Rama in Jainism

Rama
God in Jainism
Rama and Lakshmana are the eighth set of Baladeva and Vasudeva according to the Jain universal history
Other names	Padma
Parents	Dasharatha (father) Kaushalya (mother)
Preceded by	Dasharatha

Rama(Rāma), the hero of Ramayana, is described in the Jain scriptures as one of sixty-three illustrious persons, known as Salakapurusa. Among these, there are nine sets of Balabhadra, Narayana and Prati-Narayana. Rama was the 8th Balabhadra with Lakshmana and Ravana being his Narayana and Prati-Narayana counterparts. He is described as a young prince who is deprived of his throne and turned into a pauper. While living in exile his wife Sita is kidnapped by Ravana. Rama then rescues Sita with the help of his brother Lakshmana and King Sugriva. Ravana is killed by Lakshmana(a deviation from the Hindu epic where Rama slays Ravana) and they both go into hell. Rama becomes a Jain monk and his soul attains moksha(liberation from the cycle of birth and death). Sita becomes a Jain nun and is born into heaven.

The story of Rama in Jainism can be broadly classified into three groups; Samghadasa's version, Vimalsuri's version and Gunabhadra's version. Some of the early works which deal with Rama are:

Vimalsuri's version

Gunabhadra's Version

Samghadasa's version

Some of the later works which mention the story of Rama are:

Following is the outline of Rama story from the Jain narratives:

Dasharatha was the king of Ikshvaku dynasty who ruled Ayodhya. He had four princes Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata and Shatrughna. Janaka ruled Videha. His daughter Sita was married to Rama. Sita was kidnapped by Ravana, who took her to his kingdom Lanka. During the search for Sita, Rama and Lakshmana meet Sugriva and Hanuman. Sugriva, the king of Vanara clan was removed from his throne of Kiskindha by his brother Vali. Rama and Lakshmana helped Sugriva get back his kingdom. They, along with the army of Sugriva marched towards Lanka. Vibhishana, Ravana's brother tried to persuade him to return Sita. However, Ravana did not agree. Vibhishana allied with Rama. There was a war fought between the armies of Rama and Ravana. Lakshmana kills Ravana in the end(deviating from the Ramayana where the hero Rama slays Ravana) and Vibhishana becomes the king of Lanka. Rama and Lakshmana return to Ayodhya. Rama had around eight thousand wives among whom Sita was the principle consort(in the Hindu epic , Rama has only one wife Sita), where as Lakshmana had around sixteen thousand wives in which Prithvisundari was his principle consort(in the Hindu epic, he had only one wife, Urmila). After Lakshmana's death, Rama becomes a monk. He attains Kevala Jnana and subsequently moksha. Lakshmana and Ravana, on the other hand, go to hell. Sita was born in heaven.