The meaning of the word “Purana”

The word Purana connotes simply an old narrative, or the record of old events. Ancient writers derived the term "Purana" as i. pura bhavam, ii. pura niyate, iii. pura anati . The Vayu Purana derives the word from and the root 3 and gives the meaning of the word as 'that which breathed in old times. The word is formed by the addition of 'tyu' termination to the indeclinable g according to Panini. He has used this word in his aphorisms more than once. Bhanuji Diksita, son of the famous grammarian Bhattoji Diksita, 2 1 1. yasmatpura hayanatidam puranam tena hi smrtam | niruktamasya yo veda sarvapapaih pramucyate || Vayu Purana - I. 203. 2. purvakalaika sarva jarat purana nava kevalah samanadhikaranena | astadhyayi of Panini - II.1.49.

107 3 has derived it from 'Pura' an indeclinable, with the suffix 'yu' (tyu) which as a rule is changed into 'ana'. Both the word and its affix (purana) are combined euphonically and becomes 'Purana'.³ The rule demands it to be 'Puratana', but since even Panini has used it, it is taken to be correct by the traditional usage (nipatana).4 Bhanuji has offered another derivation, Pura+ana (to record) + ac = purana which means a composition recording (events of past and future).5 Yaksa has interpreted "Puranam" as 'Pura navam' i.e. new in ages gone by. It is an instance where the final letter is dropped. Hence instead of "Pura navam", we get Purana. The etymological explanation of the term "Purana" given by Yaska is gʊ a , that through which the old becomes new again. In a sense, Purana is old but retains the spirit of newness by emphasizing the essential oneness of all men irrespective of their caste and creed, a sentiment which is modern in every age. The use of the term "Purana" in the sense of a religious book, dates back to the days of the Chandogya Upanisad, wherein Purana is declared to be the fifth Veda. The word "Purana" in the appears to have been 3. 4. sayam ciram prahne prage'vyayebhyastyutyulau tuta ca | Ibid., IV.3.23. purana proktena brahmana kalpesu | Ibid., IV.3.105. | iti sutrayornipatanat tunabhavah | amarakopa - 1.6.5. tikayam bhanuji diksitah | | 5. pura anati iti puranam | an sabde | Ibid.,

108 mentioned first in the Asvalayana Grhya Sutra (4.6). The mention of the word Purana in the Apastamba Dharma Sutra shows that the Puranas in the sutra period, discussed Dharma sutra topics and also told stories of kings and their kingdoms. Smrtis like the Manusmrti and the Yanjnavalkya - Smrti refer to the Vedas and the Puranas together.6 The author of the Mahabharata in the Svargarohana parva, equates the fruit of listening to the Mahabharata with that of listening to the eighteen Puranas. Taking into consideration that the Mahabharata text, consisting of one lakh verses, had already been composed in the fourth century B.C as is vouched for by inscriptions, one can safely assume that some Puranas must have been written by that time. A well known definition of the Puranas was given by Amarasimha of 5 th century A.D, mentioning primary, Sarga, Pratisarga, Vamsa, Manvantaras and Vamsanucharita as the five topics discussed in the Puranas. It must be remembered that this definition does not cover the subjects of many extant Puranas." The Brahmanda Purana explains the word in a similar way. It is said that the Purana is so called because it expresses ideas with regard to ancient times, and adds that one who knows this exegesis is absolved of all sins". 8 6. yato vedah puranani vidyopanisadastatha | Yanjnavalkya Smrti IV.189. 7. pura navam bhavatiti puranam (nirukta 3.9) 8. yasmat pura hyabhucaitat puranam tena tat smrtam niruktamasya yo veda sarvapapaih pramucyate | (brahmanda puranam purvabhago prakriya padah - I. 173)

109 The Atharva Veda which contains the earliest mention of the word 'Purana', says that the rcs (verses), the samans (songs), the metres and the Purana, originated from the residue (uchhista) of the sacrifice together with the Yajus (Sacrificial formulae). Though references in the Atharvaveda signify that the Puranas had assumed some independent form of composition, but it is not definite that the Puranas meant actual books at the time of the Atharvaveda. The Chandogya Upanisad shows that a definite work has intended by the term. It is in the sutras, however that we find reference to the existence of real Puranas 10 9 On the other hand the Brhadaranyaka Upanisad ascribes the origin of the four Vedas, Itihasa Purana etc. The Atharvaveda, the Satapatha Brahmana and Upanisads clearly state that the Puranas had attained a status of sacredness like the Vedas and were closely associated with Itihasa even in the vedic times. Though the word "Purana" was applied to a type of literature in the later days, the word 'Purana' occurs in the Rgueda where it means 'old'. As a matter of fact, in some of the works of the Vedic and the early Buddhist literature, the Purana has been called the fifth Veda. The way in which the Purana has been connected with sacrifice as 9. rcah samani chandamsi puranam yajusa saha | ucchisthajajnire sarve divi deva divi sritah || Atharva-veda XI.7.24. 10. sa hovaca rgvedam bhagavo'dhyemi yajurvedam samavedamatharvanam | caturthamitihasapuranam pancamam vedanam vedamiti | Chandogya Upanisad VII.1.2.

110 well as with the Yajus in the Atharvaveda, the theory of the origin of the universe from sacrifice as expounded in the Purusa-sukta of the Rgueda and the topics constituting the 'Pariplava akhyanas' or recurring narration in the Asvamedha sacrifice, tend to indicate that the Purana, as a branch of learning, had its beginning in the Vedic period and originated in the narrative portion (Akhyana bhaga) of the Vedic sacrifice, which in the Brahmanas, is repeatedly identified with the god "Prajapati". In the extant Puranas, there is a verse which tells us that at the beginning of creation, Brahma had remembered the Purana first of all the scriptures, before the Vedas. This statement, however absurd it may appear to be, will have validity, if we take the word 'Purana' to mean not the Purana literature, but 'ancient stories' and legends, which in every country came into being much earlier than versified compositions"