Mahapurana (Jainism)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mahapurana (महापुराण) is a major Jain text [1] composed largely by Acharya Jinasena during the rule of Rashtrakuta Amoghavarsha and finished by his pupil Gunabhadra in the 9th century. The section composed by Gunabhadra is called "Uttarapurana". The completed and edited text was released by Lokasena, pupil of Gunabhadra in a celebration at Bankapur in the court of Vira-Bankeyarasa in 898 AD.
It givens an encyclopediaic account of the Jain tradition [2]. It is widely quoted. A widely used quote is [3]
Some foolish men declare that Creator made the world. The doctrine that the world was created is ill-advised, and should be rejected. If god created the world, where was he before creation? If you say he was transcendent then, and needed no support, where is he now?" [4],[5]
A number of Jain and non-Jain texts have been influenced by the Mahapurana. Mahapurana was the model for Saiva Siddhanta Periyapuranam which gives biographies of 63 individuals [6]. It also served as the basis for the description of Lord Rishabha in the Bhagavata Purana[7]. .
[edit] References
- ^ Published by Bharatiya Janapitha, 1979, edited and translated by Pt. Pannalal Sahitya Shastri
- ^ ANTIQUITY OF JAINISM http://www.umich.edu/~umjains/jainismsimplified/chapter20.html
- ^ From Carl Sagan's Cosmos, page 140 http://www.angelfire.com/blog2/endovelico/CarlSagan-Cosmos.pdf
- ^ http://www.processandfaith.org/publications/CT/Volume%2012/Ct12-1web.pdf
- ^ Afterword on Jinasena, D. Lakey, The Philosophical Forum, Volume 33 Issue 3 Page 343-344 - Fall 2002
- ^ Anne E. Monius, Love, Violence, and the Aesthetics of disgust: Saivas and Jains In Medieval South India, Journal of Indian philosophy, 2004, vol. 32, no 2-3, pp. 113 - 172
- ^ Jina Rsabha as an Avatara of Visnu, Padmanabh S. Jaini, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 1977, pp. 321-337
