Puranas ( Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on "Puranas", , page 915) are a vast genre of Indian literature that include a wide range of topics, especially legends and other traditional lore. The Puranas are known for the intricate layers of symbolism depicted within their stories. Composed originally in Sanskrit
and in other Indian languages,John Cort (1993), "An Overview of the Jaina Puranas" in Purana Perennis: Reciprocity and Transformation in Hindu and Jaina Texts, (Editor: Wendy Doniger), State University of New York Press, , pages 185-204 several of these texts are named after major Hindu deities such as Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, and Mahadevi. The Puranic genre of literature is found in both Hinduism and Jainism.The Puranic literature is encyclopedic, and it includes diverse topics such as cosmogony, cosmology, genealogies of gods, goddesses, kings, queens, heroes, heroines, sages, other gods, other goddesses, folk tales, pilgrimages, temples, medicine, astronomy, grammar, mineralogy, humor, love stories, theology, philosophy, etc. The content is highly inconsistent across the Puranas, and each Purana has survived in numerous manuscripts which are themselves inconsistent. The Hindu Maha Puranas are traditionally attributed to Vyasa, but many scholars considered them likely the work of many authors over the centuries; in contrast, most Jaina Puranas can be dated and their authors assigned.
There are 18 Mukhya Puranas (Major Puranas) and 18 Upa Puranas (Minor Puranas), with over 400,000 verses. The first versions of various Puranas were likely to have been composed between 3rd and 10th century CE. While the Puranas do not enjoy the authority of a scripture in Hinduism and are considered , they shaped Hinduism more than the Vedas, providing a "culture synthesis" in weaving and integrating the diverse beliefs of a great number of local traditions into the Vedic-Brahmanic fold. While all Puranas praise many gods and goddesses and "their sectarianism is far less clear cut" than assumed, the religious practices included in them are considered Vaidika (congruent with Vedic literature).Dominic Goodall (1996), Hindu Scriptures, University of California Press, , page xxxix The Puranic literature wove with the Bhakti movement in India, and both Dvaita and Advaita scholars have commented on the underlying Vedantic themes in the Maha Puranas.BN Krishnamurti Sharma (2008), A History of the Dvaita School of Vedānta and Its Literature, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 128-131
The term Purana appears in the Vedic texts. For example, Atharva Veda mentions Purana (in the singular) in XI.7.24 and XV.6.10-11:
Similarly, the Shatapatha Brahmana (XI.5.6.8) mentions Itihasapuranam (as one compound word) and recommends that on the 9th day of Pariplava, the hotr priest should narrate some Purana because "the Purana is the Veda, this it is" (XIII.4.3.13). However, states P.V. Kane, it is not certain whether these texts suggested several works or a single work with the term Purana. The late Vedic text Taittiriya Aranyaka (II.10) uses the term in the plural. Therefore, states Kane, that in the later Vedic period at least, the Puranas referred to three or more texts, and that they were studied and recited. In numerous passages the Mahabharata mentions 'Purana
Another early mention of the term 'Itihas-purana' is found in the Chandogya Upanishad (7.1.2), translated by Patrick Olivelle as "the corpus of histories and ancient tales as the fifth Veda".
Thomas Colburn (2002), Devī-māhātmya: The Crystallization of the Goddess Tradition, Motilal Banarsidass, , page 24-25 The Brhadaranyaka Upanishad also refers to purana as the "fifth Veda".Brhadaranyaka Upanisad 2.4.10, 4.1.2, 4.5.11. Satapatha Brahmana (SBE, Vol. 44, pp. 98, 369).According to Thomas Coburn, Puranas and early extra-puranic texts attest to two traditions regarding their origin, one proclaiming a divine origin as the breath of the great beings, the other as a human sage named Vyasa as the arranger of already existing material into eighteen Puranas. In the early references, states Coburn, the term Purana occurs in singular unlike the later era which refers to a plural form presumably because they had assumed their "multifarious form".
According to the Indologists J. A. B. van Buitenen and Cornelia Dimmitt, the Puranas that have survived into the modern era are ancient but represent "an amalgam of two somewhat different but never entirely different separate oral literatures: the Brahmin tradition stemming from the reciters of the Vedas, and the bardic poetry recited by Sutas that was handed down in Kshatriya circles". The original Puranas comes from the priestly roots while the later genealogies have the warrior and epic roots. These texts were collected for the "second time between the fourth and sixth centuries CE under the rule of the Gupta kings and queens", a period of Hindu renaissance. However, the editing and expansion of the Puranas did not stop after the Gupta era, and the texts continued to "grow for another five hundred or a thousand years" and these were preserved by priests who maintained Hindu pilgrimage sites and temples. The core of Itihasa-Puranas, states Klaus Klostermaier, may possibly go back to the 7th century BCE or even earlier.
Sometimes also called Adi Purana, because many Mahapuranas lists put it first of 18. The text has 245 chapters, shares many passages with Vishnu, Vayu, Markendeya Puranas, and with the Mahabharata. Includes mythology, theory of war, art work in temples, and other cultural topics. Describes holy places in Odisha, and weaves themes of Vishnu and Shiva, but hardly any mention of deity Brahma despite the title. |
A large compilation of diverse topics, it describes cosmology, the world and nature of life from the perspective of Vishnu. It also discusses festivals, numerous legends, geography of rivers and regions from northwest India to Bengal to the kingdom of Tripura, major sages of India, various Avatars of Vishnu and his cooperation with Shiva, a story of Rama-Sita that is different from the Hindu epic Ramayana. The north Indian manuscripts of Padma Purana are very different from south Indian versions, and the various recensions in both groups in different languages (Devanagari and Bengali, for example) show major inconsistencies. Like the Skanda Purana, it is a detailed treatise on travel and pilgrimage centers in India. |
One of the most studied and circulated Puranas, it also contains genealogical details of various dynasties. Better preserved after the 17th century, but exists in inconsistent versions, more ancient pre-15th century versions are very different from modern versions, with some versions discussing Buddhism and Jainism. Some chapters likely composed in Kashmir and Punjab region of South Asia. A Vaishnavism text, focused on Vishnu. |
The Shiva Purana is one of eighteen Purana genre of Sanskrit texts in Hinduism, and part of the Shaivism literature corpus. It primarily centers around the Hindu god Shiva and goddess Parvati, but references and reveres all gods. The Shiva Purana asserts that it once consisted of 100,000 verses set out in twelve (books), however the Purana adds that it was abridged by sage Vyasa before being taught to Romaharshana. |
The most studied and popular of the Puranas,, column 3, under the entry Bhagavata. telling of Vishnu's , and of Vaishnavism. It contains genealogical details of various dynasties. Numerous inconsistent versions of this text and historical manuscripts exist, in many Indian languages. Influential and elaborated during Bhakti movement. |
Also called Naradiya Purana. Discusses the four and the six . Dedicates one chapter each, from Chapters 92 to 109, to summarize the other 17 Maha Puranas and itself. Lists major rivers of India and places of pilgrimage, and a short tour guide for each. Includes discussion of various philosophies, soteriology, planets, astronomy, myths and characteristics of major deities including Vishnu, Shiva, Devi, Krishna, Rama, Lakshmi and others. |
Describes Vindhya Range and western India. Probably composed in the valleys of Narmada and Tapti rivers, in Maharashtra and Gujarat. Named after sage Markandeya, a student of Brahma. Contains chapters on dharma and on Hindu epic Mahabharata. The Purana includes of Shaktism. |
Contains encyclopedic information. Includes geography of Mithila (Bihar and neighboring states), cultural history, politics, education system, iconography, taxation theories, organization of army, theories on proper causes for war, diplomacy, local laws, building public projects, water distribution methods, trees and plants, medicine, Vastu Shastra (architecture), gemology, grammar, metrics, poetry, food, rituals and numerous other topics. |
The Bhavishya Purana (Bhaviṣya Purāṇa, lit. "Future Purana") is one of the eighteen major works in the Purana genre of Hinduism, written in Sanskrit.The title Bhavishya means "future" and implies it is a work that contains prophecies regarding the future, however, the "prophecy" parts of the extant manuscripts are a modern era addition and hence not an integral part of the Bhavishya Purana.Those sections of the surviving manuscripts that are dated to be older, are partly borrowed from other Indian texts such as Brihat Samhita and Shamba Purana. |
It is related by Savarni to Narada, and centres around the greatness of Krishna and Radha. In this, the story of Brahma-varaha is repeatedly told. Notable for asserting that Krishna is the supreme reality and the gods Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma are incarnations of him. Mentions geography and rivers such as Ganga to Kaveri. |
Discusses Lingam, symbol of Shiva, and origin of the universe as per Shaivism. It also contains many stories of Lingam, one of which entails how Agni Lingam solved a dispute between Vishnu and Brahma. |
Primarily Vishnu-related worship manual, with large Mahatmya sections or travel guide to Mathura and Nepal. Presentation focuses on Varaha as incarnation of Narayana, but rarely uses the terms Krishna or Vasudeva. Many illustrations also involve Shiva and Durga. |
Describes the birth of Skanda (or Karthikeya), son of Shiva. The longest Purana, it is an extraordinarily meticulous pilgrimage guide, containing geographical locations of pilgrimage centers in India, with related legends, parables, hymns and stories. Many untraced quotes are attributed to this text. |
Describes North India, particularly Himalayan foothills region. |
Contains a combination of Vishnu and Shiva related legends, mythology, Tirtha (pilgrimage) and theology |
An encyclopedia of diverse topics. Narrates the story of Matsya, the first of ten major of Vishnu. Likely composed in west India, by people aware of geographical details of the Narmada river. Includes legends about Brahma and Saraswati.Catherine Ludvik (2007), Sarasvatī, Riverine Goddess of Knowledge, BRILL, , pages 139-141 It also contains a controversial genealogical details of various dynasties. |
An encyclopedia of diverse topics. Primarily about Vishnu, but praises all gods. Describes how Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma collaborate. Many chapters are a dialogue between Vishnu and the bird-vehicle Garuda. Cosmology, Describes cosmology, relationship between gods. Discusses ethics, what are crimes, good versus evil, various schools of Hindu philosophies, the theory of Yoga, the theory of "heaven and hell" with "karma and rebirth", includes Upanishadic discussion of self-knowledge as a means of moksha. Includes chapters on rivers, geography of Bharat (India) and other nations on earth, types of minerals and stones, testing methods for stones for their quality, various diseases and their symptoms, various medicines, aphrodisiacs, prophylactics, Hindu calendar and its basis, astronomy, moon, planets, astrology, architecture, building home, essential features of a temple, rites of passage, virtues such as compassion, charity and gift making, economy, thrift, duties of a king, politics, state officials and their roles and how to appointment them, genre of literature, rules of grammar, and other topics. The final chapters discuss how to practice Yoga (Samkhya and Advaita types), personal development and the benefits of self-knowledge.MN Dutt, The Garuda Purana Calcutta (1908) |
One of the earliest composed Puranas, it contains a controversial genealogical details of various dynasties. Includes Lalita Sahasranamam, law codes, system of governance, administration, diplomacy, trade, ethics. Old manuscripts of Brahmanda Purana have been found in the Hindu literature collections of Bali, Indonesia.H Hinzler (1993), Balinese palm-leaf manuscripts , In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Landen Volkenkunde, Manuscripts of Indonesia 149 (1993), No 3, Leiden: BRILL, page 442 |
The Puranas, according to Flood, have traditionally been classified according to three qualities ( guna) which are inherent in existence, namely the quality of light or purity ( sattva), passion ( rajas), and darkness or inertia ( tamas), with each quality having six puranas focused, but not exclusively, upon a single deity.
+ !Guna !Central deity !Maha Puranas | ||
Sattva | Vishnu | Vishnu Purana, Bhagavata Purana, Garuda Purana, Naradiya Purana, Padma Purana, and Varaha Purana |
Rajas | Brahma | Brahma Purana, Brahmanda Purana, Brahmavaivarta, Markandeya, Bhavishya Purana, and Vamana Purana |
Tamas | Shiva | Shiva Purana, Linga Purana, Matsya Purana, Kurma Purana, Skanda Purana, and Agni Purana |
The Puranas have also been classified based on a specific deity, although the texts are mixed and revere all gods and goddesses:
Agni | Agni Purana |
Brahma | Brahma Purana |
Shakti | Devi-Bhagavata, Markandeya, Brahmanda Purana, Skanda Purana |
Shiva | Shiva Purana, Linga Purana |
Surya | Brahma Vaivarta |
Vaishnava | Vishnu Purana, Bhagavata Purana, Skanda Purana, Naradiya Purana, Garuda Purana, Vayu Purana, Varaha Purana, Matsya Purana, Bhavishya Purana, Vamana Purana, Kurma Purana, Markandeya, Brahmanda Purana, Padma Purana |
Two puranas have "Bhagavata" in their names, the Bhagavata Purana and Devi Bhagavata Purana, which Srivastava says both are called Mahapuranas in Sanskrit literature, where the Vayu Purana, Matsya Purana, and Aditya Upa Purana admit the Devi Bhagavata Purana as a Mahapurana, whereas the Padma Purana, Garuda Purana and Kurma Purana consider it an Upapurana.
There are discussions on whether the Devi Bhagavata Purana is a Mahapurana.
The Upapuranas are eighteen in number, with disagreement as to which canonical titles belong in that list of eighteen.
They include among –
Only a few have been critically edited.R. C. Hazra, Studies in the Upapuranas, vol. I, Calcutta, Sanskrit College, 1958. Studies in the Upapuranas, vol. II, Calcutta, Sanskrit College, 1979. Studies in Puranic Records on Hindu Rites and Customs, Delhi, Banarsidass, 1975. Ludo Rocher, The Puranas – A History of Indian Literature Vol. II, fasc. 3, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1986.
The Ganesha and Mudgala Puranas are devoted to Ganesha.
The Skanda Purana has received renewed scholarly interest ever since the late 20th century discovery of a Skanda Purana manuscript dated to be from the early 9th century CE. This discovery established that the Skanda Purana existed by the 9th century CE. However, a comparison shows that the 9th century CE document is entirely different from versions of Skanda Purana that have been circulating in South Asia since the colonial era.R Andriaensen et al. (1994), "Towards a Critical Edition of the Skandapurana," Indo-Iranian Journal, Vol. 37, pages 325-331
A few Puranas, such as the most popular Bhagavata Purana, add five more characteristics to expand this list to ten:
These five or ten sections weave in biographies, myths, geography, medicine, astronomy, Hindu temples, pilgrimage to distant real places, rites of passage, charity, ethics, duties, rights, dharma, divine intervention in cosmic and human affairs, love stories, festivals, theosophy and philosophy. The Puranas link gods to men, both generally and in a religious, bhakti (devotional) context. Here the Puranic literature follows a general pattern. It starts with an introduction, where a future devotee is described as ignorant about the deity, yet curious. The devotee learns about the deity, and this begins their spiritual realization. The text then describes instances of this deity's grace, which inspires and deepens the devotee's devotion towards the deity. The devotee, then, shows devotion, which is rewarded by the deity. The reward is appreciated by the devotee, who, in return, performs further actions to express further devotion.
The Puranas, states Flood, document the rise of the theistic traditions such as those based on Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, Tridevi and include respective mythology, pilgrimage to holy places, rituals and genealogies. The bulk of these texts, in Flood's view, were established by 500 CE, in the Gupta era, though amendments were made later. Along with inconsistencies, 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. An example of similar stories woven across the Puranas, but in different versions, include the Lingodbhava – the apparition of the Lingam. The is a Shaiva story that features Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, the three major gods of Hinduism, who get together and debate about who is supreme amongst the three of them and after various incidents of the story, the glory of Shiva is established at the end by the apparition of the Linga which is a form of Shiva as Lingodbhava over Vishnu and Brahma, thus it shows that Vishnu and Brahma are secondary gods in the Trimurti because he expanded and conquered the entire universe and them being secondary gods with lesser powers, so they cannot find his beginning and end at a single place in the universe. This story, state Bonnefoy and Doniger, appears in Vayu Purana's chapter 1.55, Brahmanda Purana's chapter 1.26, Shiva Purana's Rudra Samhita's Sristi Khanda's chapter 15, Skanda Purana's chapters 1.3, 1.16, 3.1, and other Puranas.
The texts are in Sanskrit as well as regional languages, and almost entirely in narrative metric couplets.
Some scholars such as Govinda Das suggest that the Puranas claim a link to the Vedas but in name only, not in substance. The link is purely a mechanical one. Scholars such as Viman Chandra Bhattacharya and PV Kane state that the Puranas are a continuation and development of the Vedas. Sudhakar Malaviya and VG Rahurkar state the connection is closer in that the Puranas are companion texts to help understand and interpret the Vedas.
K.S. Ramaswami Sastri and Manilal N. Dvivedi reflect the third view which states that Puranas enable us to know the "true import of the ethos, philosophy, and religion of the Vedas".Barbara Holdrege questions the fifth Veda status of Itihasas (the Hindu epics) and Puranas.
The Puranas, states V.S. Agrawala, intend to "explicate, interpret, adapt" the metaphysical truths in the Vedas. In the general opinion, states Rocher, "the Puranas cannot be divorced from the Vedas" though scholars provide different interpretations of the link between the two. Scholars have given the Bhagavata Purana as an example of the links and continuity of the Vedic content, such as its providing an interpretation of the Gayatri mantra.
Modern scholarship doubts this 19th-century premise.Jan Gonda (1975), Selected Studies: Indo-European linguistics, Brill, , pages 51-86 Ludo Rocher, for example, states,
The study of Puranas as religious texts remains a controversial subject. Some Indologists, in the colonial tradition of scholarship, treat the Puranic texts as scriptures, or as useful sources of religious contents. Other scholars, such as Ronald Inden, consider this approach "essentialist and antihistorical" because the Purana texts changed often over time and over distance, and the underlying presumption of them being religious texts is that those changes are "Hinduism expressed by a religious leader or philosopher", or the "expressiveness of Hindu mind", or "society at large", when the texts and passages are literary works and "individual geniuses of their authors".
Ludo Rocher, in his review of Puranas as sectarian texts, states, "even though the Puranas contain sectarian materials, their sectarianism should not be interpreted as exclusivism in favor of one god to the detriment of all others".
In early 20th-century, some regional records were found to be more consistent, such as for the Hindu dynasties in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh. Basham, as well as Kosambi, have questioned whether lack of inconsistency is sufficient proof of reliability and historicity. More recent scholarship has attempted to, with limited success, states Ludo Rocher, use the Puranas for historical information in combination with independent corroborating evidence, such as "epigraphy, archaeology, Buddhist literature, Jaina literature, non-Puranic literature, Islamic records, and records preserved outside India by travelers to or from India in medieval times such as in China, Myanmar and Indonesia".L Srinivasan (2000), Historicity of the Indian mythology : Some observations , Man in India, Vol. 80, No. 1-2, pages 89-106
For example, a newly discovered palm-leaf manuscript of Skanda Purana in Nepal has been dated to be from 810 CE but is entirely different from versions of Skanda Purana that have been circulating in South Asia since the colonial era.Dominic Goodall (2009), Parākhyatantram, Vol 98, Publications de l'Institut Français d'Indologie, , pages xvi-xvii Further discoveries of four more manuscripts, each different, suggest that document has gone through major redactions twice, first likely before the 12th century, and the second very large change sometime in the 15th-16th century for unknown reasons. The different versions of manuscripts of Skanda Purana suggest that "minor" redactions, interpolations, and corruption of the ideas in the text over time.Kengo Harimoto (2004), in Origin and Growth of the Purāṇic Text Corpus (Editor: Hans Bakker), Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 41-64
Rocher states that the date of the composition of each Purana remains a contested issue. Dimmitt and van Buitenen state that each of the Puranas manuscripts is encyclopedic in style, and it is difficult to ascertain when, where, why and by whom these were written:
Marinas Poullé (Mariyadas Pillai) published a French translation from a Tamil version of the Bhagavata Purana in 1788, and this was widely distributed in Europe becoming an introduction to the 18th-century Hindu culture and Hinduism to many Europeans during the colonial era. Poullé republished a different translation of the same text as Le Bhagavata in 1795, from Pondicherry.Jean Filliozat (1968), "Tamil Studies in French Indology," in Tamil Studies Abroad, Xavier S Thani Nayagam, pages 1-14 A copy of Poullé translation is preserved in Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris.
The Puranic literature, suggests Khanna, influenced "acculturation and accommodation" of a diversity of people, with different languages and from different economic classes, across different kingdoms and traditions, catalyzing the syncretic "cultural mosaic of Hinduism".R Champakalakshmi (2012), in Cultural History of Medieval India (Editor: M Khanna), Berghahn, , pages 48-50 They helped influence cultural pluralism in India and are a literary record thereof.
Om Prakash states the Puranas served as an efficient medium for cultural exchange and popular education in ancient and medieval India. These texts adopted, explained, and integrated regional deities such as Pashupata in Vayu Purana, Sattva in Vishnu Purana, Dattatreya in Markendeya Purana, Bhojakas in Bhavishya Purana. Further, states Prakash, they dedicated chapters to "secular subjects such as poetics, dramaturgy, grammar, lexicography, astronomy, war, politics, architecture, geography and medicine as in Agni Purana, perfumery and lapidary arts in Garuda Purana, painting, sculpture and other arts in Vishnudharmottara Purana".Om Prakash (2004), Cultural History of India, New Age, , pages 33-34
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