Sambodhi 1982 Vol 11

Author(s): Dalsukh Malvania, H C Bhayani, Nagin J Shah
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 48

CRITICAL SURVEY OF THE JAINA PURĀNAS
Devi Prasad Mishra
The Puranas are very important branch of the Indian Literature. The term 'Purana' literally means that which is old or ancient, but in the technical sense it means a class of literature. In the Vedic literature, we come across, for the first time, with such term like 'Itihas' and 'Purāṇa'.1 Most probably these two terms relate to the stories and parables contained in the Vedas themselves. The Puranas must be works of many ris who bad a very high reverence to the Vedic literature. The traditional Purāṇas were compiled to explain, illustrate and amplify the tradition of the Vedas. Thus origin and development of the Puranas may be traced in the Upakhyānas, Itivṛttas, Kalpas and finally Gathas of the Vedic literature. Since the Vedas were not accessible to all and, the Puranas were written with the object of popularizing the truths taught in the Vedas among the illeterate and ignorant masses.
The Jaina tradition as recorded by the Jaina authors (Acaryas), In the Mahapurana, gives credit for the origin of the Jaina Puranas to Raabhadeva, the first Jaina Thirthankara. Then this tradition continued through the thirthankara, Bharat, Ajitanätha, and Gaṇadhara Gautama, Srenika, Sudharmācārya, and Jambuswami etc.2 The two categories of the Purāņas, viz., the Puranas, and the Maha-Purāņas are known to the Jainas. The Paranas contain the description of one Saläkäpurusa only, where as the chief characteristics of the Mahapurānas are, that they deal the life & achievements of more than one Saläkāpurusa from amongst the sixty-three Salakāpurusas.
The earliest reference about the origins of the Jaina Purāņas, is found in Sthananga-sutra which contains some episodes about the life of AdiNatha. The tradition is that Acarya Hemacandra and others (of the Svetambara Sect) have written Trişaştiśaläkāpuruşacarita, and other works on the basis of the above mentioned work. In the Digambara tradition, the earlier version is found in the Prakrit work, named Tiloyapannatti and in the Svayambhustotra of Swami Samanta Bhadra. These works contain the 1. Rgveda 3.5.49, 3.58.6, 10.130.6, 9.99.4. Atharvaveda 11.7.27, 11.8.7; Gopatha Brāhmaṇa 1.2.10. 1.1,10.
2. Mahapurana, 1.183-201, 2.97,