Puranas

The Goddess Ambika or Durga Leading the Eight Matrikas in Battle Against the Demon Raktabija, Folio from Devi Mahatmya, Markandeya Purana.

For other meanings, see Purana (disambiguation).

The Puranas (Sanskrit: पुराण purāṇa, "of ancient times") are a genre of important Hindu, Jain or Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.^[1]

Puranas usually give prominence to a particular deity, employing an abundance of religious and philosophical concepts. They are usually written in the form of stories related by one person to another. The Puranas are available in vernacular translations and are disseminated by Brahmin scholars, who read from them and tell their stories, usually in Katha sessions (in which a traveling brahmin settles for a few weeks in a temple and narrates parts of a Purana, usually with a Bhakti perspective).

Origins

An illustration of Varaha avatar based on the Bhagavata Purana

Vyasa, the narrator of the Mahabharata, is traditionally considered the compiler of the Puranas.^[2] However, the earliest written versions date from the time of the Gupta Empire (third-fifth century CE) and much material may be dated, through historical references and other means, to this period and the succeeding centuries. The texts were probably written all over India.

The date of the production of the written texts does not define the date of origin of the Puranas.^[3] On one hand, they existed in some oral form before being written^[3] while at the same time, they have been incrementally modified well into the 16th century^[3][4] and perhaps down to the present day.

An early reference is found in the Chandogya Upanishad (7.1.2). (circa 500BCE.) The Brhadaranyaka Upanishad refers to purana as the "fifth Veda"^[5], itihāsapurāṇaṃ pañcamaṃ vedānāṃ, reflecting the early religious importance of these myths, presumably then in purely oral form. The term also appears in the Atharvaveda 11.7.24.^[6][7]

According to Pargiter,^[6] the "original Purana" may date to the time of the final redaction of the Vedas. Gavin Flood connects the rise of the written Purana historically with the rise of devotional cults centring upon a particular deity in the Gupta era: the Puranic corpus is a complex body of materials that advance the views of various competing cults.^[8]

Although these texts are related to each other, and material in one is found in another, they nevertheless each present a view of ordering of the world from a particular perspective. They must not be seen as random collections of old tales, but as highly selective and crafted expositions and presentations of worldviews and soteriologies, compiled by particular groups of Brahmins to propagate a particular vision, whether it be focused on Viṣṇu, Śiva, or Devī, or, indeed, any number of deities.

Common ideas are found throughout the corpus but it is not possible to trace the lines of influence of one Purana upon another so the corpus is best viewed as a synchronous whole.^[8]

The All India Kashiraj Trust, formed under Vibhuti Narayan Singh, the Maharaja of Kashi, dedicated itself to publishing editions of the Puranas.^[9]

Content

According to Matysa Purana,^[10] they are said to narrate five subjects, called Pancha Lakshana pañcalakṣaṇa ("five distinguishing marks", though some scholars have suggested that these are shared by other traditional religious scriptures):^[11][12]

1. Sarga: the creation of the universe.
2. Pratisarga: secondary creations, mostly recreations after dissolution.
3. Vamśa: genealogy of the gods and sages.
4. Manvañtara: the creation of the human race and the first human beings. The epoch of the Manus' rule, 71 celestial Yugas or 308,448,000 years.
5. Vamśānucaritam: the histories of the patriarchs of the lunar and solar dynasties.

The Puranas also lay emphasis on keeping a record of genealogies, as the Vayu Purana says, "to preserve the genealogies of gods, sages and glorious kings and the traditions of great men."^[13] The Puranic genealogies indicate, for example, that Sraddhadeva Manu lived 95 generations before the Bharata war.^[14] In Arrian's Indica, Megasthenes is quoted as stating that the Indians counted from "Dionysos" (Shiva) to "Sandracottus" (Chandragupta Maurya) "a hundred and fifty-three kings over six thousand and forty-three years."^[15] The list of kings in Kalhana's Rajatarangini goes back to the 19th century BCE.^[16]

Pargiter has argued that the Puranic Krta Yuga—in the Vayu Purana the four Yugas are divided into 4800, 3600, 2400, and 1200 years—"ended with the destruction of the Haihayas [by Rama Jamadagnya]; the Treta began approximately with Sagara and ended with Rama Dasarathi's destruction of the Raksasas; and the Dvapara began with his reinstatement at Ayodhya and ended with the Bharata battle".^[17][18]

Texts

Part of a series on
Hindu scriptures
Vedas
Rigveda · Yajurveda Samaveda · Atharvaveda Divisions Samhita · Brahmana Aranyaka · Upanishad
Vedangas
Shiksha · Chandas Vyakarana · Nirukta Kalpa · Jyotisha
Upanishads
Rig vedic Aitareya Yajur vedic Brihadaranyaka · Isha Taittiriya · Katha Shvetashvatara Sama vedic Chandogya · Kena Atharva vedic Mundaka · Mandukya Prashna
Puranas
Brahma puranas Brahma · Brahmānda Brahmavaivarta Markandeya · Bhavishya Vishnu puranas Vishnu · Bhagavata Naradeya · Garuda · Padma · Agni Shiva puranas Shiva · Linga Skanda · Vayu
Epics
Ramayana Mahabharata (Bhagavad Gita)
Other scriptures
Manu Smriti Artha Shastra · Agama Tantra · Sūtra · Stotra Dharmashastra Divya Prabandha Tevaram Ramcharitmanas Yoga Vasistha
Scripture classification
Śruti · Smriti

The Mahapuranas

Of the many texts designated 'Puranas' the most important are the Mahāpurāṇas. These are always said to be eighteen in number, divided into three groups of six, though in fact they are not always counted in the same way. Combining the various lists Cornelia Dimmitt and J. A. B. van Buitenen have collated twenty names:^[19]

Classification

The Mahapuranas are frequently classified according the three aspects of the divine Trimurti,

^[23]

According to the Padma Purana,^[24] the texts may be classified in accordance with the three gunas or qualities; truth, passion, and ignorance:

The Upapuranas

The Upapurāṇas are lesser or ancillary texts: these are sometimes also said to be eighteen in number, with still less agreement as to the canonical titles. Few have been critically edited. They include: Sanat-kumara, Narasimha, Brihan-naradiya, Siva-rahasya, Durvasa, Kapila, Vamana, Bhargava, Varuna, Kalika, Samba, Nandi, Surya, Parasara, Vasishtha, Devi-Bhagavata, Ganesha, Mudgala, and Hamsa.^[25]

The Ganesha and Mudgala Puranas are devoted to Ganesha.^[26][27] The Devi-Bhagavata Purana, which extols the goddess Durga, has become (along with the Devi Mahatmya of the Mārkandeya Purana) a basic text for Devi worshipers.^[28]

There are many others all over the Indian subcontinent.^[29]

Sthala Puranas

This corpus of texts tells of the origins and traditions of particular Tamil Shiva temples or shrines. There are numerous Sthala Puranas, most written in vernaculars, some with Sanskrit versions as well. The 275 Shiva Sthalams of the continent have puranas for each, famously glorified in the Tamil literature Tevaram. Some appear in Sanskrit versions in the Mahapuranas or Upapuranas. Some Tamil Sthala Puranas have been researched by David Dean Shulman.^[30]

Kula Puranas

These Puranas deal with a caste's origin myth, stories, and legends (the word kula means "family" or "tribe" in Sanskrit). They are important sources for caste identity though usually contested by rival castes. This subgenre is usually in the vernacular and may at times remain oral.^[31] These have been little researched, though they are documented in the caste section of the British Census of India Report and the various Gazetteers.^[32]

Jain and Buddhist Puranas

Jain Puranas deal with Jain myths, history and legends and form a major part of early Kannada literature.^{[33] [34]} The best known is the Mahapurana of Acharya Jinasena. Among Buddhist Puranas, Swayambhu Purana narrates the mythological history of Nepal and describes Buddhist pilgrimage sites inside the Kathmandu Valley.

Notes

References

• Bhargava, P.L. 1971. India in the Vedic Age. Lucknow: Upper India Publishing.
• Dimmitt, Cornelia; van Buitenen (1978). Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the Sanskirt Puranas. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. ISBN 8170305969. 
• Doniger, Wendy (editor) (1993). Purāṇa Perennis: Reciprocity and Transformation in Hindu and Jaina Texts. Albany, New York: State University of New York. ISBN 0-7914-1382-9. 
• Handoo, Jawaharlal (editor) (1998). Folklore in Modern India. ISBN 81-7342-055-6. 
• Hardy, Friedhelm (2001). Viraha-Bhakti - The Early History of Krsna Devotion in South India. ISBN 0-19-564916-8. </ref>
• Flood, Gavin (1996) (Book). An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521433045. 
• Johnson, W.J. (2009). A Dictionary of Hinduism. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-861025-0. 
• Kaushal, Molly (editor) (2001). Chanted Narratives - The Katha Vachana Tradition. ISBN 81-246-0182-8. 
• Majumdar, R. C.; Pusalker, A. D. (1951). The history and culture of the Indian people. 1: The Vedic age. Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. 
• Mackenzie, Brwon (1990). The Triumph of the Goddess - The Canonical Models and Theological Visions of the DevI-BhAgavata PuraNa. State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-7914-0363-7. </ref>
• Mittal, Sushil (2004). The Hindu World. Routledge. ISBN 978-0415215275. 
• Moghe, S. G. (editor) (1997). Professor Kane's contribution to Dharmasastra literature. New Delhi: D.K. Printworld (P) Ltd.. ISBN 81-246-0075-9. 
• Monier-Williams, Monier (1899). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. 
• Pargiter, F.E. (1922). Ancient Indian Historical Tradition. London: Oxford University Press. 
• Pargiter, F. E. (1962) (Book). Ancient Indian historical tradition. Original publisher Oxford University Press, London. Delhi: Motilal Banarasidass. OCLC 1068416. 
• Rao, Velcheru Narayana (1993). "Purana as Brahminic Ideology". In Doniger Wendy (Book). Purana Perennis: Reciprocity and Transformation in Hindu and Jaina Texts. Albany: State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-7914-1381-0. 
• Shulman, David Dean (1980). Tamil Temple Myths: Sacrifice and Divine Marriage in the South Indian Saiva Tradition. ISBN 0-691-06415-6. 
• Singh, Nagendra Kumar (1997). Encyclopaedia of Hinduism. ISBN 8174881689. 
• Thapan, Anita Raina (1997). Understanding Gaṇapati: Insights into the Dynamics of a Cult. New Delhi: Manohar Publishers. ISBN 81-7304-195-4. 

Further reading

• Thurston Edgar. Castes and Tribes of Southern India (Vols I-V). Cosmo Publication, Delhi.

External links

• The Puranas (bharatadesam.com)

Texts

• Puranas in Devnagari, typed, PDF files
• GRETIL (uni-goettingen.de)

Translations

• Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Full text of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, with the original Sanskrit, word-for-word meanings, translation, and commentary.
• The Vishnu Purana Full text of the H.H. Wilson translation at sacred-texts.com

Synopses

• Contents of 18 Puranas and a list of Upapuranas (lesser Puranas) (a Java applet)
• Extensive synopsis of several Maha Puranas
• Synopsis of Puranas at Urday.com
• Agni Purana - A synopsis