View source for Mahapurana Jainism

{{Distinguish|Mahapurana (Hinduism)}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Mahapurana'' (Jainism)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox religious text
| image  = File:Mahapuran.jpg
| religion = [[Jainism]]
| author = [[Jinasena]]
| period = 9th century CE
}}
{{Jainism}}
'''''Mahapurana''''' (महापुराण) or '''''Trishashthilkshana Mahapurana''''' is a major [[Jain text]]<ref>Published by [[Bharatiya Jnanapitha]], 1979, edited and translated by [[Pannalal Jain]]</ref> composed largely by ''Acharya'' [[Jinasena]] during the rule of [[Rashtrakuta]] ruler [[Amoghavarsha]] and completed by his pupil [[Gunabhadra (Jain monk)|Gunabhadra]] in the 9th century CE. Mahapurana consists of two parts. The first part is '''''[[Ādi purāṇa]]''''' written by ''Acharya'' Jinasena. The second part is '''''[[Uttarapurana]]''''' which is the section composed by Gunabhadra.

==Description==
The ''Trishashthilkshana Mahapurana'' was composed by [[Jinasena]], Gunabhadra and [[Chavundaraya]] in 9th century CE.{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2016|p=26}}{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2016|p=29}}

Mahapurana consists of two parts. The first part is ''[[Ādi purāṇa]]'' written by ''Acharya'' Jinasena. The second part is ''Uttarpurana'' which is the section composed by Gunabhadra. ''Adipurana'' contains about 37 chapters where as ''Uttarapurana'' contains about 65 chapters.<ref>A History of Indian Literature: Buddhist literature and Jaina literature. Moriz Winternitz. University of Calcutta, 1933. p. 637</ref>
The completed and edited text was released by Lokasena, pupil of Gunabhadra in a celebration at [[Bankapura]] in the court of Vira-Bankeyarasa in 898 CE. The first 42 ''Parvan''s of this text were written by Jinasena, while remaining 
34 ''Parvan''s were composed by Gunabhara.

''Mahapurana'' is a work of Pushpadanta (''[[Digambara]]'' writer) in 960 AD in [[Apabhramsa]].{{sfn|Umakant P. Shah|1987|p=239}}

This text gives an encyclopedic account of the Jain tradition.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.umich.edu/~umjains/jainismsimplified/chapter20.html |title=Antiquity Of Jainism |publisher=Umich.edu |access-date=2012-04-21}}</ref> The text is widely quoted. A widely used quote in [[Carl Sagan's Cosmos]], written in the Mahapurana is:<ref>http://www.angelfire.com/blog2/endovelico/CarlSagan-Cosmos.pdf</ref>

<blockquote>"Some foolish men declare that a 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? . . .How could God have made the world without any raw material? If you say He made this first, and then the world, you are faced with an endless regression . . . Know that the world is uncreated, as time itself is, without beginning and end. And it is
based on the principles . . . - The Mahapurana (The Great Legend), Jinasena (India, ninth century)",<ref>[http://www.processandfaith.org/publications/CT/Volume%2012/Ct12-1web.pdf Ct12-1] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070221121142/http://www.processandfaith.org/publications/CT/Volume%2012/Ct12-1web.pdf |date=21 February 2007 }}</ref><ref>''Afterword on Jinasena'', D. Lakey, ''[[The Philosophical Forum]]'', Volume 33 Issue 3 Page 343-344 - Fall 2002</ref></blockquote>

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 the 63 individuals.<ref>[[Anne E. Monius]], ''Love, Violence, and the Aesthetics of disgust: Saivas and Jains In Medieval South India'' in ''[[Journal of Indian Philosophy]]'', 2004, vol. 32, no 2-3, pp. 113-172</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Tirthankara]]
*[[Jinasena]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
* {{citation |last=Shah |first=Umakant P. |title=Jaina-rūpa-maṇḍana: Jaina iconography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m_y_P4duSXsC |date=1987 |publisher=Abhinav Publications |isbn=81-7017-208-X |ref={{sfnref|Umakant P. Shah|1987}} }}
* {{citation |last=Singh |first=Upinder |author-link=Upinder Singh |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pq2iCwAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Pearson Education]] |date=2016 |isbn=978-93-325-6996-6 |ref={{sfnref|Upinder Singh|2016}} }}

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