Paumacariu) reframe and expand the same material.
- Jain universal histories classify Rama, Lakshmana, and Ravana within a triad of world-conqueror types.
- The story integrates Jain karma theory and ascetic ideals throughout royal and martial episodes.