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INTRODUCTION
Book VI of the Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra includes the biographies of two Tirthankaras who were also cakravartins, of two cakravartins, Balabhadras, Vasudevas, and Prativasudevas each.
Kunthunatha and Aranātha are comparatively obscure and not popular with authors of the Tirthankaras' biographies. Hemacandra's biographies are routine and brief. It is only the story of Virabhadra, which is introduced into Aranatha's biography, that lends interest to it.
Mallinatha is outstanding as the only woman Tirthankara and is fairly popular as a biographical subject. The reason she was born as a woman is in itself interesting and strictly Jainistic.
Munisuvrata is perhaps better-known to the faithful than Kunthunatha and Aranatha, but his life as described by Hemacandra was uneventful. An account of the origin of the Harivansa and a short story about an enlightened horse redeem the biography from complete aridity. All the biographies contain sermons invaluable for the comprehension of Jainism.
The biography of Cakravartin Subhuma includes the story of the destruction of the kṣatriyas by Parasurama and that of Brahmans by Subhuma. This version differs greatly from Hindu epic versions. The story of the 'three steps' saves the biography of Cakravartin Mahāpadma. Hemacandra's version of the 'three steps' also differs markedly from the epic one.
The biographies of the two Balabhadras, Vasudevas, and Prativasudevas are stereotyped and of little interest.
The first ten chapters of Book VII constitute an elaborately detailed Jaina Rāmāyaṇa. This includes the lives of Rāma, the eighth Balabhadra, of Lakṣmaṇa, the eighth Vasudeva, and Rāvaṇa, the eighth Prativasudeva.
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