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## Adipurana
The 'Adipurana', composed by Acharya Jinsen (9th century), is a highly significant text that illuminates the origins and development of Indian culture and history, along with the virtuous lives of the first Tirthankara, Rishabhdev, and Bharat Bahubali. It is essential for the study of Jain culture and history. This is not just a Purana text, but also a great epic. From the perspective of subject matter, it is considered to be a Dharma Shastra, Rajniti Shastra, and Achar Shastra. It has gained international recognition for its presentation of the primordial order of human civilization. The text elaborates on various aspects like the evolution of human society, its classification into different groups, religious rituals of specific classes, and many more. It has served as a source of inspiration for later poets in Sanskrit and various Indian languages.
The complete work (Adipurana) has been published in two volumes by the Bharatiya Gyanpeeth. The editor of the text is Dr. Pannalal Jain, a distinguished scholar of Jain philosophy and Sanskrit literature. The text includes the Sanskrit original along with a Hindi translation, a significant introduction, and appendices in the form of glossaries of technical, geographical, and personal terms. This makes it an indispensable text for researchers, especially those studying Puranas and poetic literature from a comparative perspective.
From the perspective of subject matter, the third part of the text is the 'Uttara Purana' (Gyanpeeth publication) composed by Acharya Gunabhadra, which elaborates on the lives of the remaining 23 Tirthankaras, 11 Chakravartis, 9 Balbhadra, 9 Narayanas, 9 Pratinarayanas, and various contemporary kings and legendary figures after Rishabhdev.
This is a new revised edition of both parts of the Adipurana.