1.6: Number of Purāṇa

Traditionally, Purāṇas are broadly classified into two categories, viz. Mahāpurāṇas and Upapurāṇas. In the Nāradapurāṇa, it is stated that originally there was only one Purāṇa^[1] called Purāṇa-saṃhitā, which was written by Vyāsa, the son of great sage Parāśara. It has been stated earlier that after completing the Purāṇa-saṃhitā Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa imparted it to his disciple Sūta Romaharṣaṇa (or Lomaharṣaṇa) who taught this to his disciples^[2] After that Kaśyapa, Sāvarṇi and Saṃsapāyaṇa, the three disciples of Romaharṣaṇa, composed their own Saṃhitās. These four were called the original Purāṇa-saṃhitās.

In the second stage of development of Purāṇa literature, the number of the Purāṇa is ten. At last, in the final or third stage we find the traditional eighteen Purāṇas. According to Manusmṛti^[3] and Yājñavalkyasmṛti^[4], the word Purāṇa has been used in the plural number.^[5] The lists of the eighteen Purāṇas, which are given by almost all the Purāṇas are more or less the same.

According to Purāṇa literature, the Purāṇas included in the list of eighteen Purāṇas are—

1. Brāhma,
2. Pādma,
3. Viṣṇu,
4. Śiva,
5. Bhāgavata,
6. Nāradīya,
7. Mārkaṇḍeya,
8. Agni,
9. Bhavisya,
10. Brahmavaivarta,
11. Liṅga,
12. Varāha,
13. Skanda,
14. Vāmana,
15. Kūrma,
16. Matsya,
17. Garuḍa,
18. Brahmāṇḍa.^[6]

The Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa also mentions the same eighteen Purāṇas.^[7]

The Bhāgavatapurāṇa also mentions the same eighteen Purāṇas in a different way—

brāhmaṃ pādmaṃ vaiṣṇavaṃ ca śaivaṃ liṅgaṃ sagaruḍaṃ /
nāradīyaṃ bhāgavatamāgneyaṃ skanda saṅjñitaṃ //
bhabiṣyaṃ brahmavaivartaṃ mārkaṇḍeyaṃ savāmanaṃ /
vārāhaṃ mātsyakaurmaṃ ca brahmāṇḍākhyamiti triṣaṭ //^[8]

In the Devībhāgavata, there is a verse composed taking the first letter of the names of the Purāṇas which contains almost the same list with only one exception.^[9] Here the Vāyupurāṇa is mentioned in place of the Śivapurāṇa. Thus in the list of the Mahāpurāṇa, sometimes the Śivapurāṇa is replaced by the Vāyupurāṇa.^[10] The eighteen numbers of Purāṇas is found in a number of Purāṅas such as-the Padmapurāṇa, the Vāyupurāṇa, the Agnipurāṇa, the Matsyapurāṇa, the Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa, the Garuḍapurāṇa etc.^[11] But the Purāṇas are not in same serial order. The Skandapurāṇa confirms that the Vāyupurāṇa itself is the Śivapurāṇa.^[12] Again according to Pargiter the Vāyu and the Brāhmāṇḍa were originally one Purāṇa.^[13]

In the above mentioned list the Vāyupurāṇa is omitted. But some Purāṇas include the name of the Vāyupurāṇa in the place of the Śivapurāṇa. There are also other changes that we see in almost all the Purāṇas. The Agnipurāṇa omits the Śivapurāṇa and inserts the Vāyupurāṇa. But the Kūrmapurāṇa includes the Vāyupurāṇa in the place of the Agnipurāṇa. Again the Varāhapurāṇa includes the Vāyupurāṇa and the Nārasiṃhapurāṇa in the place of the Garuḍapurāṇa and the Brahmāṇḍapurāṇa. The Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa and the Bhāgavatapurāṇa agree with the Viṣṇupurāṇa while the Matsyapurāṇa agrees with the Agnipurāṇa.^[14] Some scholar includes the Vāyupurāṇa and the Śivapurāṇa both for the sake of eliminating the controversy. They say that the number of Purāṇas is nineteen.

It is believed that lord Viṣṇu appears in the form of Vyāsa in every Dvāpara of all the Manvantaras. And then he creates these eighteen Purāṇas for the well-being of the mankind. It is hoped that even a sinful man, who reads and listens to these eighteen Purāṇas, becomes sinless and sacred.^[15]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

purāṇamekamevāsīt sarveṣu kalpeṣu mānadam / Nāradapurāṇa, 1.12.22

[2]:

romaharṣaṇanāmānaṃ mahābuddhiṃ mahāmuniḥ /
sūtaṃ jagrāha śiṣyaṃ sa itihāsapurāṇayoḥ // Viṣṇupurāṇa, 3.4.10

[3]:

svādhyayaṃ śrāvayet pitrye...........purāṇāni khilāni ca / Manusmṛti, 3.232

[4]:

yato vedaḥ purāṇāni vidyopaniṣadastathā / Yājñavalkyasmṛti, 3.189

[5]:

Taittirīyāraṇyaka, 2.9

[6]:

Viṣṇupurāṇa, 3.6.20-24; Kūrmapurāṇa, 1.1.13-15; Matsyapurāṇ a,. 53.13-56; Agnipurāṇa, 272.1-23

[7]:

brāhmaṃ pādmaṃ vaiṣṇavaṃ ca śaivaṃ bhāgavataṃ tathā//
tathānyannāradīyaṃ ca mārkaṇḍeyaṃ ca saptamam /
āgneyamaṣṭaṃproktaṃ bhaviṣyaṃ navamaṃ tathā//
daśamaṃ brahmavaivartaṃ laiṅgamekādaśaṃ smṛtam/
vārāhaṃ dvādaśaṃproktaṃ skāṇḍamatra trayodaśam //
caturdaśaṃ vāmanaṃca kaurmaṃ pañcadaśaṃ tathā /
mātsyaṃ ca gāruḍaṃ caiva brahmāṇḍaṃ ca tataḥ param // Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa, 134.8 b-11

[8]:

Bhāgavatapurāṇa,12.7.23-24

[9]:

madvayaṃ bhadvagaṃ caiva bratrayaṃ bacatuṣṭayam / anāpaliṅgakūskāni purāṇāni pracakṣate // Devībhāgavatapurāṇa, 1.3.2

[10]:

Matsyapurāṇa, 31.18

[11]:

Padmapurāṇa,155.86-93; Vāyupurāṇa,104.3-11; Garuḍapurāṇa, 215.15-16

[12]:

caturthaṃ vāyunā proktaṃ vāyavīyamiti smṛtam /
śivabhaktisamāyogācchaivaṃ taccāparākhyayā // Skandapurāṇa, 5.3.1.33

[13]:

J. Hastings, Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, Vol.X., p.448

[14]:

H. H. Wilson, The Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Preface, p.XIV

[15]:

B. B. Paliwal, Message of the Purāṇas, p.15