Essay name: Brahma Purana (critical study)
Author:
Surabhi H. Trivedi
Affiliation: Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda / Department of Sanskrit Pali and Prakrit
This is an English study of the Brahmapurana—one of the eighteen major Puranas which occupies an important place in the Pauranic literature. This study researches the rich an encyclopaedic material for social, religious, philosophical, mythological, political, geographical and literary study found in the Brahma-Purana.
Social and Economic Life
41 (of 75)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
435
direction, the majority of scholars regard it as a solar
symbol, i.e. as representing a curtailed form of the wheel of
solar Visnu, consisting of four spokes crossing each other at
right angles with short fragments of the periphery of the circle
at the end of each spoke turning round in one direction to denote
the course of the Sun; according to the late Sir A.Cunningham
it has no connection with Sun-worship, but its shape represents
a monogram or interlacing of the letters of the auspicious
words`su asti in the Asoka characters, amongst the Jains it is
one of the fourteen auspicious marks and is the emblem of the
seventh arhat of the present avasarpini. 58 The Br. P. states
the lord Sesa wore a Swastika-shaped ornament (21.15).
Valaya:-
Its use is associated by the Br.P. with
the Gopis and it is said that while playing the Rasalila, their
valayas produced sweet-sound (189.34,36).
Coiffure:- Hair-dressing constitutes one of the
important, decorations of man's appearance.
considered to be a sign of beauty (41.22).
Long hair was
The name of a
nymph is given as Sukesi (64.62). As regards the hair-style
of women, three types are referred to. Once the ladies are
described as having sthiralakas, i.e.hair thick in growth
(41.21).:
Another fashion seems to extend the curl of hair
58 Monier Williams, Op.Cit., P. 1283.
