Part 1.1 - Different religious sects and cults in the Purāṇas

At the earlier stage the Purāṇas had dealt with five subjects namely the sarga, pratisarga, vaṃśa, manvantara and vaṃsānucarita, In course of time their characteristics were quite changed made by the Smārta Brahmin sectarians who took up the Purāṇas for successfully propagating the Vedic ideas as per their own perspective among the mass who were “gradually loosing respect for the Vedas and Brahmanical rules of life and conduct under the influence of the heresies as well as of the popular system of religion then prevailing in the country.”^[1] And according to scholars like R.C. Hazra, the Smārta adherents to the religious sects like Pāñcarātras, Bhāgavatas, Pāśupatas “first took up the Purāṇas for establishing the Vedic varnāśrama system and the authority of the Vedas among the people and increased the number of the already existing Purāṇas by fresh additions of Purāṇic works which were often characterised by the names of the sectarian deities of their chief forms.”^[2] This is a very important observation to understand the sectarianism in the Puranic literature.

At a subsequent period the Mahāpurāṇas were classified as [the following] in relation to the deities Viṣṇu, Brahmā, Śiva, and Sarasvatī and Pitṝṇs respectively in the Matsya-purāṇa^[3]  

1. sāttvikas,
2. rājasikas and
3. tāmasikas and
4. saṃkīrṇas 

The Garuḍa-purāṇa further subdivided the sāttvika Purāṇas as—

1. sattvādhama (Matsya-purāṇa, Kūrma-purāṇa),
2. sāttvikamadhyama (Vāyu-purāṇa) and 
3. sāttvikottama (Viṣṇu-purāṇa, Bhāgavata-purāṇa, Garuḍa-purāṇa).^[4]  

This kind of classification of the Purāṇas are based on the respective gods, who have been mainly glorified in the respective Purāṇas. 

The “Uttarakhaṇḍa” of the Padma-purāṇa mentions a list of three types of Purāṇas viz. 

1. sāttvika (Viṣṇu-purāṇa, Nāradīya-purāṇa, Bhāgavata-purāṇa, Garuḍa.purāṇa, Padma-purāṇa and Barāha.p),
2. rājasika (Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa, Brahmavaivarta-purāṇa, Mārkaṇḍeya-purāṇa, Bhaviṣya-purāṇa, Vāmana-purāṇa and Brahma-purāṇa) and 
3. tāmasika (Matsya-purāṇa, Kūrma-purāṇa, Liṅga-purāṇa, Śiva-purāṇa, Skanda-purāṇa and Agni-purāṇa).^[5]  

There it has been stated that the sāttvika Purāṇas lead to the liberation, the rājasika are auspicious and the tāmasika Purāṇas lead one to the hell:

“sāttvikā mokṣadāḥ proktā rājasāḥ sarvadā śubhāḥ|
tathaiva tāmasā devi nirayaprāptihetavaḥ||”^[6]

However, this type of classifications appear not to be justified because they are not based on any strong ground expect for sectarian biasness and it may be considered as later sectarian interpolation. Therefore, the scholars did not recognise the classification as genuine.^[7]

Although the Mahā-purāṇas are not limited to sectarian outlook, however, there are also evidences that many chapters or some portions of the chapters composed with particular sectarian speculation were added to these Purāṇas by Smārta Brāhmaṇa sectarians at a later date.^[8] For instance, the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth chapters of the “Pūrvabhāga” of Kūrma-purāṇa were the work of the Pāṣupatas or Pāśupata Smārta Brāhmaṇas.^[9]

Most of the Upa-purāṇas, on the other hand, excepting a few like the Bṛhaddharma-purāṇa, Bhaviṣyottara-purāṇa, were primarily sectarian works. Such as, the Kālikā-purāṇa belongs to the Śāktas, the Śāmba-purāṇa is a work of the Saura sect etc. In those Upa-purāṇas the approaches towards other sects have been revealed sometimes in a very predictable manner, sometimes in concealed mood. So, Upa-purāṇas are valuable sources to know the development of various religious sects as well as their cults in India. Due to wide popularity the Mahā-purāṇas were prone to greater interpolations than the Upapurāṇas. On the other hand, due to comparatively lesser additions and interpolations, the Upa-purāṇas have preserved their original form better and as such may be a valuable source of the history of religious cults and sects. 

V. C. Srivastava rightly observes:

“Naturally this fact enhances the significance and value of the Upapurāṇas as sources of history and culture of India. Moreover, the Upapurāṇas are generally concerned with the particular cult or sect and have no amorphous incrustations.”^[10]

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

R.C. Hazra: Studies in the Upapurāṇas, vol. 1, p. 20.

[2]:

Ibid., loc. cit.

[3]:

“satvikeṣu purāṇeṣu māhātmyāmadhikaṃ hareḥ| rajaseṣu ca māhātmyamadhikaṃ brahmaṇo viduḥ|| tadvaddagneścamāhātmyaṃ tāmaseṣu śivaya ca| saṅkīrṇeṣu sarasvatyāḥ pitṛṇāṃ ca nigadyate||” Matsya-purāṇa, 53. 67-68.

[4]:

“sattvādhame mātsyakaurmaṃ tadāhurvāyuṃ cāhuḥ sattvikaṃ madhyamaṃ ca| viṣṇoḥ purāṇaṃ bhāgavataṃ purāṇaṃ sattvottame gāruḍaṃ prāhurāryāḥ||” See: Valdev Upadhyaya: Purāṇa-Vimarśa, p. 91.

[5]:

Padma-purāṇa, Uttarakhaṇḍa, 236. 18-21.

[6]:

Ibid., 236. 22.

[7]:

Valdev Upadhyaya: Op. cit., p. 92. — Śripati in his commentary Śrikarabhāṣya of Brahmasūtra refutes the identification of the Śaiva Purāṇas as tāmasa Purāṇas (pp. 40ff).

[8]:

R.C. Hazra: Op. cit., vol. 1, pp. 20-22.

[9]:

R.C. Hazra: Studies in the Puranic Records on Hindu Rites and Customs, p.73.

[10]:

V. C. Srivastava: “The Upapurāṇa as History: The Case of the Sāmba Purāṇa”, Purāṇas, History and Itihāsas (vol.1, part 6 of History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization), p. 499.