TheParishishtaparvan (IAST:Pariśiṣṭaparvan) also known as theSthaviravalicharitra (IAST:Sthavirāvalīcaritra) is a 12th-centurySanskritmahakavya byHemachandra which details the histories of the earliestJain teachers. The poem comprises 3,460 verse couplets divided into 13cantos of unequal length and is also notable for providing information on the political history of ancient India.[1][2]
TheTrishashtishalakapurushacharitra (IAST:Triṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra;The Lives of the Sixty-three Illustrious People), an epic Sanskrit poem on the key figures inJainism, was composed by Hemachandra at the request of theChaulukya king,Kumarapala. The Sthaviravalicharitra (The Lives of the Jain Elders) is considered a self-contained sequel to this work and is consequently referred to as the Parishishtaparvan orThe Appendix.[3]
The period largely covered in the poem corresponds toc. 480 – c. 200 BCE and follows the growth of the kingdom ofMagadha and the establishment of theMaurya Empire. According to Hemachandra, the sequence of rulers in the times of the Jains discussed was:Shrenika,Kunika,Udayin, the nineNandas,Chandragupta Maurya,Ashoka, andSamprati. Hemachandra also speaks of Samprati being instrumental in the spread of Jainism further south.[4]
The Parishishtaparvan was Hemachandra's last major work.[3]
The text talks about the incorrect strategy ofChanakya of attackingDhana Nanda's capital.[5] It further narrates that he leaned from this incidence and changed strategy by convincing peripheral kingdoms starting withParvataka ofHimavatkuta.[5]