The Kuber Purana A Study (With Text)

The Kuber Purana is the work of a well known Jain poet Manikyadevasuri. It is such a prominent work, that it has been included in the list of the Puranas. His poetic talent & critical acumen I can be seen in his work.

Present work on the Kuber Purana is a detailed comparative analysis with a fuller and elaborate discussions of the story of Nala available in the Mahabharata, the Naisadhacarita of Sriharsa and the Kuber Purana.

Professor Asoke Chatterjee Sastri (1929-1996) obtained a number of oriental and occidenal degrees from different Oriental Institutions and Universities of India and abroad securing the top position in all examinations. A very well-known and celebrated Indologist, he had written 36 original research books in different languages like Sanskrit, Hindi, English, Bengali, German. He had at least 200 papers published in the leading indological journals of India and Europe to his credit. He was a famous research guide too. About forty students have worked under his guidance and obtained Ph.D. Degrees. He was formerly the Professor and Head of the Department of Sanskrit (Itihas and Purana) in the Sanskrit University (now Sampurnanand Sanskrit University) Varanasi, and then Professor and Head of the Department of Sanskrit, University of Calcutta. Recepient of several prestigious Prizes and Honours, he had travelled all over the world on many occasions. He was also the visiting Professor of Sanskrit at the Buddhist University, Nong-Khai, Thailand. In 1991 he was especially invited by the Universities of Oxford, London and Heidelberg and he delivered some extension lectures there.

He was associated with all the recognised institutions catering to the development of Sanskrit Sponsored by the Govts. of India. and West Bengal as well.

The hardcore followers of Jainism generally enriched the domain of Prakrit literature by writing choicest dissertations in Prakrit. The Aruyogadara sutta, however, admits that equal importance should be given to Sanskrit as well as Prakrit. There we find the following verse :-

"sakyaya payaya ceva

bhaniio hoti dammi va

saramandalammi gijjam to

paryatha isibhasiya"

In fact the Jaina savants had no other way alternative but to take resort to Sanskrit in order to establish their tenets of thoughts. They attempted to prove insignificance of the ideas and principles of the heterodox systems of Indian philosophy which had been all along written in Sanskrit. But this cannot be held for good so far their literary activities are concerned.

The Harivamsapurana of Jinasena Svayambhu, the Mahapurana of Gunadhara,the Trisastisalaka of Purusacarita, the Pandavacarita Mahakavya of Devaprabhasuri and such other Jaina works as Pandavapurana, Pandavacarita etc. are some of the notable contributions of the Jain's.