Lives of the 63 Illustrious Beings
Also known as: Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra, Trishashti Shalaka Purusha Charitra, Lives of the Sixty-Three Illustrious Beings, Lives of the 63 Great Men


A Jain universal history narrating the lives of the 63 Salākā Puruṣas—24 Tirthankaras, 12 Chakravartins, 9 Baladevas, 9 Vāsudevas, and 9 Prativāsudevas—framed within Jain cosmology and ethics.
Description
Hemachandra’s Sanskrit narrative compiles the exemplary careers of the sixty-three world-figures revered in Jain tradition. Interweaving prose with verse, it recounts the births, renunciations, conquests, and liberations (or falls) of Tirthankaras, universal monarchs, and the paired triads of Baladeva–Vāsudeva–Prativāsudeva cycles. The work integrates earlier Purāṇic materials into a coherent Jain vision of time, karma, and non-violence, offering Jain retellings of well-known cycles such as those of Rāma and Kṛṣṇa alongside accounts of figures like Ṛṣabhanātha, Bharata, and Bāhubali. It serves simultaneously as sacred narrative, moral exemplum, and cultural encyclopedia for Śvetāmbara Jain communities.
Historiography
Hemachandra (1088–1172 CE) composed the text at the Solanki court, consolidating earlier Jain Purāṇas and genealogies into a systematic universal history. It circulated widely in Western India, surviving in numerous manuscripts and later receiving printed editions and an influential English translation across multiple volumes in the 20th century. The work shaped Śvetāmbara narrative pedagogy and temple art cycles, and it remains a key source for Jain adaptations of the Rāma and Kṛṣṇa legends.
Date Notes
Composed by Acharya Hemachandra during the 1100s CE at the court of Chaulukya (Solanki) king Kumarapala in Gujarat.
Major Characters
- Rishabhanatha
- Bharata
- Bahubali
- Neminatha
- Mahavira
- Rama
- Lakshmana
- Krishna
- Balarama
Myths
- Lives of the Tirthankaras
- Chakravartins and Universal Monarchs
- Prophets, Warriors, and Seers of Jain Tradition
Facts
- ‘Sixty-three Illustrious Beings’ comprise 24 Tirthankaras, 12 Chakravartins, 9 Baladevas, 9 Vāsudevas, and 9 Prativāsudevas.
- The work systematizes earlier Jain universal histories into a single narrative cycle.
- Hemachandra frames political power as subordinate to ahiṃsā and ascetic discipline.
- Rāma is treated as a Baladeva; Lakshmana as Vāsudeva; Rāvaṇa as Prativāsudeva in Jain retellings.
- Kṛṣṇa appears as a Vāsudeva, paired with Balarāma (Baladeva) and opposed by Jarāsandha (Prativāsudeva).
- Bharata and Bahubali’s rivalry exemplifies conquest, pride, and renunciation culminating in spiritual victory.
- The narrative integrates cosmography, genealogy, and ethics under karmic causality.
- The text influenced temple murals, manuscript painting, and didactic storytelling in Western India.
- English translations in multiple volumes helped standardize names and cycles for modern scholarship.
- Mallinatha is uniquely presented as the 19th Tirthankara, with sectarian discussions on gender in later tradition.