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Brahma-Vaivarta Purana; though most important are the two i.e. Bhagavata Purana and Harivansha Purana. 16
This very rich tradition of Krishna-Katha i.e. the story of Lord Krishna has been honoured and accepted whole-heartedly by the poets
krit, Apbharamsa and Hindi, along with all the modern languages in India. The Theory of "Shalaka-Purusha' in Jainism
Jainism has a very unique tradition of "Shalaka-Purush', according to which, there are "63' (Sixty Three) most revered and great persons, whom Jains pay their highest regards and offer "PUJA' likewise the supreme god in Hinduism. These sixty three "Shalaka Purush' are as under:
1) 24 Tirthankars: The highest and top most persons. 2) 12 Chakravartees. 3) 9 Baldevas; 9 Vasudevas and 9 Prati Vasudevas.
According to this theory, Rama and Krishna are in the gin and 9th set of Baldev, Vasudev and Prati Vasudev, and hence, the life story of these two, became acceptable to the Jain-poets, who took the basis from "Ramayana' and "Mahabharat' but depicted the life-story as per the principles of Jainism with alterations to suit them.
Because of this ""'Tri Shasthi-Shalaka-Purush" theory of Jain Religion, the Jains could accept "Rama and Krishna' as their "Pujaya Purush', alongwith Tirthankar Rishabhadev and Tirthankar Mahavira and other twenty two Tirthankars with all the twelve chakravrtees etc.
The names of all these sixty three "Shalaka Purushas' are as follows:
24 Tirthankars
(1) Rishabh, (2) Ajita, (3) Sambhava, (4) Ahinandan, (5) Sumati, (6) Padmaprabha, (7) Suparshava, (8) Chandraprabh, (9) Suvidhi, (10) Pushapadanta, (11) Sheetal, (12) Shreyansa, (13) Vasupujaya, (14) Vimal, (15) Anant, (16) Dharma, (17) Ashanti, (18) Kuntudhar, (19) Malli, (20) Munisuvarta, (21) Nami, (22) Arishasthnemi, (23) Prashava Nath and (24) Vardhman Mahavir.
