Puranas edit
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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 group of important Hindu (or Jain and Buddhist) religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the Universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of the kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.1 Puranas usually give prominence to a particular deity and most use an abundance of religious and philosophical concepts. They are usually written in the form of stories related by one person to another.

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versions date from the time of the Gupta Empire (third-fifth century CE) and much material may be dated, through historical references and other means, to this period and the succeeding centuries.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. 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.3

The date of the production of the written texts does not define the date of origin of the Puranas, for on one hand they unquestionably existed, in some oral form, a millennium before while on the other hand they have been incrementally modified well into medieval times4 and perhaps down to the present day.

Contents

Origins

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 11.7.246 7. According to Matysa Purana, 8 they are said to narrate five subjects, called Pancha Lakshana pañcalakṣaṇa ("five distinguishing marks"):

An illustration of Varaha avatar based on the Bhagavata Purana
  1. Sarga; The creation of the universe.
  2. Pratisarga; Secondary creations, mostly recreations after dissolution.
  3. Vamśa; Genealogy of 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: Dynastic histories.

Some scholars have suggested that these 'distinguishing marks' are shared by other traditional religious scriptures.9

The Puranas also lay emphasis on keeping a record of genealogies. The Vayu Purana says: "in ancient times the suta's duty was to preserve the genealogies of gods, rsis and glorious kings and the traditions of great men."10 The Puranic genealogies indicate that Manu Vaivasvata lived 95 generations before the Bharata War.11

According to Pargiter 1922), the "original Purana" may date to the time of the final redaction of the Vedas.6 and Pargiter (1979) 12 13 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".14

In Arrian's Indica, Megasthenes is quoted as stating that the Indians counted from Shiva (Dionysos) to Chandragupta Maurya (Sandracottus) "a hundred and fifty-three kings over six thousand and forty-three years."15 The Brhadaranyaka Upanishad (4.6.), ca. 8th century BCE, mentions 57 links in the Guru-Parampara ("succession of teachers"). This would mean that this Guru-Parampara would go back about 1400 years, although the accuracy of this list is disputed.16 The list of kings in Kalhana's Rajatarangini goes back to the 19th century BCE.17

Nevertheless 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 cults3;

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.

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 travelling brahmin settles for a few weeks in a temple and narrates parts of a Purana, usually with a Bhakti perspective).

Texts

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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 Dimmitt and van Buitenen 18 have collated twenty names:

  1. Agni (15,400 verses)
  2. Bhagavata (18,000 verses). The most celebrated and popular of the Puranas,19 telling of Vishnu's ten Avatars. Its tenth and longest canto narrates the deeds of Krishna, introducing his childhood exploits, a theme later elaborated by many Bhakti movements.20
  3. Bhavishya (14,500 verses)
  4. Brahma (24,000 verses)
  5. Brahmanda (12,000 verses; includes Lalita Sahasranamam, a text some Hindus recite as prayer)
  6. Brahmavaivarta (18,000 verses)
  7. Garuda (19,000 verses)
  8. Harivamsa (16,000 verses; more often considered itihāsa)
  9. Kurma (17,000 verses)
  10. Linga (11,000 verses)
  11. Markandeya (9,000 verses; includes Devi Mahatmyam, an important text for Shaktas)
  12. Matsya (14,000 verses)
  13. Narada (25,000 verses)
  14. Padma (55,000 verses)
  15. Shiva (24,000 verses)
  16. Skanda (81,100 verses), the longest Purana, containing parables, legends, and stories, with multiple versions and recensions. Many untraced quotes are attributed to this text.21
  17. Vamana (10,000 verses)
  18. Varaha (10,000 verses)
  19. Vayu (24,000 verses)
  20. Vishnu (23,000 verses)

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

22

According to the Padma Purana,23 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.24

The Ganesha and Mudgala Puranas are devoted to Ganesha.25 26 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.27

There are many others all over the Indian subcontinent28: most (such as the Padma Purana of Bengal and Assam, narrating the story of the goddess Manasā), written in vernacular languages rather than Sanskrit.citation needed

Sthala Puranas

This corpus of texts tells of the origins and traditions of particular temples or shrines—the word sthala means "spot" in Sanskrit. There are numerous Sthala Puranas, most written in vernaculars, some with Sanskrit versions as well. Some appear in Sanskrit versions in the Mahapuranas or Upapuranas. Some Tamil Sthala Puranas have been researched by David Dean Shulman.29

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.30 These have been little researched, though they are documented in the caste section of the British Census of India Report and the various Gazetteers.31

Jain and Buddhist Puranas

Jain Puranas deal with Jain myths, history and legends and form a major part of early Kannada literature.32 33 The best known is the Mahapurana of Acharya Jinasena. Studies and English translations of this particular genre are meagre.citation needed

Swayambhu Purana, a Buddhist Purana, is major source of the history of the Kathmandu valley.citation needed

References

  1. ^ Puranas at Sacred Texts
  2. ^ The Puranas by Swami Sivananda
  3. ^ a b Gavin (1996). An Introduction to Hinduism (Book), Cambridge University Press, 359. ISBN 0521433045. 
  4. ^ Nagendra Kumar Singh (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Hinduism, (1997) ISBN 8174881689, p. 2324
  5. ^ Brhadaranyaka Upanisad 2.4.10, 4.1.2, 4.5.11. Satapatha Brahmana (SBE, Vol. 44, pp. 98, 369). Moghe 1997:160,249
  6. ^ a b Pargiter, F E [1922] (1962). Ancient Indian historical tradition (Book), Original publisher Oxford University Press, London, Delhi: Motilal Banarasidass, 30-54. OCLC 1068416. 
  7. ^ ; Moghe 1997:249 and the Satapatha Brahmana 11.5.6.8. and 13.4.3.13. SBE Vol. 44, pp. 98, 369
  8. ^ Matsya Purana 53.65
  9. ^ Rao, Velcheru Narayana (1993). "Purana as Brahminic Ideology", in Doniger Wendy: Purana Perennis: Reciprocity and Transformation in Hindu and Jaina Texts (Book), Albany: State University of New York Press, 85-100. ISBN 0-7914-1381-0. 
  10. ^ Vayu Purana 1. 31-2.
  11. ^ R. C. Majumdar and A. D. Pusalker (editors): The history and culture of the Indian people. Volume I, The Vedic age. Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan 1951, p.273
  12. ^ Pargiter 1979
  13. ^ P.L. Bhargava 1971, India in the Vedic Age, Lucknow: Upper India Publishing; Talageri 1993, 2000; Subhash Kak, 1994, The astronomical code of the Rgveda
  14. ^ Pargiter 1922:177
  15. ^ Pliny: Naturalis Historia 6:59; Arrian: Indica 9:9
  16. ^ (see Klaus Klostermaier 1989 and Arvind Sharma 1995)
  17. ^ Elst 1999, with reference to Bernard Sergent
  18. ^ Dimmitt, Cornelia; J. A. B. van Buitenen (1978). Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the Sanskirt Puranas. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 373. ISBN 8170305969. 
  19. ^ A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Sir Monier Monier-Williams. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1899. Page 752, column 3, under the entry Bhagavata.
  20. ^ Viraha-Bhakti - The Early History of Krsna Devotion in South India - Friedhelm Hardy. ISBN 0-19-564916-8
  21. ^ (1993) "The Scrapbook of Undeserved Salvation: The Kedara Khanda of the Skanda Purana", in Doniger Wendy: Purana Perennis: Reciprocity and Transformation in Hindu and Jaina Texts (Book), Albany: State University of New York Press, 59-83. ISBN 0-7914-1381-0. 
  22. ^ The Puranic Encyclopedia
  23. ^ Padma Purana, Uttara-khanda, 236.18–21
  24. ^ 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.
  25. ^ Thapan, Anita Raina (1997). Understanding Gaṇapati: Insights into the dynamics of a cult. Manohar Publishers, 304. ISBN 81-7304-195-4. 
  26. ^ Purana at Gurjari
  27. ^ The Triumph of the Goddess: The Canonical Models and Theological Visions of the DevI-BhAgavata PuraNa, Brwon Mackenzie. ISBN 0-7914-0363-7
  28. ^ '`Verbal Narratives: Performance and Gender of the Padma Purana, by T.N. Sankaranarayana in Chanted Narratives - The Katha Vachana Tradition, Edited by Molly Kaushal, p. 225–234. ISBN 81-246-0182-8
  29. ^ Tamil Temple Myths: Sacrifice and Divine Marriage in the South Indian Saiva Tradition, David Dean Shulman. ISBN 0-691-06415-6
  30. ^ 'Kulapuranas' - Pulikonda Subbachary in Folklore in Modern India, edited by Jawaharlal Handoo, p. 125-142. ISBN 81-7342-055-6
  31. ^ See for example Castes and Tribes of Southern India vol. I–V, Thurston Edgar. Cosmo Publication, Delhi.
  32. ^ Jaini, Padmanabh S. (1993). "Jaina Puranas: A Puranic Counter Tradition", in Doniger Wendy: Purana Perennis: Reciprocity and Transformation in Hindu and Jaina Texts (Book), Albany: State University of New York Press, 207-249. ISBN 0-7914-1381-0. 
  33. ^ Cort, John E. (1993). "An Overview of the Jaina Puranas", in Doniger Wendy: Purana Perennis: Reciprocity and Transformation in Hindu and Jaina Texts (Book), Albany: State University of New York Press, 185-206. ISBN 0-7914-1381-0. 

Further reading

External links

Texts

Translations

Synopses

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Puranas