मल्लपुराण (ज्येष्ठिमल्ल - प्राचीन भारतीय मल्लविद्या, अखाड़ा व्यायाम व कुश्ती महाग्रन्थ)

7
The strong worship of Kṛṣṇa in Gujarat seems to have revived after the
movement of Puṣṭimārga in the late 15th and 16th centuries A.D. So we
meet with the literature with great emphasis on Kṛṣṇa worship from these
centuries onwards. The establishment of the goddes Limbajā is also attributed
to Kṛṣṇa's power in the Mallapurāṇa. This fact again suggests that Kṛṣṇa
worship had really gained in Gujarat when this work was composed.
If this religious picture is considered the present work need not be placed
in a period prior to about 15th century A.D. This was again a period of
Hindu and Jaina revival as can be gleaned through the post Chaulukyan
temples in Gujarat. This period is suggested by the internal evidence of the
language and religious practices as noted in Mallapurāṇa. This date is closer
to the Dharmāraṇya which was also composed in the 15th century A.D.
Summing up the evidence of the chronology of this Purana, it can be seen
that it was composed before 1674 A.D. but not before the 15th century A.D.
Authorship :
The Mallapurāṇa brings into its discourse Narada, Brahmā, Kṛṣṇa,
Balarāma and one brāhmin named Someśvara. Nowhere in the text is any
name of any other person taking part in the narrative. The colophons are also
silent in this respect. Dunichandra the writer of B.MS. is merely a scribe,
hence the evidence for authorship is extremely meagre.
Still, however, in the concluding portions of the book there is specific
mention of a brahmin of Kāśyapa gotra (XVIII. 76). Here all other gotras
that are previously mentioned are not noted. In the earlier reference (XVIII.
52-53) this Kāśyapa gotra is considered to be the twelfth gotra and the state-
ment just following it notes that Udīca Jñāti Sambhūtaṁ Gotraṁ Kāśya-
pameva ca suggests that the audichya Brāhmins are considered for this purpose
to belong to the special gotra and the brahmin of this gotra is given preference
for worship.
This coincidence is interesting. The Mallas are from Moḍherā and
amongst them this Udīchya Jñyāti is included for receiving their respect. This
paradox can be removed if one infers that this text was written by some
Audichya brāhmin for the mallas. The writer would naturally desire his
progeny to prosper from his work ; so in the section of Vyāsapūjā the name of
his gotra is included. From this circumstantial evidence it could be noted that
this text was written by some audichya Brāhmin, for the benefit of the Mallas.
The name of the author is unknown but the major role is played by Someśvara
in the whole text, hence one may reasonably infer that the author of this work
is an audichya brahmin, who might be a friend of Someśvara of Garga Gotra.