Introduction to the Puranas

The term term 'Purana' is already found in the Brahmanas, designating cosmogonic inquiries generally. It is also used in the Mahabharata to express 'ancient legendary lore', implying didactic as well as narrative. matter, and pointing to an old collection of epic stories. In Book XVIII, as well as in the Harivamsa, mention is made of 'eighteen Puranas' which are connected by many threads with the old law books and the Velas. This set of eighteen old epic Puranas are entirely lost. There is a new set of eighteen or nineteen Furanas which are later in origin than the Mahabharata and for the most part derive their legends of ancient days from the Mahabharata itself. 'Nevertheless they contains much that is old'. In that part of their contents which is peculiar to them, the Puranas agree so closely, being often verbally identical for pages, that they must be derived from some older collection as a common source. 1 Vayu, Matsya, Skanda (Kumira), Vishnu, Bhavishya, Bhigavata, Padma, Garuda, Agni, Siva, Brahma, Narada, Varaha, Mirkanleya, Vamana, Linga, Karma, Bramhanda, and Brahma. vaivarta.

Most of these new Puranas are introduced in exactly the same way as the Mahabharata. Ugrasravas, the son of Lomaharshana, is stated to have related their contents to Saunaka on the occasion of a sacrifice in the Naimisha forest in the district of Sitapur in Oudh. They deal with cosmogony, description of the earth, the doctrine of the cosmic ages, the exploits of ancient gods, saints and heroes. Accounts are given of the incarnations (avatara) of Vishnu, the genealogy of the kings of the Solar and the Lunar races, and the enumeration of a thousand names of Vishnu and of Siva'. Puranas contain rules, as they should being primarily scriptures, about the worship of the gods, especially Vishnu and Siva as cult, by means of prayer, fasting, offerings, festivals and pilgrimage. Although the Vedic sacrifices did not altogether disappear this cult worship became more popular with the advent of the Puranas between A.D. 300-800 or 1000. Thus the Puranas are still treated as sacred literature like the Vedas. The hero-worship of the Epics also was still recognised but the heroes at the Puranic age were the gods rather than the earthly kings whose dynastic histories however are incidentally described. The Puranas are a sort of encyclopedia endeavouring to deal with the histories of five independent subjects, viz., creation and recreation of the universe, gods, reigns of fourteen Manus or fathers of man, and the kings of the Solar race as Rama and others, and of the Luuar race as Pand vas and others. Similarly are mentioned the dynasties of the Sisuragas, Nandas, Mauryas, Guptas and others. In no other country or civilization such gigantic attempt was ever made to treat of so many subjects in such single volumes. Puranas distinctly aim at 'matter', and have thus no poetical ambition to beautify the 'form' of language though written in clumsy verses. The grammatical accuracy is missing here more than in the Mahabharata. Their 'spirit' is religious and they are taken as sacred literature like the four Vedas and Brahmanas, and considered as the fifth veda. 43 1 The definition in Sanskrit runs as follows:Svargascha pratsargascha vamso manvantarani cha, Vamsanucharitam chaiva puranam pancha-lakshanam.