Rāvaṇa in Paümacariya of Vimalasūri: an antagonist based on śalākāpuruṣa concept

Abstract

Paümacariya, a Jain Rāmāyaṇa, was composed in a context of Jainism called śalākāpuruṣa, a significant concept that Jain poets used in composing narrative literature. This article aims to study Rāvaṇa as an antagonist based on the śalākāpuruṣa concept and the relationship to Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa under the conceptual framework. The findings are that Rāvaṇa is a mighty hero who has warrior’s skills and a Jain devotee who adheres to the Jinas. However, with his egotism and obsession with women, he abducted Sītā from Rāma and eventually got killed. The characteristics of Rāvaṇa correspond with the śalākāpuruṣa concept which states that Prativāsudeva is a heroic tyrant. As for the relationship with Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa, it was found that Rāvaṇa is the character that was set to be killed by Lakṣmaṇa. Both of them have adversary roles as Vāsudeva and Prativāsudeva while Rāma is Balabhadra, a character that the śalākāpuruṣa concept sets to be Vāsudeva’s brother and to behave non-violently i.e. ahiṃsā. He therefore rarely appeared in combat roles and was not the direct adversary with Rāvaṇa.