ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the changes Jinadāsa makes to character development with respect to Raviṣeṇa’s work as the key to understanding the moral work of Jinadāsa’s Padmapurāṇa. In Jinadāsa’s ākhyāna, the main characters become exemplars of specific character traits that make sense of their ultimate positive or negative circumstances. Thus, the reader is encouraged to either emulate or avoid those positive or negative traits. Rāvaṇa becomes an exemplar of unchecked pride and egoism. Conversely, Rāma is constructed explicitly as a hero who has conquered the “internal enemies” that are the four passions (kaṣāya) of anger (krodha), greed (lobha), ego (māna), and deceit (māyā). Lakṣmaṇa serves as a particularly cautionary tale; he is naturally quick to violence and suffers from that by being reborn in hell. This is so despite the fact that he is also admirably loyal to Rāma.
