1.4: Date of the Purāṇas

The Purāṇas undoubtedly reach back to great antiquity and are rooted in Vedic literature.^[1] The date of Purāṇas is very controversial. No particular date or period can be assigned to a particular Purāṇa.

It is true that Purāṇas are of a very old past. The term Purāṇa is found for the first time in the Atharvaveda.^[2] In the Brāhmaṇas specially in the Śatapathabrāhmaṇa^[3], the use of word purāṇa is evident. According to the Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣad, Vedas, Itihāsa, Purāṇas were originated from the breath of the Mahābhūta (Paramātman).^[4] Some other Vedic and post-Vedic works refer to Purāṇa.^[5] The early Smṛti texts like the Yājñavalkyasmṛti^[6] also use the term Purāṇa to mean a branch of literature.

The Mahābhārata^[7] has referred to the Vāyupurāṇa which implies that the Purāṇa literature at least partially, was in existence prior to the Mahābhārata. There are many references of the Purāṇas found in the Kauṭilya’s Arthaśāstra^[8] and the Manusmṛti^[9]. From the above references about Purāṇa, it can be assumed that Purāṇas are earlier than Arthaśāstra and Manusmṛti.

According to the Skaṇḍapurāṇa, the Puranic tradition is the combination of Veda and favoured mythical tradition.^[10] The Padmapurāṇa also says that the Purāṇas are the earliest of all the scriptures.^[11] According to the Viṣṇupurāṇa, the Purāṇas are composed after the division of the Vedas. Vyāsa compiled a Purāṇa-saṃhitā with tales, anecdotes, songs and ancient lore and taught it to his fifth disciple, Sūta Lomaharṣaṇa. Lomaharṣaṇa, dividing that Purāṇa into six versions, taught them to his disciples, three of whom each made a further collection. The six-fold Purāṇa of Sūta is known as Romaharṣaṇic collection and the collections of his disciples are named after them, as Kāśyapika, Sāvarṇika and Śāṃśapāyanika. These four were regarded as the root saṃhitās. The Viṣṇupurāṇa thus accounts for four root-saṃhitās of the original Purāṇa.^[12] On the other hand, the Vāyupurāṇa and Matsypurāṇa say that the Purāṇas were compiled by Brahmā before the Vedas were revealed to him, and the task of their preservation was given to the Sūtas.^[13] Some extent Purāṇas also explain that at the beginning of his creation, Lord Brahmā, at first, had remembered the Purāṇas of all the scriptures, before the Vedas came out of his mouth.^[14] The Mākaṇḍyepurāṇa also gives the same statement about the Purāṇas.^[15] For this reason the Purāṇas declare themselves sometimes as Vedas.^[16] It is also believed that the Purāṇas in original were in existence before Christ.^[17]

The modern scholars are of the opinion that the process of composition of Purāṇas passed from the days of the Brāhmaṇas till the age of the Guptas and even after.^[18] According to Pargiter, the Purāṇas existed at the beginning of fifth century A.D.^[19] Wintarnitz also recommends the existence of the Purāṇas to be before the 7th century A.D.^[20] From the viewpoint of the rites and customs narrated in the Purāṇas, R.C. Hazra opines that these are incorporated in the Purāṇas not later than the middle of the fourth century A.D. He also states about the mention of the eighteen Purāṇas in the Mahābhārata and the Harivaṃśa. Thus he opines that the Purāṇas are not later than seventh century A.D.^[21] Again, in an another article he opines that the tradition of the eighteen Mahāpurāṇas originated not later than the beginning of the 7th century AD.^[22] So it is clear that the Purāṅas must have taken their present forms before the 6th or 7th century A.D.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

M. Winternitz, Tr. by Mrs. S. Ketkar, A History of Indian Literature, Vol. I, p.518

[2]:

ṛcaḥ sāmāni chaṃdāṃsi purāṇayajuṣā saha /
ucchiṣṭājjajñire sarve divi devā divi śritāḥ // Atharvaveda, 11.7.24

[3]:

evaṃ vidyān vāko vākyamitihāsaḥ purāṇamityaharahaḥ svādhyāyamadhīte/ Śatapathabrāhmaṇa,11.5.7.9;
tānupadiśati purāṇam/ vedaḥ so’yamiti kiñcitpurāṇamācakṣīt/ Ibid., 13.4.3.13

[4]:

evaṃ vā are’sya mahato bhūtasya niḥśvasitametadyadṛgvedo yajurvedaḥ sāmavedo’tharvāṅgirasa itihāsaḥ purāṇaṃ vidyā upaniṣadaḥślokāḥ sūtrāṇyanuvyākhyānāni vyākhyānāni; asyaivaitāni niḥśvasitāni / Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣad, 2.4.10

[5]:

Gopathabrāhmaṇa,1.10; Taittirīyāraṇyaka,11.9; Bṛhadarāṇyakopaniṣad,2.4.10;4.1.2; Āśvalāyana-gṛhya-sūtra,3.3; Rāmāyaṇa, 1.9.1; Dakṣasmṛti,2.51; Baudhāyanadharmaśūtra, 2.5.9.14

[6]:

purāṇāyayamīmaṃ sā dharmāśāstrāṅgāni sthitaḥ /
vedāḥ sthānāni vidyānāṃ dharmasya ca caturdaśa // Yājñavalkyasmṛti, 1.3

[7]:

Mahābhārata, Āraṇyakaparva, 189.14

[8]:

itihāsapurāṇābhyāṃ bodhayedarthaśāstravit / Arthaśāstra, 5.6.18; ed. by. Ganapati Sastri, Kauṭilya’s Arthaśāstra, 2 nd edn, p.35

[9]:

ākhyanānītihāsāṃśca purāṇāni khilāni ca / Manusmṛt i, 3.232

[10]:

Skandapurāṇa, 5.3.1.18

[11]:

purāṇaṃ sarvaśāstrāṇāṃ prathamaṃ brahmaṇā smṛtam/ Padmapurāṇa, 1.1.45

[12]:

A. D. Pusalker, Studies in Epics and Purāṇas, p.1

[13]:

prathamaṃ sarvaśāstrāṇaṃ prathamaṃ brahmaṇā smṛtam /
anantaraṃ ca vaktrebhyo vedāstasya viniḥsṛtāḥ // Vāyupurāṇa, 1.60
purāṇaṃ sarvaśāstrāṇāṃ prathamaṃ brahmaṇā smṛtam /
anantaraṃ ca vaktrebhyo vedāstasya vinirgatāḥ // Matsyapurāṇa, 53.3

[14]:

yasmātpurā hyabhūccaitatpurāṇaṃ tena tat smṛtam / Brahmāṇḍapurāṇa,1.1.173;
purāṇaṃ sarvaśāstrāṇāṃ prathamaṃ brāhmaṇā smṛtam // Padmapurāṇa,1.1.45 Matsyapurāṇa,53.3; Brahmapurāṇa,161.27-28

[15]:

utpannāmātrasya puru brahmaṇo’vyaktajanmanaḥ /
purāṇametadvedāśca mukhebhyo’nuviniḥsṛtāḥ // Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa, 42.20

[16]:

purāṇasaṃhitāścakrubrahulāḥ paramarṣayaḥ /
vedānāṃ pravibhāgaśa kṛtastaistu sahasraśaḥ // Ibid., 42.21 cf.
purāṇaṃ saṃpravakṣyāmi brahmoktaṃ vedasaṃmitam // Vāyupurāṇa, 1.11
guruṃ praṇamya vakṣyāmi purāṇaṃ vedasaṃmitam // Brahmapurāṇa, 1.30

[17]:

ākhyānaiścāpyupākhyānair gāthābhiḥ kalpaśuddhibhiḥ /
purāṇasaṃhitāṃ cakre purāṇārthaviśāradaḥ // Viṣṇupurāṇa, 3.6.15

[18]:

“......the composition of the purāṇas is to be spread over a long time covering several centuries from the epoch of the Brāhmaṇas and the Upaniṣads to the age of the Guptas and after.” The Purāṇa Index, p.XVI

[19]:

F. E. Pargiter, Ancient Indian Historical Tradition, p.51

[20]:

M. Wintarnitz, A History of Indian Literature, Vol.1. p. 502

[21]:

R. C. Hazra, Studies in the Purāṇic Records on Hindu Rites and Customs, p.4

[22]:

Vide “The existence of more purāṇas than one in Āpastamba’s time or earlier does not, however, mean that the above tradition of eighteen principal purāṇas came into vogue at such an early period... However, from the evidence of the purāṇas, Matsya, Kūrma and others and also other Sanskrit works, we can be sure that the tradition originated not later than the beginning of the 7th century A.D” S. K. Dey, et.al., Ed., The Cultural Heritage of India, R. C. Hazra, The Purāṇas, Vol.II., p.246