Uttara Purana

Author(s): Gunbhadrasuri, Pannalal Jain
Publisher: Bharatiya Gyanpith

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PREFACE to the first Edition
With the publication of this part containing the Uttarapurāņa by Guņabhadra, the Bhāratiya Jñānapītha, Banaras, has to its credit a signal achievement in presenting to the world of scholars the celebrated Sanskrit work, the Mahāpurāņa (MP) or the Trișaști-laksaņa-mahāpurāņa-samgraha (TLMPS), of Jinasena-and-Guņabhadra, in three handy volumes. As compared with the three or four earlier editions of this work, in part or full, with Marathi, Hindi and Kannada translations, this edition is characteristically superior. The Sanskrit text is critically presented after collating it from a number of Mss. important readings from which are duly noted; it is accompanied, just below, by a fluent Hindi praraphrase; there is an exhaustive Introduction in Hindi which not only puts together all information about the authors but also touches some important topics from the work itself; lastly, there is an alphabetical Index of the verses. Thus this edition meets the needs of a pious reader, and goes a great way to satisfy the demands of a critical scholar.
The MP or the TLMPS, as its title indicates, is a great narrative of the ancient times, basically describing the lives of 63 Saläkāpuruşas, namely, 24 Tīrthakaras, 12 Cakravartins, 6 Balabhadras, 9 Nārāyaṇas and 9 Pratinārāyanas recognised and honoured by Jainism. These biographies do not cover only one life of theirs, but present a detailed account of the career of their souls through various earlier births and also indicate their march on the path of religious and spiritual progress. In fact, these lives hold before the religious aspirants various facets of the spiritual career of great many souls that inspire religious confidence in others and lay down spiritual standards for them.
The entire narration is put in the mouth of Gautama and delivered in reply to the enquiry of king Sreņika, both of whom are historical persons. These biographies of souls give many an occasion to the authors to introduce various topics of traditional and conventional character and to embody in the work mythological, religious, dogmatical, sacramental and ritualistic details, and thus make the whole work almost an encyclopedia of Jainism. We get here a graphic description of the evolution of human society along the march of time and of what the great souls of the past did for man in the beginning. The careers of migrating souls bring before one the glim