Mahapurana Part 1

SR No.: 002722
Original Sutra Author: Pushpadant
Author: P L Vaidya
Publisher: Bharatiya Gyanpith
Publication Year: 1979
Total Pages: 560
Language: Hindi, Apbhramsa
Classification: Book_Devnagari & Mythology
File Size: 11 MB

Page 40

MAHAPURANA
great (sages) or because it teaches (the way to) great bliss. Other writers say that, because it originated with the old poet it is called 'purapa' and it is called 'great' because of its intrinsic greatness, The great sages have called it a Mahāpurāna because it relates to great men and because it teaches the bliss." A Tippana on I. 9. 3 of our text seems to make a distinction between aihasa and purana and says that aihasà means the narrative of a single individual while purana i. e. Mahapurapa means narratives of sixty-three great men ( एकपुरुषाथिता कथा; पुराण त्रिषष्टिपुरुषाश्रिताः कथाः पुराणानि ) The Mahapurapa therefore is a work on the lives of sixty-three great men of the Jain faith, and thus occupies the same place of importance as the Mahabharata or the Rāmāyaṇa in Hinduism. The Mahapurana however lacks the unity of the Mahabharata or of the Rāmāyaṇa and therefore cannot be called and epic in the strictest sense of the term.
26
The sixty-three great men whose lives are described in a Mahapurapa are classified under five heads. I give their names below for ready reference :(a) The Tirthamkaras ( 24 ) : ( 1 ) वृषभ or ऋषभ; (2) अजित; (3) शंभव or संभव; (4) अभिनन्दन (5) सुमति ( 6 ) पद्मप्रभ (7) सुपार्श्व (8) चन्द्रप्रभ ( 9 ) पुष्पदन्त or सुविधि ( 10 ) aftares; (11) state; (12) argge; (13) fan; (14) ; (15) ; (16) fa; (17) grq; शीतल; श्रेयांस; वासुपूज्य; विमल; धर्म; शान्ति; (18) अर (19) महिल; (20) सुत्रत; (21) नमि (22) नेमि (23) पार्श्व; and (24) महावीर. (b) The Cakravartins ( 12 )
;
(1) भरत, (2) सगर (3) मघवन् (4) सनत्कुमार; ( 5 ) शान्ति; ( 6 ) कुन्थु; (7) अर; (8) सुभीम or सुभूम; (9) पद्म ; ( 10 ) हरिषेण; ( 11 ) जयसेन or जय;
and (12).
(c) The Vasudevas (9) (1) त्रिपृठ; (2) द्विपृष्ठ; (3) स्वयंभू (4) पुरुषोत्तम (5) पुरुषसिंह; (6) पुरुषपुण्डरीक; (7) दत्त; (8) (d) The Baladevas (9)
नारायण; and (9) कृष्ण.
(1) अचल; (2) विजय; (3) भद्र; (4) सुप्रभ; ( 5 ) सुदर्शन (6) राम ( बलराम ).
आनन्द; (7) नन्दन; (8) पद्म; and ( 9
)
(e) The Prati Vasudevas ( 9 ) (1) अश्वग्रीव (2) तारक; (3) मेरक; (4) मधु (5) निशुम्भ (6) बलि; (7) प्रह्लाद ( 8 ) रावण; and ( 9 ) मगधेश्वर or जरासंघ.
It is to be noted that Santi, Kunthu and Ara Tirthamkaras as well as Cakravartins.
WORKS ON SIXTY-THREE GREAT MEN
The oldest known published work on sixty-three great men is the Mahapurapa or more accurately Adipurana of Jinasena (circa 850-875 A. D.) Jinasena calls his work Trişaştilakṣaṇamahapuranasamgraha, and thus seems to have planned a complete Mahapurapa. He was however unable to complete it, probably on account of his death. We get from his hand forty-two parvans only of the Adipurana, the remaining five parvans of the Adipurapa and the