Puranas

The Puranas (Sanskrit: , "of ancient times") are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas at Sacred Texts
Puranas usually give prominence to a particular deity, employing an abundance of religious and philosophical concepts. They are usually written in the form of stories related by one person to another, the stories of the Puranas teach Hindus that God is indeed unbelievable, unthinkable and unimaginable so we must all submit before him. The Puranas are available in vernacular translations and are disseminated by Brahmin scholars, who read from them and tell their stories, usually in Katha sessions (in which a traveling Brahmin settles for a few weeks in a temple and narrates parts of a Purana, usually with a Bhakti perspective).
==Origins==
Vyasa, the narrator of the Mahabharata, is traditionally considered the compiler of the Puranas.The Puranas by Swami Sivananda However, the earliest written versions date from the time of the Gupta Empire (third-fifth century CE) and much material may be dated, through historical references and other means, to this period and the succeeding centuries. The texts were probably written all over India.
The date of the production of the written texts does not define the date of origin of the Puranas. On one hand, they existed in some oral form before being written while at the same time, they have been incrementally modified well into the 16th century and perhaps down to the present day.
An early reference is found in the Chandogya Upanishad (7.1.2). (circa 500BCE.) The Brhadaranyaka Upanishad refers to purana as the "fifth Veda",Brhadaranyaka Upanisad 2.4.10, 4.1.2, 4.5.11. Satapatha Brahmana (SBE, Vol. 44, pp. 98, 369). , reflecting the early religious importance of these myths, presumably then in purely oral form. Importantly, the most famous form of itihāsapurāṇaṃ is the Mahabharata. The term also appears in the Atharvaveda 11.7.24. and the Satapatha Brahmana 11.5.6.8. and 13.4.3.13. SBE Vol. 44, pp. 98, 369
According to Pargiter, the "original Purana" may date to the time of the final redaction of the Vedas. Gavin Flood connects the rise of the written Purana historically with the rise of devotional cults centring upon a particular deity in the Gupta era: the Puranic corpus is a complex body of materials that advance the views of various competing cults.
Common ideas are found throughout the corpus but it is not possible to trace the lines of influence of one Purana upon another so the corpus is best viewed as a synchronous whole.
The All India Kashiraj Trust, formed under Vibhuti Narayan Singh, the Maharaja of Kashi, dedicated itself to publishing editions of the Puranas.
==Content==
According to Matysa Purana,Matsya Purana 53.65 they are said to narrate five subjects, called Pancha Lakshana ("five distinguishing marks", though some scholars have suggested that these are shared by other traditional religious scriptures):
#Sarga: the creation of the universe.
#Pratisarga: secondary creations, mostly recreations after dissolution.
#Vamśa: genealogy of the gods and sages.
#Manvañtara: the creation of the human race and the first human beings. The epoch of the Manus' rule, 71 celestial Yugas or 308,448,000 years.
#Vamśānucaritam: the histories of the patriarchs of the lunar and solar dynasties.
The Puranas also lay emphasis on keeping a record of genealogies, as the Vayu Purana says, "to preserve the genealogies of gods, sages and glorious kings and the traditions of great men."Vayu Purana 1. 31-2. The Puranic genealogies indicate, for example, that Sraddhadeva Manu lived 95 generations before the Bharata war. In Arrian's Indica, Megasthenes is quoted as stating that the Indians counted from "Dionysos" (Shiva) to "Sandracottus" (Chandragupta Maurya) "a hundred and fifty-three kings over six thousand and forty-three years."Pliny: Naturalis Historia 6:59; Arrian: Indica 9:9 The list of kings in Kalhana's Rajatarangini goes back to the 19th century BCE.Elst 1999, with reference to Bernard Sergent
Pargiter has argued that the Puranic Krta Yuga—in the Vayu Purana the four Yugas are divided into 4800, 3600, 2400, and 1200 years—"ended with the destruction of the Haihayas [by Rama Jamadagnya]; the Treta began approximately with Sagara and ended with Rama Dasarathi's destruction of the Raksasas; and the Dvapara began with his reinstatement at Ayodhya and ended with the Bharata battle".P.L. Bhargava 1971, India in the Vedic Age, Lucknow: Upper India Publishing; Talageri 1993, 2000; Subhash Kak, 1994, The astronomical code of the Rgveda
==Texts==
===The Mahapuranas===
Of the many texts designated 'Puranas' the most important are the s. These are always said to be eighteen in number, divided into three groups of six, though in fact they are not always counted in the same way. Combining the various lists Cornelia Dimmitt and J. A. B. van Buitenen have collated twenty names:
Purana name 	Verses number	Comments
Agni 	15,400 verses	Contains details of Vastu Shastra and Gemology
Bhagavata 	18,000 verses	The most celebrated and popular of the Puranas,, column 3, under the entry Bhagavata. telling of Vishnu's ten Avatars. Its tenth and longest canto narrates the deeds of Krishna, introducing his childhood exploits, a theme later elaborated by many Bhakti movements.
Bhavishya 	14,500 verses	
Brahma 	10,000 verses	Describes about Godavari and its tributaries.Shortest among Puranas.
Brahmanda 	12,000 verses	includes Lalita Sahasranamam, a text some Hindus recite as prayer
Brahmavaivarta	17,000 verses	Describes Worshipping protocols of Devis,Krishna and Ganesha
Garuda 	19,000 verses	Most hallowed Purana regarding the death and its aftermaths.
Harivamsa 	16,000 verses	more often considered itihāsa
Kurma 	17,000 verses	
Linga 	11,000 verses	Staunch Shaiva Theological Purana
Markandeya 	09,000 verses	The Devi Mahatmya, an important text for the Shaktas is embedded in it
Matsya 	14,000 verses	
Narada 	25,000 verses	Describe the greatness of Veda and Vedangas.
Padma 	55,000 verses	
Shiva 	24,000 verses	
Skanda 	81,100 verses	The longest Purana, it is an extraordinarily meticulous pilgrimage guide, containing geographical locations of pilgrimage centers in India, with related legends, parables, hymns and stories. Many untraced quotes are attributed to this text.
Vamana 	10,000 verses	Mostly describes about North India and areas around Kurukshetra.
Varaha 	24,000 verses	
Vayu 	24,000 verses	
Vishnu 	23,000 verses	
====Classification====
Puranas are classified according to qualification of persons who can understand them: "Purāṇas are supplementary explanations of the Vedas intended for different types of men. All men are not equal. There are men who are conducted by the mode of goodness, others who are under the mode of passion and others who are under the mode of ignorance. The Purāṇas are so divided that any class of men can take advantage of them and gradually regain their lost position and get out of the hard struggle for existence."Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.2.4 All the Vedic literatures and the Purāṇas are meant for conquering the darkest region of material existence. The living being is in the state of forgetfulness of his relation with God due to his being overly attracted to material sense gratification from time immemorial. His struggle for existence in the material world is perpetual, and it is not possible for him to get out of it by making plans. If he at all wants to conquer this perpetual struggle for existence, he must reestablish his eternal relation with God. And one who wants to adopt such remedial measures must take shelter of literatures such as the Vedas and the Purāṇas. Some people say that the Purāṇas have no connection with the Vedas. However, the Purāṇas are supplementary explanations of the Vedas intended for different types of men. All men are not equal. There are men who are conducted by the mode of goodness, others who are under the mode of passion and others who are under the mode of ignorance. The Purāṇas are so divided that any class of men can take advantage of them and gradually regain their lost position and get out of the hard struggle for existence.
The Mahapuranas are frequently classified according the three aspects of the divine Trimurti:
Vaiṣṇava Puranas:	Vishnu Purana, Bhagavata Purana, Nāradeya Purana, Garuda Purana, Padma Purana, Varaha Purana, Vāmana Purana, Kūrma Purana, Matsya Purana, Kalki Purana
Brāhma Puranas: 	Brahma Purana, Brahmānda Purana, Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Mārkandeya Purana, Bhavishya Purana,
Śaiva Puranas: 	Shiva Purana, Linga Purana, Skanda Purana, Agni Purana, Vāyu Purana
The Puranic Encyclopedia
According to the Padma Purana,Padma Purana, Uttara-khanda, 236.18–21 the texts may be classified in accordance with the three gunas or qualities; truth, passion, and indifference:
Sattva ("truth; purity") 	Vishnu Purana, Bhagavata Purana, Naradeya Purana, Garuda Purana, Padma Purana, Varaha Purana
Rajas ("dimness; passion") 	Brahmanda Purana, Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Markandeya Purana, Bhavishya Purana, Vamana Purana, Brahma Purana
Tamas ("darkness; ignorance")	Matsya Purana, Kurma purana, Linga Purana, Shiva Purana, Skanda Purana, Agni Purana
===The Upapuranas===
The are lesser or ancillary texts: these are sometimes also said to be eighteen in number, with still less agreement as to the canonical titles. Few have been critically edited. They include: Sanat-kumara, Narasimha, Brihan-naradiya, Siva-rahasya, Durvasa, Kapila, Vamana, Bhargava, Varuna, Kalika, Samba, Nandi, Surya, Parasara, Vasishtha, Devi-Bhagavata,
Ganesha, Mudgala, and Hamsa.R. C. Hazra, Studies in the Upapuranas, vol. I, Calcutta, Sanskrit College, 1958. Studies in the Upapuranas, vol. II, Calcutta, Sanskrit College, 1979. Studies in Puranic Records on Hindu Rites and Customs, Delhi, Banarsidass, 1975. Ludo Rocher, The Puranas - A History of Indian Literature Vol. II, fasc. 3, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1986.
The Ganesha and Mudgala Puranas are devoted to Ganesha.Purana at Gurjari The Devi-Bhagavata Purana, which extols the goddess Durga, has become (along with the Devi Mahatmya of the Mārkandeya Purana) a basic text for Devi worshipers.
There are many others all over the Indian subcontinent.`Verbal Narratives: Performance and Gender of the Padma Purana, by T.N. Sankaranarayana in 
===Sthala Puranas===
This corpus of texts tells of the origins and traditions of particular Tamil Shiva temples or shrines. There are numerous Sthala Puranas, most written in vernaculars, some with Sanskrit versions as well. The 275 Shiva Sthalams of the continent have puranas for each, famously glorified in the Tamil literature Tevaram. Some appear in Sanskrit versions in the Mahapuranas or Upapuranas. Some Tamil Sthala Puranas have been researched by David Dean Shulman.
===Kula Puranas===
These Puranas deal with a caste's origin myth, stories, and legends (the word kula means "family" or "tribe" in Sanskrit). They are important sources for caste identity though usually contested by rival castes. This subgenre is usually in the vernacular and may at times remain oral. These have been little researched, though they are documented in the caste section of the British Census of India Report and the various Gazetteers.See for example Castes and Tribes of Southern India vol. I–V, Thurston Edgar. Cosmo Publication, Delhi.
===Jain and Buddhist Puranas===
Jain Puranas deal with Jain myths, history and legends and form a major part of early Kannada literature.Jaini, Padmanabh S. (1993). "Jaina Puranas: A Puranic Counter Tradition." in 
Cort, John E. (1993). "An Overview of the Jaina Puranas". in The best known is the Mahapurana of Acharya Jinasena. Among Buddhist Puranas, Swayambhu Purana narrates the mythological history of Nepal and describes Buddhist pilgrimage sites inside the Kathmandu Valley.
==Notes==
== References ==
* Bhargava, P.L. 1971. India in the Vedic Age. Lucknow: Upper India Publishing.
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==Further reading==
* Thurston Edgar. Castes and Tribes of Southern India (Vols I-V). Cosmo Publication, Delhi.
== External links ==
* The Puranas (bharatadesam.com)
===Texts===
* Puranas in Devnagari, typed, PDF files
*GRETIL (uni-goettingen.de)
===Translations===
* Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Full text of the , with the original Sanskrit, word-for-word meanings, translation, and commentary.
* The Vishnu Purana Full text of the H.H. Wilson translation at sacred-texts.com
===Synopses===
* Contents of 18 Puranas and a list of Upapuranas (lesser Puranas) (a Java applet)
* Extensive synopsis of several Maha Puranas
* Synopsis of Puranas at Urday.com
* Agni Purana - A synopsis
Category:Hindu texts
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Category:Chronicles
Category:Sanskrit words and phrases