Adi Purana

by Jinasena

Also known as: Ādi Purāṇa, Adipurana, Mahapurana — Adi Purana, Adipurana of Jinasena

Adi Purana cover
Culture:Indian, Jain
Oral:before 900 CE
Written:800-900 CE
Length:7,000 lines, (~20 hours)
Adi Purana cover
A Digambara Jain Purana by Jinasena narrating the life of the first Tirthankara Rishabhanatha (Adinatha), his lineage, and the paradigmatic careers of Bharata and Bahubali, culminating in renunciation and liberation.

Description

The Adi Purana presents the Jain sacred biography of Rishabhanatha (Adinatha), the primordial Tirthankara who inaugurates human arts, social order, and the path toward liberation. Set within vast cosmological cycles, it follows his royal life, renunciation, kevala-knowledge, and teaching. The narrative also elaborates the destinies of his sons—Bharata, the universal monarch (Chakravartin), and Bahubali, whose famed duel, remorse, and asceticism become models of conquering inner passions. Throughout, the text integrates Jain doctrine—nonviolence, karma, restraint—and cultural aetiologies (e.g., writing, numeration) attributed to Rishabha’s daughters. Its episodes provided a foundation for later Jain literature and temple culture, especially the Bahubali cult and didactic narratives on kingship transformed by renunciation.

Historiography

Traditionally attributed to the Digambara monk Jinasena in the Rashtrakuta era; later paired with Gunabhadra’s Uttarapurana to form the Mahapurana. Survives in multiple manuscript traditions (Nagari and regional Jain scripts) with minor recensional variance. Medieval Kannada retellings—notably Pampa’s Adipurana—popularized episodes for royal and lay audiences. The work shaped iconography (Kayotsarga, bull emblem) and received scholastic exegesis in Digambara commentarial lines.

Date Notes

Composed under Rashtrakuta patronage; paired with Gunabhadra’s Uttarapurana as the Mahapurana. Earlier Tirthankara legends circulated for centuries in oral and earlier textual strata.

Major Characters

  • Rishabhanatha
  • Bharata
  • Bahubali
  • Brahmi
  • Sundari

Myths

  • Life of Rishabhanatha
  • Coronation of Bharata
  • Duel of Bharata and Bahubali
  • Renunciation and Liberation of Bahubali
  • Establishment of the Jain Order

Facts

  • Attributed to the Digambara ācārya Jinasena and composed under Rashtrakuta patronage.
  • Forms, with Gunabhadra’s Uttarapurana, the composite Mahapurana in Digambara tradition.
  • Centers on Rishabhanatha, the first Tirthankara, and his sons Bharata and Bahubali.
  • Presents Rishabha as culture hero teaching arts, writing, and numeration via his children.
  • Bharata is portrayed as Chakravartin; Bahubali as the exemplar of sudden renunciation.
  • The Bahubali episode inspired later cult and the Gommateshwara iconography in Karnataka.
  • Themes foreground ahimsa, restraint, karma doctrine, and the superiority of inner conquest.
  • Influenced later vernacular retellings, notably Pampa’s Kannada Adipurana (10th century).
  • Survives in multiple manuscript recensions with Digambara commentarial traditions.
  • Often cited for Jain social aetiologies and the archetype of kingship yielding to asceticism.