Chapter 9.2 - The Aditya-purana (study)

This [aditya-purana] is one of the earliest and most popular Upapuranas. But unfortunately its name does not occur in any of the lists of eighteen Upapuranas except those contained in three comparatively late works, viz., the Devi-bhagavata, the Vindhya-mahatmya, and the Brhaddharma-purana The list of Upapuranas," which Raghunandana derived from the 'Kaurma' (i.e. Kurma-purana), contains the name of a 'Bhaskarahvaya' Upapurana. According to Kasirama Vacaspati and also perhaps Raghunandana himself, this 'Bhaskarahvaya' Upapurana is the same as the Aditya-purana We do not 1 For this list see Volume I, pp. 4-5. 2 * See Kasirama Vacaspati's com. on the Malamasa-tattva (ed. Candicarana Smrtibhusana), p. 213-bhaskarahvayam aditya-puranam.

SOME LOST UPAPURANAS 491 know whether this identification is right or wrong. The 'Bhaskarahvaya' Upapurana may as well be the same as the 'Saura-purana' which is not mentioned in Raghunandana's list. However, the nonmention of the name of the Aditya-purana in the majority of the lists has not in any way minimised the importance of this work. Almost all the Nibandha-writers are found to quote numerous verses from it, some of these writers being the following: Narayanabhatta (author of the Tristhali-setu), Anantabhatta (author of the Vidhanaparijata), Gadadhara, Narasimha Vajapeyin, Gopalabhatta, Raghunandana, Govindananda, Vidyakara Vajapeyin, Vacaspati-misra, Candesvara, Madhavacarya, Vidyapati, Madanapala, Hemadri, Devanabhatta, Vallalasena, Apararka and Laksmidhara. In his account of India Alberuni names the 'Aditya-purana' in that list of major Puranas which he heard and committed 'to writing from dictation." Alberuni further says, "Of all this literature I have only seen portions of the Matsya, Aditya and Vayu Puranas", and gives the translation of a few verses of the Aditya-purana That the Aditya-purana is an early work cannot be denied. The manner in which Alberuni and the Nibandha-writers of different parts of India name and utilise it without the least shade of doubt as regards its authenticity and antiquity, shows that it must have been written not later than 700 A.D. As the Skanda-purana (VII. i. 2. 79-83) and the Matsya-purana (53. 59-63) name the Narasimha-purana, Nandi-purana, Samba-purana and Aditya-purana and say that all these Upapuranas were 'well established in society' (loke ... sampratisthitah), the Aditya-purana must have been written not later than the sixth century A.D. From Just before giving the list of eighteen Upapuranas in his Malamasa-tattva Raghunandana writes: kaurme "anyany upapuranani munibhih kathitany api/" .../ tani ca narasimha-nandy-aditya-kalika-puranadini, yatha (Smrti-tattva, I, pp. 792-3). It is to be noted that Raghunandana names the Aditya-purana as an instance, although the list, which he gives from the 'Kaurma', contains the name of a 'Bhaskarahvaya' Upapurana (and not that of the 'Aditya-purana'). Hence Raghunandana seems to take the 'Bhaskarahvaya' and the Aditya-purana to be identical. $ Sachau, Alberuni's India, I, p. 130.

492 4 STUDIES IN THE UPAPURANAS the mention of the Mahabharata and the names of the zodiacal signs and week-days in some of the verses of the Aditya-purana, it appears that this work is to be dated not earlier than 400 A.D. It is highly probable that it was written in the fifth century A.D. This early date of the Aditya-purana is fully supported by the remarkable absence of Tantricism in its rituals. We have said elsewhere that the 'Bhaskara-purana', mentioned in Skanda-purana V. iii (Reva-khanda). 199. 4-5, may be the same as the present Samba-purana 5 The Aditya-purana must not be taken to be identical with the earlier Saura-purana which is now lost. The former is found mentioned in the Matsya-purana (53. 62), Brhaddharma-purana (I. 25. 23) and Devi-bhagavata (I. 3. 15) and drawn upon by Alberuni and the commentators and Nibandha-writers both early and late. The distinct character of these works is shown by the facts that the Devi-bhagavata mentions both these Puranic works in its list of Upapuranas' and that whenever Alberuni and others have to refer to or draw upon the Aditya-purana, they do so under the title 'Aditya-purana' In a few chapter-colophons of some of the Manuscripts of the present Saura, this Purana is called the 'Manaviya-samhita belonging to the Aditya-purana" So, it is liable to be taken as a part (Samhita) of the Aditya-purana As a matter of fact, in many of the catalogues of Sanskrit Manuscripts this Purana is mentioned under the title 'Aditya-purana' But this connection of the present Saura with the Aditya-purana is totally unwarranted; because the Aditya-purana, which is mentioned in the Matsya-purana, * See the verses ascribed to the Aditya-purana in Smrti-tattva, II, p. 382, Smrti-candrika, IV, pp. 86 and 87, Madhavacarya's com. on the Parasara-smrti, I. i, pp. 280-281, Kalasara, p. 610, and so on. * See Volume I, p. 100. * We shall record our information about this earlier Saura-purana in Vol III (under 'Saura-purana'). 7 Devi-bhagavata I. 3. 13-16. 8 iti sri-aditya-purane manaviya-samhitayam brahmanda-goloka-varnanam nama panca-sastitamo 'dhyayah.--A. Weber, No. 1526 (pp. 115-119); R. L. Mitra, No. 406 (pp. 182-3); Haraprasad Shastri, V, No. 4096 (pp. 758-761). Also P.P.S. Sastri, Tanjore Cat., XV, No. 10566 (pp. 7165-66); and M. Rangacharya, IV. ii, Nos. 2338-39 (pp. 1599-1604).

9 SOME LOST UPAPURANAS 493 Brhaddharma-purana and Devi-bhagavata and drawn upon by Alberuni and the Smrti-writers, both early and late, is certainly a much earlier work. Moreover, nowhere in the body of its text does the Saura-purana connect itself with the Aditya; and of a few hundreds of metrical lines quoted from the 'Aditya-purana' in the Smrti commentaries and Nibandhas, only about five are found in the present Saura.10 But this coincidence must not be taken very seriously, because stray verses are often found common even to independent Puranic works which might have taken these verses from a common source such as the Mahabharata or some early Puranic or Smrti work. The above-mentioned connection of the present Saura-purana with the Aditya-purana, however, seems to be based on Saura-purana 1. 6 in which the sages ask Suta to tell them how 'Aditya' declared the Saura-purana (katham bhagavata purvam adityen-atmarupina / puranam kathitam sauram tanno vaktum iharhasi //). The Bhavisyottara mentions a 'Martanda-purana' and says that it dealt with Vratas." But as we are quite ignorant of the nature and other contents of this 'Martanda-purana', we do not know whether it was the same as the Aditya-purana or the earlier Saura-purana which is now lost. The Surya-purana mentioned by D. R. Bhandarkar, and that drawn upon by Candesvara and named in the Berlin Manuscripts of the Krsna-pancami-sraddha-vidhi and the Bhavisyottara as the source of the former and of the 'Putra-kama-krsna- ⚫ Viz., in Apararka's com. on the Yajnavalkya-smrti and Madhavacarya's com. on the Parasara-smrti, and in the Krtya-kalpataru, Danasagara, Adbhuta-sagara, Smrticandrika, Caturvarga-cintamani, Madana-parijata, Durga-bhakti-taramgini, Kalanirnaya, Krtya-ratnakara, Grhastha-ratnakara, Sraddha-cintamani, Smrtyartha-sara, Varsa-kaumudi, Sraddha-kaumudi, Dana-kaumudi, Nityacara-paddhati, Nityacarapradipa, Kalasara (of Gadadhara), Smrti-tattva, Hari-bhakti-vilasa, Vidhana-parijata, etc. 10 See, for instance, the five lines, quoted from the 'Aditya-purana' in Madhavacarya's com. (I. i, p. 177) on the Parasara-smrti, which agree with Saura-purana 10. 3 and 5-6 a. 11 Bhavisya-purana IV. 121. 1-2- sri-krsna uvaca- srnu bharata vaksyami pancasiti-vratani ca/ noktani yani kasyapi munibhir dharma-darsibhih// bhavisya-matsya-martanda-puranesu ca varnitam/ varaham caiva samgrhya kathyante tani pandava//

494 STUDIES IN THE UPAPURANAS pancami-vrata' in the latter, must be quite different from our Aditya-purana12 We do not know definitely to which sect the Aditya-purana originally belonged or whether it was a non-sectarian work. In the comparatively early Nibandhas there is a large number of extracts, quoted from the Aditya-purana, in which the worship of the Sun has been prescribed. 13 On the other hand, Visnu-worship is recommended and praised in some of its verses; 14 according to one line, it is the adherents to the Pancaratra system who escape all kinds of sufferings; 15 and one verse states that a worthless Brahmin, who is not marked with Sankha, Cakra, Urdhva-pundra etc., is to be placed on an ass and banished by the king from his kingdom.16 In Hemadri's Caturvarga-cintamani (II. ii, p. 915) eight verses on Syama-mahotsava have been quoted; Vidyapati and Gadadhara have four and two metrical lines on Durgapuja in their Durga-bhakti-tarangini (p. 160) and Kalasara (p. 105) respectively; and in Narayanabhatta's Tristhalisetu (pp. 211, 294-5, 296-7, 308, 313) there are a few verses which praise Benares and the different types of Siva-linga. From all these quotations it appears that the Aditya-purana was a non-sectrian work dealing with the praise and worship of Surya, Visnu, Siva, Durga and other deities. Regarding the provenance of the Aditya-purana we have got no clear idea. That it is a non-Bengal work, is certain. It is probable that this Upapuranna was written in Northern India. It will be interesting to note in this connection the varied contents of the Aditya-purana on the basis of the references and quotations made in Alberuni's work and in the different 13 See Volume I, pp. 100 and 349-350. Also Epigraphia Indica, IX, p. 279. 13 See, for instance, Caturvarga-cintamani, I, pp. 738-740, 792-804, and so on. 1* For such verses see Krtya-kalpataru, VI, pp. 348-351, Caturvarga-cintamani, I, pp. 326-7, II. i, pp. 1145-7, and so on. 13 "pancaratra-prasakta ye na te durgatim apnuyuh' (quoted from the Aditya-purana in Nityacara-paddhati, p. 509). 10 sankha-cakr-ordhvapundr-adi-rahitam brahmanadhamam/ gardabham tu samaropya raja rastrat pravasayet/ | (quoted from the Aditya-purana in Hari-bhakti-vilasa, p. 184).

SOME LOST UPAPURANAS 495 Puranas and Smrti-Nibandhas. According to the Devibhagavata (I. 3. 15) and the Vindhya-mahatmya (chap. 3) the Aditya-purana was a 'very extensive' work (adityam cativistaram); from Brhaddharma-purana III. 2. 31 we understand that it dealt elaborately with Gayatri and gave a description of Gayatri's appearance, colour etc., most probably in connection with gayatri-dhyana;" and Alberuni's quotations show that it contained a large number of verses on the geography of the earth, the names and position of the seven nether worlds (viz., Tala, Sutala, Patala etc.), the names and position of the seven worlds (viz., Bhuh, Bhuvah, Svah, Mahah etc.) of the mortals and the immortals, the description and measurement of the mountain Meru, and a discourse on 'Kalpa'.18 Much more interesting are the verses ascribed to the Aditya-purana in the Smrti-Nibandhas. A study of these verses show that the Aditya-purana dealt elaborately with various topics concerning religion and society. Some of these topics are the following. (1) Sraddha. The right procedure of its performance. Determination of proper time. Necessity of performing sraddha during the rainy season when the Pitrs are expelled by Yama from his abode and sent down to the world of mortals. Praise of dedicating a 'nila-vrsa'-an act which causes great satisfaction to the Pitrs and ensures plenty of food and enjoyment to the dedicator.19 Bad effect of the non-performance of sraddha on the belief that there are no Pitrs. (2) Death, and cremation of the deceased. 20 Causes of death determining the regions to be attained by the deceased. Praise of death in war. Praise of committing suicide in case of suffering from incurable diseases. Persons 17 For the text of the verse of the Brhaddharma-purana see Chapter II, footnote 135 above. 18 See Sachau, Alberuni's India, I, pp. 168, 229-230, 232, 248 and 368. 19 See Krtya-kalpataru, III, pp. 470-472, Caturvarga-cintamani, II. ii, pp. 989-990, Smrti-tattva, II, p. 381, and so on. * See Krtya-kalpataru, VIII, p. 264; Krtya-kalpataru, XI, pp. 135-6, Apararka's com. (p. 370) on the Yajnavalkya-smrti; Caturvarga-cintamani, II. ii, pp. 948-9, Madhavacarya's com. on the Parasara-smrti, I. ii, p. 228, Smrti-tattva, II, p. 284, Tristhali-setu, pp. 53, 54; Smrti-candrika, V, p. 182; Kalasara, p. 258; Kalasara, p. 361.

496 STUDIES IN THE UPAPURANAS deserving cremation (viz., those who have invited sudden death through mistake; those who have been killed by wild beasts, snakes, poison, lightning etc.; those who have been murdered by Candalas or thieves; and so on). Method of cremation; and use of different kinds of fire for different persons. Praise of throwing the bones of the deceased into the Ganges. (3) Impurity.-Rules of impurity caused by birth, death and miscarriage. Rules of purification of the body under different conditions, (viz., after touching undesirable persons; while travelling on the way or suffering from some disease; and so on). Method of purification. (4) Marriage, and duties of married life.-Praise of the Gandharva form of marriage and of accepting sulka for the girl. 21 Praise of marriyng a daughter according to the Daiva form. 22 Salutary effects of Kanya-pradana on the Pitrs (patriarchs). 23 Respect to be shown to a son-in-law, who is to be regarded as Visnu himself; and advice to the father not to dine at the house of that daughter who has not attained motherhood.24 Duties of married women. 25 _They are to serve their husbands and obey them in all matters. They should not undertake any religious rite without the permission of their husbands or other guardians. Method and praise of sahamarana and anumarana.26 21 gandharvena vivahena yas tu kanyam prayacchati/ gandharva-lokam vrajati gandharvaih pujyate ca sah// sulkena dadyad yah kanyam varaya sadrsaya ca/ kimnaraih saha giyeta gandharvam lokam eti ca// (quoted in Varsa-kaumudi, p. 575). In Dana-kaumudi, p. 80 these verses have been ascribed to the 'Adi-purana". 23 Krtya-kalpataru, II, p. 83, Grhastha-ratnakara, p. 69. 23 Krtya-kalpataru, II, p. 81, Grhastha-ratnakara, p. 68. 24 For the relevant verses of the Aditya-purana see Smrti-tattva, II, pp. 147-8, Grhastharatnakara, p. 350, Apararka's com. on the Yajnavalkya-smrti, pp. 239-240, and Krtya-kalpataru, III, p. 273. 25 See Caturvarga-cintamani, II. i, pp. 326-7. 26 See ibid., II. ii, pp. 957-960.

SOME LOST UPAPURANAS 497 Dining with the wife of one's own caste-permissible during journey.27 (5) Duties of people. 28-Advice to the people of the Kali age not to practise the dharma of the Krta-yuga. During the Kali age they are to avoid the following acts:- remarriage of girls, allotment of the largest share to the eldest son, killing of cows, marrying of one's own brother's wife, practice of celibacy for a long time, intercaste marriage, killing of a Brahmin even in war, entrance into the Vanaprasthasrama, prescription of such penances to a Brahmin as may cause his death, recognition of sons other than the dattaka and the aurasa, and so on. Praise of morning bath during the month of Karttika and of performance of tarpana. Proper time for taking food, viz., morning (pratah) and evening (sayam). Study of the Mahabharata.29 (6) Donations. 30-Praise of giving various things to proper recipients, especially to worthy Brahmins, viz., gold, land, well-furnished house, bed, lamp, fan (made of peacockfeathers), clothes, seat, umbrella, footwears, chariot, boat, elephant, horse, cows of different numbers and colours, cows known as Kapilas, calves, food, salt, sesamum, artificial cows made of sesamum, ghee or water, skins of black antelopes, water-pots, sacred thread, sacred books such as the Veda, stick, and so on. Qualifications of donees. Right procedure of the same. Proper time for making gifts. Gifts which can please particular gods and spiritual preceptors. 17 brahmanya bharyaya sardham kvacid bhunjita cadhvani/ asavarna-striya sardham bhuktva patati tatksanat// (quoted in Madhavacarya's com. on the Parasara-smrti, I. i, p. 425). For the relevant verses see Madhavacarya's com. on the Parasara-smrti, I. i, pp. 83-84, and 280-1, and I. ii, p. 91; Smrti-tattva, II, pp. 112-3, and 382; Madana-parijata, p. 331; and so on. " Smrti-tattva, II, p. 382. 30 Krtya-kalpataru, I, p. 107, II, pp. 242, 247; Apararka's com. (on the Yajnavalkyasmrti), pp. 363, 370, 374, 378-9; Danasagara, pp. 46, 60,259, etc.; Caturvarga-cintamani, I; Madhavacarya's com. on the Parasara-smrti, I. i, p. 177; Krtya-ratnakara, pp. 179- 180, 367, 561; Grhastha-ratnakara, pp. 463, 466; Durga-bhakti-tarangini, p. 181; and so on. ' 32

498 STUDIES IN THE UPAPURANAS (7) Various kinds of public work.³¹-Praise of constructing dams, planting trees, digging wells and tanks, and so Dedication of orchards, gardens, parks etc. on. (8) Measurement of land by Paramanu, Trasarenu, Ratharenu, Balagra, Liksa, Yuka, Yava, Anguli, Vitasti, Pradesa, Tala, Gokarna, Ratni, Tusta, Visku, Dhanurdanda, Nali etc., the extents of which are as follows:- 8 Paramanus 8 Trasarenus 8 Ratharenus 8 Balagras 8 Liksas 8 Yukas 8 Yavas 12 Angulis and so on. 32 Measurement of a 'gocarma': 1 Trasarenu, 1 Ratharenu, 1 Balagra, 1 Liksa, 1 Yuka, 1 Yava, 1 Anguli,. 1 Vitasti, 33 (9) Vratas and festivals³.-Selection of proper Tithis for the performance of these. Rules of self-restraint that one should observe on these occasions. Description of various Vratas and festivals, some of which are the following: (a) The Putra-saptami-vrata, in which the Sun is to be worshipped on the Saptami Tithis of every month, especially on the Magha-sukla-saptami. (b) The twelve Saptami-vratas, in which the Sun's twelve forms, viz., Dhatr, Parjanya, Varuna, Surya, Bhaskara, Indra, Vivasvat, Aryaman, Mitra, Pusan, Visnu and Bhaga are to be worshipped during the twelve months (from Caitra) respectively. On the Asadha-sukla-saptami, which is called Vijayasaptami, Surya is to be worshipped in a mandala by one 31 Krtya-kalpataru, V, p. 276; Danasagara, pp. 544-5, 661-2; Krtya-ratnakara, ○ p. 561; and so on. ** See Caturvarga-cintamani, I, pp. 120-1, and Nityacara-pradipa, pp. 140-1. ª³ gavam satam vrsas caiko yatra tisthaty ayantritah/ tam vai gocarma-matram tu manur aha prajapatih/ / (quoted in Danasagara, p. 330). 34 See Krtya-kalpataru, VI, pp. 348-351; and especially Caturvarga-cintamani, II. i, pp. 738-740, 792-804, 875-6, II. ii, pp. 168, 341-3, 649-650, 915, and so on. *

SOME LOST UPAPURANAS 499 who must wear white clothes, have a sacred thread, and be a brahmacarin, and must not speak with women. The offerings are to consist of fruits, vegetables, meat, payasa etc.; and the 'Daivajnas' are to be honoured and fed. The things to be given away on this occasion are wine, condiments, honey, Sali rice, meat, vegetables etc. It is said that those women, who worship the Sun on this Tithi, become fortunate and live happily in the Surya-loka with their husbands, and that after the expiry of the period of enjoyment they are reborn in high and rich families. In connection with the description of Sun-worship on the Sravana-sukla-saptami, which is called Marica-saptami, reference is made to the Sun's power of curing various diseases including those of the skin (viz., Kustha, Dadru, Kandu, Svitra, Slipada, Jalodara, Gulma, Atisara, Hrd-roga, Vidradhi, Pandu, Anaha, Galagraha, Sirahsula, Parsvasula, Aksisula, Visucika, Vata, Ksaya etc.). The Sun is to be worshipped with the six-syllabled mantra 'om namah suryaya'; and the worshipper is to take his seat before the deity by facing the east. During the Bhadra-sukla-saptami, which is called Phalasaptami, the Sun is to be worshipped with the offer of various fruits; and the cultivators, merchants, bankers and others, who observe the Phala-saptami-vrata, have their efforts immensely rewarded. During the Asvina-sukla-saptami, which is called Anodana, a cart is to be given away with food materials, and Brahmins and Bhojakas are to be fed. (c) Syena-grasana-vidhi.-On the Caturthi, Astami, Navami, or Caturdasi Tithi of the white half of the month of Karttika, a married woman, who is the mother of one or more sons, is to take her bath and worship Yoganidra in a fruit-bearing tree outside the house, where she is to go without taking any companion with her. At this place she is to offer food to a Syena bird, return to the house, take her meal even before the head of the family takes his own, and worship her husband. (d) Syama-mahotsava.-On this occasion Syama, who

500 STUDIES IN THE UPAPURANAS is said to have been churned out of the ocean of milk and who was known by three more names Narayani, Sati and Draksa (because the gods and demons said "manojna sumukhi caisa hanta draksyamahe vayam", when she was churned out), is to be worshipped on well-ripe Draksa fruits. Two boys and two old men are to be honoured on this occasion, the fruits are to be given to spiritual preceptors, and music and dancing are to be performed. Besides these, there is copious description of Asokastamivrata, Vaisakhi-vidhi, Putrotpatti-vrata, Deha-tyaga-vidhi, Durvastami-vrata, Vijaya-dvadasi-vrata, and so on. (10) Description of different deities, such as Agni (who rides a goat), Siva (who has four hands), Laksmi, Indra, the eight Vasus, the eleven Rudras, the twelve Adityas, and so on.35 (11) Miscellaneous topics, such as those relating to 36 (a) numerals, (b) praise of Benares, and the method of worshipping Siva there, (c) adbhutas concerning svapna and kaya-rista, (d) names of the seven sages of the Vaivasvata Manvantara, (e) names of dig-gajas, enumeration of ratnapancaka, and names of the nine things known as 'kautuka',37 (f) vaisvadeva-bali following pitr-tarpana, (g) bad effects of making hurry in homa and of offering homa in a fire with inauspicious signs, 38 (h) giving of salt and fodder to cows, and so on. An examination of the quoted verses shows that in many of the chapters of the Aditya-purana the Sun (Bhanu or Aditya) spoke to the 'great sage' (mahamuni) Durvasas, 39 in some chapters Vasistha reported to a king what Pitamaha had said to the gods and sages, 40 in some chapters Vasistha ** See Smrti-tattva, I, pp. 99, 128, 136, 174, 190; II, pp. 592, 592-3. * See Adbhuta-sagara, pp. 507, 517, 519-520, 520, 521, 524, 525, 527-9, 534, 537, 538, 540, 542-4, 546. 37 See Caturvarga-cintamani, I, pp. 233, 241; II. i, pp. 47, 49. 38 Krtya-ratnakara, pp. 59-60. * See Caturvarga-cintamani, I, pp. 592-3, 594-5, 420-1; II. i, pp. 875-6; and so on. Krtya-kalpataru, VIII, p. 264. 40 See Caturvarga-cintamani, I, pp. 602-6. Cf. also Krtya-kalpataru, V, pp. 154-5, and Smrti-candrika, IV, p. 406.

SOME LOST UPAPURANAS 501 spoke to Bhargava Rama," and in some others Vyasa was the speaker. 42 In a large extract of 130 verses Narada is spoken to, 43 and in another Aditya speaks to Brahma." From all these it appears that in the Aditya-purana Vyasa reported to some sages what the Sun (Bhanu or Aditya) had said to Durvasas on diverse topics. We do not know whether the Aditya-purana cared to claim to belong to any Mahapurana, but the Matsya-purana (53. 62) and the Skanda-purana (VII. i. 2. 83) take it to be a part of the Bhavisyat-purana. It is needless to say that this connection between the two Puranic works must have been meant for subordinating the Aditya-purana to a principal Purana, viz., the Bhavisyat.

41 See Apararka's com. on the Yajnavalkya-smrti, pp. 378-9. "See Caturvarga-cintamani, II. ii, pp. 341-3. See ibid., II. i, pp. 792-804. 4 Ibid., II. i, pp. 738-740.