Jaina Harivamsas
There are also Jaina Harivamsas in various languages that present Jaina traditions of the Krishna story. One of the earliest of these is the Harivaṃśapurāṇa (783 AD) of Jinasena. It is divided into 66 cantos and contains 12,000 slokas. The book aims to narrate the life of Arishtanemi, the twenty-second Tirthankara of the Jainas. According to the Jaina sources, Arishtanemi is the first cousin of Krishna. Therefore, Krishna’s adventures too occupy a significant portion of the book. An outline of Jinasena’s work is as follows.
The description of the dynasty of the Yadus is spread over the cantos 19-63. The 32nd canto contains the description of Balarama. The tale of the birth of Krishna begins from canto 35. The description of the youthful exploits of Krishna is similar to the Hindu lore. There follows the description of the slaying of Kamsa at the festival of consecration of the bow. Then Jarasandha sends his brother and his son to attack Mathura, both of them killed by Krishna. The birth of Arishtanemi takes place in Sauryapura amidst great celebrations. Jarasandha then lays siege of Mathura resulting in the migration of Krishna and his kinsmen to Dwarka. The marriage with Rukmini and the birth and abduction of Pradyumna follows. Then the account of the Pandavas is narrated which bears significant differences from the Hindu accounts. The reunion of Krishna and Pradyumna is narrated next. The text then describes the final combat between Jarasandha and Krishna with the Kauravas acting as allies to the former while the Pandavas to the latter. The war ends with the death of Jarasandha and the deification of Krishna as Narayana. Thereafter the Pandavas retreat to south to establish Pandu Mathura (modern Madurai). This is followed by the account of the attainment of arhathood by Arishtanemi, the destruction of Dwarka by Krishna Dwaipayana’s curse, the demise of Krishna and Balarama and the ascent of the Pandavas to the heavens. The book closes with and account of the dynasty of Yadu propagated by Jaratkumara.
Although styled as a Purana, the text follows the techniques of classical Sanskrit poetry and is more a kavya than a Purana.
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