Sri Krishna is described as one of the 63 salakapurushas (great personalities) in Jaina texts. Jaina Puranas and other poetic works narrate the life and deeds of Sri Krishna. Of these some are known as Harivamsa Puranas, which are written by various authors, the most notable of who is Acharya Jinasena (783 AD) in Sanskrit.
Later in the 15th century, Sakalakirti also composed a Harivamsa Purana in Sanskrit.
The Harivamsa Puranas in Apabhamsa were composed by Dhavala (11th century) and Raidhu (15th century).
The Jaina account of Krishna differs at some places from that of the ancient traditional works like the Mahabharata. It is told that Krishna defeated Jarasandha 347 times before killing him, and that he was 1000 years old when he established his kingdom in Dwaraka with the help of his cousin, Neminatha, who later became a Jaina Tirthankara.
As per Jain Literature:
- Sri Krishna had seven ratnas which are Chakra, Shakti, Gada, Shankha, Dhanusha, Dandha and Nandaka.
- He had 16,000 queens among whom Rukmini, Satyabhama, Sati Jambavati, Susima, Lakshmana, Gandhari, Gauri and Padmavati were the principal ones.
- Krishna was Vishwa Vijayi (conqueror of the world) and Chakravartin (great monarch).
According to Jaina tradition, Krishna will take birth again in the next Chaubisi as the 16th Tirthankara and will be called Nirmala.
Krishna was the ninth Narayana whose rival Jarasandha was Prati Narayana.