242 SKETCH OF THE 



Pur ana, and Chaturvinsati Pur ana ;* but these are not to be confounded 

 with the Puranas of the Hindus; as, although they occasionally insert 

 legends borrowed from the latter, their especial object is the legendary 

 history of the Tirthakaras, or deified teachers, peculiar to the sect. The 

 chief Puranas are attributed to Jina Sena Acharya, whom some accounts 

 make contemporary with Vikramaditya; but the greater number, and most 

 consistent of the traditions of the South, describe him as the spiritual 

 preceptor of Amoghaversha, king of Kdnchi, at the end of the ninth cen- 

 tury of the Christian era. Analogous to the Jain Puranas, are works deno- 

 minated Cheritras, their subject being, in general, the marvellous history 

 of some Tirthankara, or some holy personage, after whom they are deno- 

 minated ; as the Jinadatta Raya Cheritra, Pujyapdda Cherilra, and others. 

 They have a number of works explanatory of their philosophical notions 

 and religious tenets of the sect, as well as rituals of practice, and a gram- 

 matical system founded on the rules of Sakatayana, is illustrated by glosses 

 and commentaries. The Jains have also their own writers on astronom}^ 

 and astrology, on medicine, or the mathematical sciences, and the form 

 and disposition of the universe. 



This general view of Jain literature is afforded by the Mackenzie 

 Collection, but the list there given is very far from including the whole of 

 Jain literature, or even a considerable proportion. The works there alluded 

 to, are, in fact, confined to Southern India, and are written in Sanscrit, or the 



* Hamilton says, the Digambaras have twenty-four Puranas, twenty-three giving an account 

 of each Tirthankara, and the twenty-fourth, of the whole ; but this seems to be erroneous. The actions 

 of the twenty-four Tirthankaras are described in a single Pur&na, but the section devoted to each is 

 called after him, severally as the Purdna of each, as Rishabha Deva Purdna, one section of the 

 Chdmunda Rdya Purdna. In the Adi and Uttara Puranas, forming, in fact, but one work ; the Adi, 

 or first part, is appropriated to the first Tirthankara, whilst the Uttara, or last portion, contains the 

 accounts of all the other deified Sages. There are several collections, comprehending what may be 

 termed twenty-four Puranas ; but it does not appear that there are twenty-four distinct works so 

 denominated. 



