Jinasena
Encyclopedia
Jinasena is the name of several famous Jain Acharya
Acharya
In Indian religions and society, an acharya is a guide or instructor in religious matters; founder, or leader of a sect; or a highly learned man or a title affixed to the names of learned men...

s of the Digambar tradition.
  • The author of Harivamsha Purana
    Harivamsha Purana
    Harivamsha Purana may be*the Vaishnava text Harivamsha*an 8th century Jain text the Harivamshapurana by Jinasena of Punnata lineage....

    in the 8th century. He belonged to the Punnata branch of Jain monks.
  • The author of Mahapurana
    Mahapurana
    Mahapurana may refer to:* one of the 18 major Hindu Puranas*Mahapurana , a well-known 9th century Jain text by Jinasena...

     in the 9th century, he was the disciple of Virasena and he completed his teacher's famous commentary "Dhavala" on Kashayaprabhrita. Mahapurana includes Adipurana and Uttarapurana, the project was completed by his pupil Gunabhadra.
  • The legendary founder of the Khandelwal Jain
    Sarawagi
    The Sarawagi or Saraogi Jain community, meaning a Jain Śrāvaka, is also known as the Khandelwali. They originated from Khandela, a historical town in northern Rajasthan....

     community.
  • Jinasena is also the traditional name of the Bhattaraka
    Bhattaraka
    A Bhaṭṭāraka is the head of traditional Jain institutions. They are responsible for training of scholars, maintenance of libraries, managing the endowments, presiding over the installation ceremonies and running of Jain institutions....

    s of the Sena Gana seat.


Mahapurana is the source of the famous quote:

Some foolish men declare that Creator made the world. The doctrine that the world was created is ill-advised, and should be rejected. If god created the world, where was he before creation? If you say he was transcendent then, and needed no support, where is he now?

No single being had the skill to make the world - for how can an immaterial god create that which is material? How could god have made the world without any raw material? If you say he made this first, and then the world, you are face with an endless regression. If you declare that the raw material arose naturally you fall into another fallacy, for the whole universe might thus have been its own creator, and have risen equally naturally. If god created the world by an act of will, without any raw material, then it is just his will made nothing else and who will believe this silly stuff?

If he is ever perfect, and complete, how could the will to create have arisen in him? If, on the other hand, he is not perfect, he could no more create the universe than a potter could. If he is formless, actionless, and all-embracing, how could he have created the world? Such a soul, devoid of all modality, would have no desire to create anything. If you say that he created to no purpose, because it was his nature to do so then god is pointless.

If he created in some kind of sport, it was the sport of a foolish child, leading to trouble. If he created out of love for living things and need of them he made the world; why did he not make creation wholly blissful, free from misfortune? Thus the doctrine that the world was created by god makes no sense at all.

[from Barbara Sproul, Primal Myths (San Francisco; Harper Row, 1979].

Mahapurana was the model for Saiva Siddhanta Periyapuranam which gives biographies of 63 individuals. Jinasena belonged to the Panchastupanvaya lineage of Jain monks. The spiritual lineage of Jinasena continues today and is called Senagana.
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