Chapter 14 - Introduction to the Puranas

Introductory—The use of the word Purana in Indian literature goes back to great antiquity. It denoted old stories or narratives. Puranas are said to be as old as the Vedas. According to the Atharvasamhita the Rk, Saman, Chandas and Yajus were revealed simultaneously!. The Satapatha Brahmana² indicates their having been very ancient texts. It called them the Veda. The Brhadaranyakopanisad³ describes them as the life breath of the Great Being, Mahabhuta along with the Rgveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda, the Atharvangirasa, Itihasa, Vidya, Upanisad, Sloka, Sutra, Anuvyakhyana and Vyakhyana. In the Chandogyopanisad, the Itihasa and the Purana are said to be the fifth Veda. The Yajnavalkyasmrti assigns them a prominent place among the fourteen Vidyas. It also speaks of them as the abode, sthanani of Vidya and Dharma along with Nyaya, Mimamsa, Dharmsastras and the Veda with its six auxiliaries. According to modern scholars the eighteen Puranas as available now are not as old as the Veda. The Puranas which the Vedic literature mentions are not available at present. But it can definitely be said that they must have been in existence in the Vedic period itself and would have contained information about cosmology and genealogies. It could be that old Puranas were the source of the now available ones.

The Puranas as Available Now The Puranas that are available now number eighteen. The Visnupuana enumerates them as under : Brahmam padmam vaisnavam ca saivam bhagavatam tatha/ tathanyan naradiyam ca markandeyam ca saptamam // Agneyam astamam proktam bhavisyam navamam tatha dasamam brahmavaivartam lingam ekadasam tatha // Varaham dvadasam proktam skandam catra trayodasam/ caturdasam vamanan ca kaurmam pancadasam tatha// Matsyam ca garudam caiva brahmandastadasam tatha/6 A stanza enumerates them by grouping them on the basis of the first syllable in their names: Madvayam bhadvayam caiva bratrayam vacatustayam/ anapalingakuskani puranani pracaksate//" The two beginning with ma, the two beginning with bha, the three beginning with bra, the four beginning with va, those beginning with a, na, pa, lin, ga, ku and ska are called Puranas: Madvayam - Markandeya-purana, Matsya-purana. Bhadvyam Bhagavata-purana, Bhavisya-purana - 10 Bratrayam Brahma-purana, Brahmavaivarta-purana, Brahmanda-purana Vacatustayam Visnu-purana, Varaha-purana, Vamanapurana, Vayu-purana 1 Anapalingakuskani A - Agni-purana, Na-Naradiya-purana, Pa Padma-purana, Lin - Linga-purana, Ga-Garuda-purana Ku-Kurma-purana, Ska - Skanda-purana In the first enumeration there is omission of Vayu-purana, in the second that of the Siva-purana. These Puranas have been

divided into a group of six each on the basis of the deities they are associated with. The first group of six dedicated to Visqu and placed in the category of the Sattvika, includes the Visnu, the Narada, the Bhagavata, the Garuda, the Padma and the Varaha-puranas. The second group of six dedicated to Brahma Markandeya, Bhavisya, Vamana and Brahma-puranas. The third and called the Rajasika, includes Brahmanda , Brahmavaivarta, group of six dedicated to Siva and placed in the category of Tamasa, includes Matsya, Kurma , Linga, Siva, Skanda and Agni-puranas. This division on the basis of the association with particular deities cannot be termed very scientific because there are some Puranas which deal with a particular deity prominetly but contain description of other deities as well. It may not be proper to tag them with a particular sampradaya going with a particular deity. As examples could be mentioned the Markandeya and the Bhavisya which cannot be confined to a particular sect. Similarly, the Brahma-purana has in it the eulogies of Surya and other deities along with those of Brahma. The authorship of the Puranas The Indian tradition credits Lord Brahma with the origination of the mass of the knowledge called the Puranas. The Vayu-purana records that Lord Brahma recited the Puranas, that He was the first to recite them to Matarisvan (Vayu). The poet Usanas got it from Vayu. The Vayu-purana also mentions that Yama had instructed Indra in the Puranic lore. From Indra it came down to Vasistha. The Visnu-purana was recited by Parasara in the time of Pariksit. The Vayu-purana describes Jatukarna as the author of the Puranas. The Suta-Samhita records the names of Akrtavrana Kasyapa, Kapila and other sages and seers who had recited the Puranas. According to the Visnu-purana, the sage Vedavyasa had composed the Akhyanas,n, Upakhyanas dand³ thelatGathas. The CC-0. Prof. Satya Vrat Shastri

Kalpa-suddhi has also the Purana-samhita which he (Vedavyasa) had taught to his intelligent pupil of the Suta-caste, Lomaharsana. From him it had passed to Akrtavrana of the Kasyapa family, Savarni and Samsapayana. These three had prepared on the basis of the original work three Purana compendia. Later, the pupils of these three had composed eighteen Mahapuranas and several Upa -puranas. The earliest of the Puranas was the Brahmapurana. According to the Vayu-purana there was only one Purana initially which was called the Purana-samhita. The Siva-purana says that at the end of the aeon (Kalpa) there was only one Purana which Brahma had recited to the sages. After that Vedavyasa for the convenience of the people had divided that big Purana-samhita in eighteen parts and had recited them. The reference to the division of one original Samhita into eighteen Puranas and their recitation is found in the Devi-bhagavata, the Varaha, the Bhagavata and the Padma-puranas also. The Matsya-purana says that of all the sastras it is the Purana that first was created by Brahma. It is after that the Vedas came out of his mouths: Puranam sarvasastranam prathamam brahmana smrtam/ anantaram ca vaktrebhyo Vedas tasya vinirgatah// Earlier, in another aeon, there was only one Purana, the sacred one, the means for (the attainment of) the threefold aim of life. It comprised of hundred million (verses). Noticing with the passage of time that it was not (possible) to grasp it, it was divided into eighteen parts. And it is this which is followed in this world: Puranam ekam evasit pura kalpantare 'nagha/ trivargasadhanam punyam satakotipravistaram// kalenagrahanam drstva puranasya tato nrpa/ tad astadasadha krtva bhuloke 'smin prakasate//

According to the Brhannaradiya-purana the Brahmandapurana had four lacs (of verses) which were arranged and narrated separately in eighteen texts: Brahmandam ca caturlaksam puranatvena pathyate/ tad eva vyasya gaditam atrastadasadha prthak// Vedavyasa had acquired the knowledge of the Purana-lore of the Vedic period that had continued to be handed down from generation to generation. This lore he systematized and brought forth in the form of a Samhita. This Samhita he taught to his pupil Lomaharsana. After Lomaharsana his pupils composed eighteen Mahapuranas and the same number of Upa-puranas. The Puranas mention the names of those pupils. They were Sumati, Agnivarcas Mitrayu, Susarman, Akrtavrana and Saumadatti. The credit for composing the Puranas and the Upapuranas does not rest with Vedavyasa only but also with his disciples and the disciples of those disciples every one of whom has referred to the original guru Vyasa as the composer of the Purana/s. It could be that Vedavyasa would have been a title like Sankaracarya that could be conferred on those who would have composed the Puranas, corrected them, prepared summaries of them and would have re-edited them. That would explain the use of the term Vedavyasa as the composer of the eighteen Puranas: astadasapurananam karta satyavatisutah, the writer of eighteen Puranas is the son of Satyavati (Vedavyasa). Date of the Puranas 160 It is very difficult to determine the date of the Puranas with any measure of certainty. There are some portions in the vast Puranic literature which are very old but there are also some which seem to have been composed fairly late. In the Royal dynasties mentioned in the Puranas, there is no mention of King Harsa and kings after the sixth century A.D. On this basis some scholars are of the opinion that up-to the fifth century A.D. or CC-0. Prof. Satya Vrat Shastri Collection, New Delhi. Digitized by $3 Foundation USA

even some time before it the Puranas had acquired their present shape. Scholars differ on this point. According to Lokamanya Tilak, the Puranas cannot be placed later than the second century A.D. According to Pargiter the Puranas in their original form cannot be placed before the initial centuries of the Christian era. R. C. Hazra who devoted much of his life to the study of the Puranas acccepts the following as the older of the PuranasMarkandeya, Brahmanda, Visnu, Matsya, Bhagavata and Kurma. The first two of these he accepts to be older than the Visnupurana. The date of the other older Puranas according to him is 400 A.D. Of Vayu, it is 500 A.D; of Bhagavata, 600-700 A.D. and Kurma 700 A.D. The Harivamsa belongs, according to him , to 400 A.D. and Agni-purana to 800 A.D, but in his view some matter in the latter is of an earlier date and some of a later date. About the date of the Agni-purana, there is no unanimity among scholars. According to S K. Dey, its treatment of the Alankaras is of the period posterior to Bhamaha and Dandin and prior to Anandavardhana of the ninth century A.D. About the Naradiyapurana, in the form it is available now the view is that it had been composed in the tenth century A.D. Later its size was magnified by interpolating in it some material. Of the Skandapurana some matter in it belongs to the eighth century but the larger portion of it belongs to a period later than that.The Garuda-purana was composed in A.D. 700 though the form in which it exists now was given to it in the 16 th century A.D. The Subject matter of the Puranas An old Sanskrit verse records, the following five that constitute the subject matter of the Puranas: sargas ca pratisargas ca vamso manvantarani ca vamsanucaritam caiva puranam pancalaksanam; the creation, the dissolution, the genealogies, the manvantaras and the history of the dynasties are the distingshing marks of a Purana. A verse from the Visnu-purana

also records these characteristics with the change in wording in the second hemistich of the verse quoted above: sargas ca pratisargas ca vamso manvantarani ca sarvesv etesu kathyante vamsanucaritam ca yat (Visnu-purana, 3.6.24). Puranas A Brief Survey Of all the Puranas it is the Brahma-purana that seems to be the oldest because it is referred to in all the Puranas which scholars consider as the older ones. It also has the other name Adipurana. It is believed that it was the first of the Puranas composed by Vyasa. It contains a detailed description of the holy places of the Odra (Odisha) country. In it there is a hymn of praise of the sun god who is equated with Siva. It has a supplement called Saura-purana which has in it the description of the sun temple built at Konark near Puri in 1241 A.D. The Visnu, the Siva, the Bhagavata, the Narada, the Brahmavaivarta, the Markandeya and the Devibhagavata-puranas record the number of verses in this Purana as ten thousands but according to the Linga, the Varaha, the Kurma, the Matsya and the Padma-puranas the number is thirteen thousand. The edition published from Mumbai contains thirteen thousand seven hundred and eighty seven verses. The Padma-purana has five divisions, khandas; srsti (creation), bhumi (earth); svarga (heaven), patala (the nether world) and uttara, the later. It is said to contain fifty five thousand verses but the edition published from Mumbai has verses that number forty eight thousand. Though primarily dedicated to Visnu, it propounds the oneness of Brahma, Visnu and Siva. It describes Radha as the beloved of Krsna. It has a number of stories that include those of Sakuntala and Rama which in their delineation are close to the Abhijnanasakuntala and the Raghuvamsa of Kalidasa than the Mahabharata and the Ramayana respectively,

The Visnu-purana in order of composition occupies the third place among the Puranas. However, the Devi-bhagavata assigns it the tenth place. All the Puranas record 23000 as the number of its verses while the Bombay edition of it has only 16000 verses. In the Visnu-purana, Visnu is eulogized in the course of the description of His incarnations. It is noteworthy that there is no mention in the work of the observance of the vratas, the holy rituals by a devotee or the rites and festivals to be observed by him as also a temple of Visnu. The genealogy of the Maurya dynasty in it differs from that known from other sources. Of all the Puranas it is the only one which answers its traditional definition. The Siva-purana has seven divisions, khandas comprising 24000 verses. The second chapter of its first khanda records hundred thousand to be the number of its verses . There it is said that this text of hundred thousand verses was summarised in 24000 verses in seven Books which were given the name Saivapurana, the fourth one among the Puranas. Generally it is viewed as a part of the Vayu-purana. The reality, however, is that it is an independent text which is an Upa-purana and not the Maha-purana. It is referred to in the Mahabharata and the Harivamsa. Its text as currently available has 12000 verses. There is no reference to Buddhism and Jainism in it. It describes the Gupta Empire which would place it in the fourth century A.D. It has a number of episodes in addition to the description of creation etc. found in the other Puranas as well but the purpose of all these is the eulogy of Siva. Two of its chapters however are dedicated to Visnu. There is description of the Pitts, the manes and the Sraddha ceremony. One of its chapters is devoted to the science of music. Its Gaya-mahatmya glorifying the holy place of Gaya is certainly a much later addition. Of all the Puranas the most well known and popular is the Bhagavata-purana. The followers of Vaisnavism call it the fifth Veda. It is known for its artistic presentation. According to an wiDeini. Digitized by S 3 Foundation USA

old saying it is the touchstone (for testing the learning) of the learned: vipascitam bhagavate pariksa. It has twelve Books called Skandhas with twelve thousands verses. It contains a detailed description of the incarnations of Visnu. A number of episodes have been added to it to describe the glory of Visnu. The delineation of the Dhruva and Prahlada episodes in it closely resembles that of the Visnu-purana . The most wellknown and popular Book, Skandha of it is the tenth one, the Dasamaskandha which apart from describing the playful activities of Krsna describes in detail the Rasalila with the Gopis. A fact that should not go unnoticed is that there is no mention in it of Radha who came to be associated with Krsna in countless stories. The Naradiya-purana describes the glory of Visnu and the devotion to Him. It doesn't even touch the topics like creation which form the genius of a Purana. It has two broad divisions, the first one comprises 125 chapters while the second one comprises 28 chapters. Its main theme is the description of the religious observances and the festivals of Vaisnavism. The other topics dealt with in it are the sins and the punishment for them, the Varna and the Asrama systems, the expiations, the sorrow in the world and the salvation that could be achieved through Yoga and Bhakti. The most important of the Puranas from the point of view of subject matter is the Agni-purana. Its 15000 stanzas contain the summary of the Mahabharata and the Harivamsa, matter on the science of archery (Dhanurveda), the science of music, Gandharva-veda, the science of medicine, Ayurveda, the disciplines of state-craft, philosophy, grammar, lexicography, poetics and the basic features of Indian culture. It, in a way, a veritable encyclopedia. is Like the Bhagavata and the Naradiya-puranas the Brahmavaivarta-purana is also a Vaisnava-purana. It has 18000 divided in four Books each dealing with Brahma, Prakrti,

Ganesa and Krsna-janma (the birth of Krsna). Its Brahmakhanda describes the creation. The Prakrti-khanda, the Book that deals with Prakrti propounds the view that under the orders of Krsna, Prakrti assumes the form of Durga, Laksmi, Sarasvati, Savitri and Radha. The third Book, Ganesa-khanda, recounts the episodes connected with Ganesa who also is referred to here as an incarnation of Krsna . The Krsnajanma-khanda describes the birth of Krsna, his victory in battles and his Rasalila, the dance form practiced by Him with Gopis of Vrndavana. It mentions Radha as the Sakti, the active power, of Krsna. It accords the highest place to Krsna among all the deities. Like the Brahmavaivarta-purana, the Varaha-purana is also a Vaisnava-purana dealing with the Boarincarnation of Visnu. Though it has the description in it of creation , srsti; the genealogies, Vamsanukrama and such other subjects, it does not answer fully the traditional definition of Purana. In reality it is a compilation of the eulogies and the observances of the Visnuworshipers. Though a Vaisnava-purana, it has in it matter connected with Siva and Durga. So has it the story of Ganesa and a hymn of praise to him. Besides, it has the story of Naciketas as also the description of sraddha, a ceremony performed in honour of the departed spirits of dead relatives, Prayascita, the expiatory rites, the idols of deities and their consecration, and the glory, the mahatmya of Mathura. The biggest Purana in terms of volume is the Skandapurana. It has six Samhitas called Sanatkumariya, Suta, Brahmi, Vaisnavi, sankari and Sauri. Originally it had 8, 11, 100 verses. Its Venkateswer Press edition has however only 81000 verses. Of its Samhitas, the Suta-samhita is the most well-known. It contains matter for devotion to Siva, Siva-bhakti, yoga, varnasrama-dharma, the rules for the Varnas, the castes and the stages of life, moksa, salvation and the Vedic ritual as also the Saivite Brahma-gita and the Vedantic Suta-gita. The Sanatkumariya-samhita contains the Saivaite episodes and a CC-0. Prof. Satya Vrat Shastri Collection, New Delhi. Digitized by $3 Foundation USA

description of the holy sites (tirthas) at Kasi. The Saura-samhita deals with the Sun deity. The Sankari or the Agastya -samhita describes the incarnation of Visnu in the form of Rama. Its Kasi-khanda describes Kasi and the Siva temples near it. This Khanda also has the Gangasahasranama-stotra, the thousand names of the river Ganga. According to the Matsya, the Brahmavaivarta, the Narada, the Bhagavata and the other Puranas the original number of the verses in the Markandeya-purana was 9000 but in the edition currently available, the figure is 6900. It looks a part of it was lost. In it prominence is given to such deities as Indra, Brahma, Agni and Surya. Besides some stray topics it attempts to answer some of the questions raised about the characters of the Mahabharata. A part of it comprises the Devi-mahapurana which describes the mighty power of goddess Durga who is said to be the Adyasakti. The Vamana-purana describes the incarnation in the form of a dwarf, Vamana of Visnu. Interestingly, it also has the description of the worship of Linga and the marriage of Siva and Parvati. In its 95 chapters it has 10000 verses. The Kurma-purana is not available in its complete form. It did contain the four Samhitas, Brahmi, Bhagavati, Sauri and Vaisnavi of which only Brahmi is available now. It has 600 verses. The Narada and other Puranas give the figure 17000. Its subject is the assumption of the form of Kurma, tortoise by Visnu but along with that there is description of the incarnation of Siva as well. According to it Visnu and Siva are identical. So are Laksmi and Devi. The Purana has the Kasi-mahatmya and the Prayaga-mahatmya as also Isvara-gita and Vyasa-gita. There is a story in it of Agnideva providing protection to Ravana which does not figure in the Ramayana. The Matsya-purana describes the well-known story of the Deluge. At the end of the aeon Lord Visnu had assumed the

form of fish and had saved Manu from being carried away by the flood waters. This Purana answers fairly well the traditional definition of Purana. The description of the Andhra dynasty in it is quite reliable. It has in it the description of the religious observances, vratas, the cities of Prayaga, Varanasi and Avimukta as also the description of the greatness of the river Narmada , the royal duties, the ritual to be performed at the time of the building of the house , the consecration of the idols of gods and goddesses and the story of Yayati and Savitri. The work is both Vaisnavite and Saivite because it details the religious observances of the Vaisnavas and the Saivas and contains stories related to both Visnu and Siva. The Garuda-purana is a Vaisnavite-purana. Visnu had recited it to Kasyapa. Along with the Pauranic themes it has in it such matter as the devotion to Visnu, the Vaisnavite religious observances, expiatory rites, glorification of holy places, astrology, medical science, prosody, grammar, examination and evaluation of gems, and polity. The second part of this Purana is called Pretakalpa. It contains diverse matter such as the state of soul after death, karman (actions), rebirth and the release from it, the purpose of creation of the universe, the symptoms of approaching death, the path of Yama, the state of the dead, the rites for the dead, the worship of manes etc. Among the Mahatmyas its Gaya-mahatmya is worthy of note. To perform sraddha at Gaya according to it is very important. The Brahmanda-purana is a collection of Mahatmya stotras (hymns of praise) and upakhyanas (episodes). The traditional Pauranic form wears thin in it. One of its portions is Adhyatma Ramayana which in the form of a dialogue between Siva and Parvati has the trappings of a charming poem. According to it non-duality, being one with the Supreme Being and the devotion to Rama are the means for attaining salvation. The Linga-purana deals with the worship of Siva especially in the form of Linga. It describes the twenty -eight incarnations

of Siva. The rituals connected with worship occupy a prominent place in it. The Bhavisya or the Bhavisyat-purana foretells the coming events . Its description of creation is based on the Dharmasastra of Manu. A large part of it deals with Brahmanism , the Vratas and the Varna-dharma etc. It also has some episodes. The Nagapancami-vrata description included in it mentions the Sarpadaityas, the snake demons and a few episodes connected with snakes. In a part of it is given the description of the Sunworship as prevalent in the Saka-dvipa. The Devi-bhagavata is also included among the Mahapuranas . It describes the consort of Siva. Besides the 18 Mahapuranas there are some Upa-puranas as well. They number thirty. Their authorship is also ascribed to Vyasa. They are: Sanatkumara, Narasimha, Brhan-naradiya, Siva-dharma, Durvasas, Kapila, Manava, Usanas, Varuna, Kalika, Samba, Nandikesvara, Saura, Parasara, Aditya, Brahmanda, Mahisvara, Bhagavata, Vasistha, Kaurma, Bhargava, Adi, Mudgala, Kalki, Devi, Mahabhagavata, Brhaddharma, Parananda, Pasupati, Harivamsa. The Harivamsa is a supplement to the Mahabharata. It is believed to have been added to the Mahabharata later. Besides the Puranas mentioned above there are certain works which carry the word Purana with them but which are not listed as Puranas. Such works are the Visnu-dharmottara and the Nilamata, the former deals with Vaisnavism as prevalent in Kashmir while the latter propounds the principles enunciated by King Nila. It gives the history of Kashmir. The Jain Acaryas also wrote Puranas. Of them the Padmapurana of Ravisenacarya and the Harivamsa-purana and the Adipurana of Jinasenacarya, the Uttara-purana of Gunabhadracarya are more well-known. The Padma-purana describes the story of Rama while the Harivansa-purana that of CC-0. Prof. Satya Vrat Shastri Collection,

Krsna and Balarama. The Adi-purana of Jinasena and the Uttara-purana of Gunabhadra together are known by the name of Maha-purana. The actual position is that Gunabhadra had brought to completion, the Adi-purana of his preceptor Jinasena which had been left incomplete, by composing the Uttarapurana. The importance of the Maha-purana lies in the description in it of the life of sixty-three Salakapurusas, the personalities who are the ultimate in perfection , in Jainism. The Word Purana: its Etymologies The most popular etymology of the word Purana is: 1. pura navam which was new earlier. This seems to indicate the new approach in composing a body of texts for the reinterpretation of the Vedas. A popular saying is itihasapuranabhyam vedam samupabrmhayet, that one should supplement the Veda with itihasa and purana. 2. According to the Mahabharata the old narrative is Purana: puranam akhyanam abo 3. The Vayu-purana gives the following two etymologies of the word: a. Which was alive earlier yasmat pura hi anati idam puranam (1.203) b. Which describes the old tradition: pura paramparam vakti puranam tena vai smrtam (1.2.53) The Padma-purana also has the same explanation. 4. According to Sayana the texts that describe creation beginning with its early stages of development are called Purana: jagatah pragavastham anukramya sargapratipadakam vakyajatam puranam (introduction to Aitareya Brahmana). 5. According to Madhusudana Sarasvati, the history of the creation of the world is Purana: visvasrster itihasah puranam.

These etymologies point to the fact that the Puranas represent the age old tradition with regard to the history and the origin of the world which would be in broad agreement with the fivefold characterization of it as recorded in the Visnu -purana, the creation, its development, the genealogies, the Manvantaras and the dynasties. The importance of the Puranas The Puranas have great importance from the point of view of history and religion. They are veritable encyclopaedias encompassing in them everything that comes under culture and civilization. The description of the dynasties therein furnishes a mass of material for tracing the political history of India. In the last few decades of the 18 th century and the beginning of the 19 th. scholars initially did not attach much importance to the Puranas for tracing the history of India. They took them to be a queer mix of myths, legends and historical events but when Captain Speke traced the origin of the river Nile in Rubia, the Sakadvipa and this was corroborated by the statements in the Puranas, they started having some faith in the authenticity of the statements in them. Later their authenticity came in question when the facts recorded in the inscriptions and seals did not match with those recorded in the Puranas. Further, the Buddhist texts also did not agree which some of the facts mentioned in the Puranas. That was the initial stage. As the study of the Puranas picked up, the scholars came to see in the Puranic literature much that was of value. In the beginning of the 20 th century Pargiter presented before the scholarly community an authoritative study of the Puranas through his work Das Purana Pancalaksana. His work was a turning point in changing the mindset of scholars about the unreliability of the Puranas about historical facts. The Puranic studies like those by A.D. Pusalkar, R. C. Hazra and others proved that the Puranas were not mere myths. They do contain information that could be used for

unraveling history. According to Vincent Smith, the description of the Maurya dynasty in the Visnu-purana is of great value. He also proved through other corroborative evidence that the description of the Andhra-dynasty in the Matsya-purana is quite dependable and faultless. Scholars have come to accept now that the description of the first few Gupta emperors in the Puranas is quite reliable. The Puranas therefore drew the attention of scholars to further study of them to trace historical facts. That is why E.J. Rapson, Vincent Smith, K.P. Jaiswal, A.S. Altekar, D.R. Bhandarkar, Ray Chaudhury and R.C. Majumdar and a host of other historians drew for their writings on the vast wealth of the Puranic literature. The real aim of the Puranas was to pass on to the common people, the complex and the philosophical material of the Vedas through historical facts and popular narratives, myths and legends. That apart, the Puranas have valuable information about polity, sociology, philosophy, law, jurisprudence, poetics, grammar, lexicography, art and architecture. Since the Puranas comprise a vast literature composed in different periods of time, it was not unexpected that they should have in them some-occasionally glaring-incongruities. There is lack of order in them. They suffer from repetitions. It is not uncommon to see one Purana lifting chapter after chapter from the other Purana. The story of Sati in the 13 th chapter of the Brahmanda-purana figures verse for verse, letter for letter in the 33 rd chapter of the Brahma-purana. The story of Siva and Parvati as described by Kalidasa in his Kumarasambhava figures in much the same form, verse for verse, word for word in the Sivapurana which puts one in doubt as to who borrowed from whom. According to some it is Kalidasa who drew the storyline from the Siva-purana and gave it a polished form in the Kumarasambhava while according to others it is the Siva-purana which reproduced in its more simple and insipid form, the story of the Kumarsambhava. These incongruities apart, the Purana

constitute a huge literary material which encompasses a vast number of disciplines in an expression at once simple and intelligible . Like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata the Puranas need their text to be constituted so that what is genuine is sifted from the non-genuine. The work undertaken in this direction by the All India Kahiraj Trust , Varanasi which has been moving at a snail's pace needs to pick up speed because it has to deal with a literature which runs into millions of verses. This is a national task that needs to be accomplished nationally. Footnotes 1. rcah samani chandamsi puranam yajusa saha, 11.7.24. 2. Adhvaryutarksye vai pasyato rayajayety aha....puranam vedal so 'yam iti kincit puranam acaksita, Satapatha Brahmana, 14.3.3.13. 3. 2.4.10. 4. 7.1.1 5. Purananyayamimamsadharmasastrangamisritah/ Vedah sthanani vidyanam dharmasya ca caturdasal/Yajnavalkyasmrti, 1.3. 6. 3.6.21 7. Devi-bhagavata-purana, 1.3.2.