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The preceding section I B (3) (d) of Chapter VI clearly brings out Of the elements which have been contributed anew by Vimalasuri. them the prominent ones are: 'Svayamvara' of Kaikeyi; Sita's brother as Bhamandala; Rama's betrothal with Sita on account of his valour; Rama's success among various candidates contesting for the hand of Sita ; voluntary exile of Rama, especially for the favour of Bharata; Kaikeyi's unsuccessful efforts in preventing Rama from going into exile; many wives of Rama and Laksmana; marriage of Sita's sons, their 'digvijaya' and battle with Rama; Hanumat's character depicting general human traits and some details about the ancestral history of the Raksasas and the Vanaras. Vimalasuri's historical, cultural and literary contribution consists in bringing these elements into light.

SOURCES, CONTRIBUTION AND INFLUENCE OF Paumacariya 279 The Paumacariyam has its originality in re-establishing the fact that Sita was the daughter of Janaka born of his wife. In the Mahabharata she is mentioned as 'Janakasya atmaja' (Mahabharata, 3. 274.9), but in the absence of any reference to the mother of Sita this 'atmaja' term is not safe enough for concluding that Sita was the legitimate daughter of Janaka. Similar is the case with the references in the Valmiki Ramayana such as 'duhita Janakasya' (3. 47. 3), Janakatmaja' (5. 13. 15) etc. There are references in the Raghuvamsa such as 'duhitrsulka' (11. 38), 'Maithili (11.93), 'Videhadhipateh suta' (12.26), in the Adhyatma Ramayana as 'mayatmaja' (1.6.20) and so forth in the Padmapurana also, but in all these works she is clearly said to be born of the furrow. In the Vasudevahindi also Sita is called Janayatanaya (I. p. 242), but there she is the legitimate daughter of Ravana and Mandodari. Therefore, it is Vimalasuri who tells us in very clear terms that Sita was the daughter of Janaka and his wife and thus removes all doubts about her birth. The Paumacariyam has further preserved a historical element in telling us that Sita had a brother. About the Raksasas and the Vanaras the Paumacariyam has preserved some semi-historical material in stating that they were some original tribes of south India. Having not given prominent place to many supernatural elements which had grown around the original Rama-katha in later times, Vimalasuri has preserved some realistic traits of the story. these supernatural elements the most important ones are the strange birth of Sita; episode of golden deer; Ravana as a ten-headed monster; Kumbhakarna, a diabolical character; the Raksasas as demons; the Vanaras as animals and Hanumat as a super-being. Vimalasuri has assigned respectable place to Ravana, the hero of an aboriginal tribe and thus has voiced tolerance for other races. 鈥� Rama's and Laksmana's various marriages with the girls belonging to different races convey a message of tolerance and free racial miscegenation, though the ideal of monogamy emphasised in the Valmiki Ramayana has been obliterated. He has further removed the shortcomings of the characters like Rama, Laksmana, Vali and specially Kaikeyi and has elevated them. He made Rama-story popular among the Jainas by creating Jaina environment around it and by assigning Rama, Laksmana and Ravana a respectable place among the sixty-three illustrious persons of the Jaina faith.

280 A CRITICAL STUDY OF PAUMACARIYAM On the whole the story has a realistic pattern and Vimalasuri has made the greatest contribution to the Prakrit Literature in the form of the first Rama-epic in Prakrit.