Vaishnava Myths in the Puranas

by Kum. Geeta P. Kurandwad | 2004 | 102,840 words

The essay studies the Vaishnava Myths in the Puranas by exploring the significance of the ten principal incarnations of Lord Vishnu as depicted in various ancient Indian texts like the Vedas, Upanishads, and Puranas. The research also investigates the social, political, philosophical, and religious impact of these incarnations throughout history, s...

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The Puranas occupy a unique position in Hindu literature. As a class of literature, the Puranas deal with Ancient Indian religion, philosophy, history, geography, sociology, politics; and they supply the material for the study of various branches of knowledge and ancient wisdom. In other words one may describe the purana as a class of literature which deals with the myths of gods, asuras, sages and kings of ancient times, contains abstracts of works in arts, sciences, medicine, grammar, dramaturgy, music astrology and other subjects, affords insight into different phases and aspects of Hinduism - its mythology, idol worship, theism, pantheism, love of god etc. In brief puranas constitute a popular encyclopedia of ancient and medieval Hinduism in its traits. The Puranas are the vast literature computed at four lacks of slokas respecting for Vedic authority to restate the ideals of ancient Indian culture.1 1. sarva vedartha sarani puranani | Naradiya Purana: 1.9.100 vedah pratisthitah sarve purane natra samsayah | Ibid., II.24.17 az alavaci aza geromef fagitara: 1 Skanda Purana Prabhasa khanda, II.90.

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105 So far as the Puranas are concerned, they have been regarded as the fifth Veda. In the performance of the Mahabhuta-GhataMahadana, It is first said that 'Five + Vedas have to be put inside the golden jar at the time of the Mahadana, and then it is quietly stated that the fifth Veda was the Purana. This belief in the high scriptural authority of the Puranas had several implications, the most important of which was about the nature of these texts and about their authorship. All the Puranas are the nature of a Samhita and author of all of them is Vedavyasa. A key to this two-fold phenomenon lies in the technique of Vedic texts. The original Purana Samhita which developed as a special branch of study under the great teachers, Parasarya Badarayana Vyasa was given the rank of Samhita and derived its name from the founder teacher of that particular charana who was Vedavyasa. Purana-vidya had come into existence in the Vedic period itself as shown by the reference to Itihasa, Purana in the Vrtya Sukta of the Atharva Veda and by the subsequent references in the Chandogya Upanisad and other places. The nucleus of Puranic tradition was gradually developing and this field of knowledge was being cultivated in several other branches. By the turn of the millennium, when the Bhagavata movement; centring round Visnu gained new movement, need was felt for special class of literature which should become the focus of both Veda and Loukika, that is, a reconciled presentation of the older tradition with the new institutional developments in society. The Purana was found to be the most convenient vehicle of this movement for more reasons than one. The first advantage was that

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106 of language which was reinforced by all, the force of the classical Sanskrit speech. The second point was that the Puranas were not a closed literature like the Vedas or Upanisads which had completed their cycle. The elastic nature of the Puranic texts as reconstituted almost at every new turn of a cultural cycle, is unparalleled in the history of world literature. The enthusiasm and the inspiration, with which the compilation of the Puranas undertaken, were recurrent facts of a resurgent religious movement being renovated from age to age. These Puranas have preserved a wonderful record of these changes. Before identifying these elements in the Puranas, it is legitimate to understand the very nature and scope of the Puranas; for, the details thereof follow in forthcoming pages.

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