Mahapurana (4 Vol)

by Bhartiya Jnanapith

Mahapurana is the earliest and largest of the three known poetic works of the great poet Pushapadandanta composed in the Apabhramsha language.  The other two are Nayakumarachariu and Jasaharchariu which have been edited by Dr. Hiralal Jain with a detailed introduction and Hindi translation and published by the Bhartiya Jnanpith.

This epic is a pure mirror reflecting all facets of Indian culture in the 10th century.  On one side there are in it characters struggling against the bonds of human passion, one the other comparative portrayals of nature and human nature.   We also find in it a beautiful synthesis of feeling and imagination, religion and life, and poetry and scripture. Pushpadanta lived in the Rashtrakuta capital Manyakhet (Malkhed) near Hyderabad. By writing this epic in the Apabhramsha language, he proved that a poet’s genius does not accept regional or linguistic compulsions. His experience and sensibility is universal.

Published in five parts, the Mahapurana describes the life-story of the Tirthankara Adinatha in its first and second parts the, lives of thirthankaras from Ajitnatha and Mallinatha in the third part, of the tirthankaras Munisuvrata and Naminatha in the fourth part and the life histories of the last three tirthankaras Neminatha, Parshvanatha and Vardhamana Mahavira (along with other contemporaneous shalakapurushas or divine personages) in the fifth part. We present a new edition of the work edited by Dr P.L. Vaidya with Hindi translation and introduction by Dr. Devendra Kumar Jain.  
This book is in Sanskrit with Hindi Translation.