Puranas () are a vast genre of Hindu literature that include a wide range of topics, especially legends and other traditional lore. The Puranas are known for the intricate layers of symbolism depicted within their stories. Composed originally in Sanskrit and other Indian languages, several of these texts are named after major Hindu deities such as Devi, Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma. The Puranic genre of literature is found in both Hinduism and Jainism. The Puranic literature wove with the Bhakti movement in India, and both Dvaita and Advaita scholars have commented on the underlying Vedantic themes in the Maha Puranas.
Etymology
Douglas Harper, creator of the Online Etymology Dictionary, states that the etymological origins of Puranas are from Sanskrit Puranah, literally "ancient, former," from pura "formerly, before," cognate with Greek paros "before," pro "before," Avestan paro "before," Old English fore, from Proto-Indo-European *pre-, from *per-."
Origin
Vyasa, the narrator of the Mahabharata, is hagiographically credited as the compiler of the Puranas. The ancient tradition suggests that originally there was but one Purana. Vishnu Purana (3.6.15) mentions that Vyasa entrusted his Puranasamhita to his disciple Lomaharshana, who in turn imparted it to his disciples, three of whom compiled their own samhitas. These three, together with Lomaharshana's, comprise the Mulasamhita, from which the later eighteen Puranas were derived.
The term Purana appears in the Vedic texts. For example, Atharva Veda mentions Purana (in the singular) in XI.7.24 and XV.6.10-11:
Similarly, the Shatapatha Brahmana (XI.5.6.8) mentions Itihasapuranam (as one compound word) and recommends that on the 9th day of Pariplava, the hotr priest should narrate some Purana because "the Purana is the Veda, this it is" (XIII.4.3.13). However, states P.V. Kane, it is not certain whether these texts suggested several works or a single work with the term Purana. The late Vedic text Taittiriya Aranyaka (II.10) uses the term in the plural. Therefore, states Kane, that in the later Vedic period at least, the Puranas referred to three or more texts, and that they were studied and recited. In numerous passages the Mahabharata mentions Purana<nowiki/>' in both singular and plural forms. Moreover, it is not unlikely that, where the singular '<nowiki/>Puranam<nowiki/>' was employed in the texts, a class of works was meant. Further, despite the mention of the term Purana or Puranas in the Vedic texts, there is uncertainty about the contents of them until the composition of the oldest Dharmashastra Apastamba Dharmasutra and Gautama Dharmasutra, which mention Puranas that resemble the extant Puranas.
Another early mention of the term 'Itihas-purana' is found in the Chandogya Upanishad (7.1.2), translated by Patrick Olivelle as "the corpus of histories and ancient tales as the fifth Veda". The Brhadaranyaka Upanishad also refers to purana as the "fifth Veda".
According to Thomas Coburn, Puranas and early extra-puranic texts attest to two traditions regarding their origin, one proclaiming a divine origin as the breath of the great beings, the other as a human sage named Vyasa as the arranger of already existing material into eighteen Puranas. In the early references, states Coburn, the term Purana occurs in singular unlike the later era which refers to a plural form presumably because they had assumed their "multifarious form".
Texts
Mahapuranas
Of the many texts designated 'Puranas' the most important are the s or the major Puranas. These are said to be eighteen in number, divided into three groups of six, though they are not always counted in the same way. The list of Mahapuranas is mentioned in the Vishnu Purana, part 3, chapter 6, verses 21–24. The number of verses in each Mahapurana is mentioned in the Bhagavata Purana, part 12, chapter 13, verses 4–9.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!S.No. !! Maha Purana !! Verses number !! Description
|-
| 1 || Brahma || 10,000 verses || Sometimes also called Adi Purana, because many Mahapuranas lists put it first of 18. The text has 245 chapters, shares many passages with Vishnu, Vayu, Markendeya Puranas, and with the Mahabharata. Includes mythology, theory of war, art work in temples, and other cultural topics. Describes holy places in Odisha, and weaves themes of Vishnu and Shiva, but hardly any mention of deity Brahma despite the title.
|-
| 2 || Padma || 55,000 verses || A large compilation of diverse topics, it describes cosmology, the world and nature of life from the perspective of Vishnu. It also discusses festivals, numerous legends, geography of rivers and regions from northwest India to Bengal to the kingdom of Tripura, major sages of India, various Avatars of Vishnu and his cooperation with Shiva, a story of Rama-Sita that is different from the Hindu epic Ramayana. The north Indian manuscripts of Padma Purana are very different from south Indian versions, and the various recensions in both groups in different languages (Devanagari and Bengali, for example) show major inconsistencies. Like the Skanda Purana, it is a detailed treatise on travel and pilgrimage centers in India.
|-
| 3 || Vishnu || 23,000 verses || One of the most studied and circulated Puranas, it also contains genealogical details of various dynasties. Better preserved after the 17th century, but exists in inconsistent versions, more ancient pre-15th century versions are very different from modern versions, with some versions discussing Buddhism and Jainism. Some chapters likely composed in Kashmir and Punjab region of South Asia. A Vaishnavism text, focused on Vishnu.
|-
| 4 || Shiva || 24,000 verses || The Shiva Purana is one of eighteen Purana genre of Sanskrit texts in Hinduism, and part of the Shaivism literature corpus. It primarily centers around the Hindu god Shiva and goddess Parvati, but references and reveres all gods.
The Shiva Purana asserts that it once consisted of 100,000 verses set out in twelve samhitas (books), however the Purana adds that it was abridged by sage Vyasa before being taught to Romaharshana.
|-
| 5 || Bhagavata || 18,000 verses || The most studied and popular of the Puranas, telling of Vishnu's Avatars, and of Vaishnavism. It contains genealogical details of various dynasties. Numerous inconsistent versions of this text and historical manuscripts exist, in many Indian languages. Influential and elaborated during Bhakti movement.
|-
| 6 || Narada || 25,000 verses || Also called Naradiya Purana. Discusses the four Vedas and the six Vedangas. Dedicates one chapter each, from Chapters 92 to 109, to summarize the other 17 Maha Puranas and itself. Lists major rivers of India and places of pilgrimage, and a short tour guide for each. Includes discussion of various philosophies, soteriology, planets, astronomy, myths and characteristics of major deities including Vishnu, Shiva, Devi, Krishna, Rama, Lakshmi and others.
|-
| 7 || Markandeya || 9,000 verses || Describes Vindhya Range and western India. Probably composed in the valleys of Narmada and Tapti rivers, in Maharashtra and Gujarat. Named after sage Markandeya, a student of Brahma. Contains chapters on dharma and on Hindu epic Mahabharata. The Purana includes Devi Mahatmyam of Shaktism.
|-
| 8 || Agni || 15,400 verses || Contains encyclopedic information. Includes geography of Mithila (Bihar and neighboring states), cultural history, politics, education system, iconography, taxation theories, organization of army, theories on proper causes for war, diplomacy, local laws, building public projects, water distribution methods, trees and plants, medicine, Vastu Shastra (architecture), gemology, grammar, metrics, poetry, food, rituals and numerous other topics.
|-
| 9 || Bhavishya || 14,500 verses || The Bhavishya Purana (Bhaviṣya Purāṇa, lit. "Future Purana") is one of the eighteen major works in the Purana genre of Hinduism, written in Sanskrit.The title Bhavishya means "future" and implies it is a work that contains prophecies regarding the future, however, the "prophecy" parts of the extant manuscripts are a modern era addition and hence not an integral part of the Bhavishya Purana.Those sections of the surviving manuscripts that are dated to be older, are partly borrowed from other Indian texts such as Brihat Samhita and Shamba Purana.
|-
| 10 || Brahmavaivarta || 18,000 verses || It is related by Savarni to Narada, and centres around the greatness of Krishna and Radha. In this, the story of Brahma-varaha is repeatedly told. Notable for asserting that Krishna is the supreme reality and the gods Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma are incarnations of him. Mentions geography and rivers such as Ganga to Kaveri.
|-
| 11 || Linga || 11,000 verses || Discusses Lingam, symbol of Shiva, and origin of the universe as per Shaivism. It also contains many stories of Lingam, one of which entails how Agni Lingam solved a dispute between Vishnu and Brahma.
|-
| 12 || Varaha || 24,000 verses || Primarily Vishnu-related worship manual, with large Mahatmya sections or travel guide to Mathura and Nepal. Presentation focuses on Varaha as incarnation of Narayana, but rarely uses the terms Krishna or Vasudeva. Many illustrations also involve Shiva and Durga.
|-
| 13 || Skanda || 81,100 verses || Describes the birth of Skanda (or Karthikeya), son of Shiva. 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.
|-
| 14 || Vamana || 10,000 verses || Describes North India, particularly Himalayan foothills region.
|-
| 15 || Kurma || 17,000 verses || Contains a combination of Vishnu and Shiva related legends, mythology, Tirtha (pilgrimage) and theology
|-
| 16 || Matsya || 14,000 verses || An encyclopedia of diverse topics. Narrates the story of Matsya, the first of ten major Avatars of Vishnu. Likely composed in west India, by people aware of geographical details of the Narmada river. Includes legends about Brahma and Saraswati. It also contains a controversial genealogical details of various dynasties.
|-
| 17 || Garuda || 19,000 verses || An encyclopedia of diverse topics. Primarily about Vishnu, but praises all gods. Describes how Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma collaborate. Many chapters are a dialogue between Vishnu and the bird-vehicle Garuda. Cosmology, Describes cosmology, relationship between gods. Discusses ethics, what are crimes, good versus evil, various schools of Hindu philosophies, the theory of Yoga, the theory of "heaven and hell" with "karma and rebirth", includes Upanishadic discussion of self-knowledge as a means of moksha.
|-
| 18 || Brahmanda || 12,000 verses || One of the earliest composed Puranas, it contains a controversial genealogical details of various dynasties. Includes Lalita Sahasranamam, law codes, system of governance, administration, diplomacy, trade, ethics. Old manuscripts of Brahmanda Purana have been found in the Hindu literature collections of Bali, Indonesia.
|}
The Puranas, according to Flood, have traditionally been classified according to three qualities (guna) which are inherent in existence, namely the quality of light or purity (sattva), passion (rajas), and darkness or inertia (tamas), with each quality having six puranas focused, but not exclusively, upon a single deity.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Guna
!Central deity
!Maha Puranas
|-
|Sattva
|Vishnu
|Vishnu, Bhagavata, Garuda, Naradiya, Padma, and Varaha
|-
|Rajas
|Brahma
|Brahma, Brahmanda, Brahmavaivarta, Markandeya, Bhavisya, and Vamana
|-
|Tamas
|Shiva
|Shiva, Linga, Matsya, Kurma, Skanda, and Agni
|}
The Puranas have also been classified based on a specific deity, although the texts are mixed and revere all gods and goddesses:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Deity
! Puranas
|-
| Agni
| Agni
|-
| Brahma
| Brahma
|-
| Shakti
| Devi-Bhagavata, Markandeya, Brahmanda, Skanda
|-
| Shiva
| Shiva, Linga
|-
| Surya
| Brahma Vaivarta
|-
| Vaishnava
| Vishnu, Bhagavata, Skanda, Naradiya, Garuda, Vayu, Varaha, Matsya, Bhavishya, Vamana, Kurma, Markandeya, Brahmanda, Padma
|}
Two puranas have "Bhagavata" in their names, the Bhagavata Purana and Devi Bhagavata Purana, which Srivastava says both are called Mahapuranas in Sanskrit literature, where the Vayu Purana, Matsya Purana, and Aditya Upa Purana admit the Devi Bhagavata Purana as a Mahapurana, whereas the Padma Purana, Garuda Purana and Kurma Purana consider it an Upapurana. There are discussions on whether the Devi Bhagavata Purana is a Mahapurana.
Upapurana
thumb|300px|The Goddess [[Durga Leading the Eight Matrikas in Battle Against the Demon Raktabija, Folio from Devi Mahatmyam, Markandeya Purana.]]
The difference between Upapuranas and Mahapuranas has been explained by Rajendra Hazra: "a Mahapurana is well known, and that what is less well known becomes an Upapurana". Rocher states that the distinction between Mahapurana and Upapurana is ahistorical, noting that there is little corroborating evidence that either were more or less known, and that "the term Mahapurana occurs rarely in Purana literature, and is probably of late origin."
The Upapuranas are eighteen in number, with disagreement as to which canonical titles belong in that list of eighteen. Only a few have been critically edited.
They include:
The Ganesha and Mudgala Puranas are devoted to Ganesha.
Skanda Purana
The Skanda Purana is the largest Purana with 81,000 verses, named after the deity Skanda, the son of Shiva and Uma, and the brother of the deity Ganesha. The mythological part of the text weaves together the stories of Shiva and Vishnu, along with those featuring Parvati, Lakshmi, Rama, Krishna, Sita, Rukmini and other major gods and goddesses in the Hindu pantheon.
The Skanda Purana has received renewed scholarly interest ever since the late 20th century discovery of a Nepalese Skanda Purana manuscript dated to be from the early 9th century CE. This discovery established that the Skanda Purana existed by the 9th century CE. However, a comparison shows that the 9th century CE document is entirely different from versions of Skanda Purana that have been circulating in South Asia since the colonial era.
Content
thumb|300px|The Puranas include cosmos creation myths such as the Samudra Manthan (churning of the ocean). It is represented at Bangkok airport, [[Thailand.]]
Several Puranas, such as the Matsya Purana, list "five characteristics" or "five signs" of a Purana. These are called the Pancha Lakshana ( ), and are topics covered by a Purana:
- Sarga: cosmogony or the creation of the world
- Pratisarga: cosmogony and cosmology
- Vamśa: genealogy of the gods, sages and kings and queens
- Manvañtara: cosmic cycles, the history of the world during the time of one patriarch and matriarch
- Vamśānucaritam: Accounts of royal dynasties, including the Suryavamshi and Chandravamshi kings and queens
A few Puranas, such as the most popular Bhagavata Purana, add five more characteristics to expand this list to ten:
- Utaya: karmic links between the deities, sages, kings and the various living beings
- Ishanukatha: tales about a god
- Nirodha: finale, cessation
- Mukti: moksha, spiritual liberation
- Ashraya: refuge
These five or ten sections weave in biographies, myths, geography, medicine, astronomy, Hindu temples, pilgrimage to distant real places, rites of passage, charity, ethics, duties, rights, dharma, divine intervention in cosmic and human affairs, love stories, festivals, theosophy and philosophy. The Puranas link gods to men, both generally and in a religious, bhakti (devotional) context. Here the Puranic literature follows a general pattern. It starts with an introduction, where a future devotee is described as ignorant about the deity, yet curious. The devotee learns about the deity, and this begins their spiritual realization. The text then describes instances of this deity's grace, which inspires and deepens the devotee's devotion towards the deity. The devotee, then, shows devotion, which is rewarded by the deity. The reward is appreciated by the devotee, who, in return, performs further actions to express further devotion.
The Puranas, states Flood, document the rise of the theistic traditions such as those based on Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, Tridevi and include respective mythology, pilgrimage to holy places, rituals and genealogies. The bulk of these texts, in Flood's view, were established by 500 CE, in the Gupta era, though amendments were made later. Along with inconsistencies, 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. An example of similar stories woven across the Puranas, but in different versions, include the Lingodbhava – the apparition of the Linga. This is a Shaiva story that features Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, the Trimurti, who get together and debate about who is supreme amongst the three of them and after various incidents of the story, the glory of Shiva is established at the end by the apparition of the Linga which is a form of Shiva as Lingodbhava over Vishnu and Brahma, thus it shows that Vishnu and Brahma are secondary gods in the Trideva because He expanded and conquered the entire universe and them being secondary gods with lesser powers, so they cannot find his beginning and end at a single place in the universe. This story, state Bonnefoy and Doniger, appears in Vayu Purana's chapter 1.55, Brahmanda Purana's chapter 1.26, Shiva Purana's Rudra Samhita's Sristi Khanda's chapter 15, Skanda Purana's chapters 1.3, 1.16, 3.1, and other Puranas.
The texts are in Sanskrit as well as regional languages, The Vishnu Purana, for example, recites a myth where the names of the characters are loaded with symbolism and axiological significance. The myth is as follows,
Puranas as a complement to the Vedas
thumb|The mythology in the Puranas has inspired many [[reliefs and sculptures found in Hindu temples. The legend behind the Krishna and Gopis relief above is described in the Bhagavata Purana.]]
The relation of the Puranas with Vedas has been debated by scholars, some holding that there's no relationship, others contending that they are identical. The Puranic literature, stated Max Muller, is independent, has changed often over its history, and has little relation to the Vedic age or the Vedic literature. In contrast, Purana literature is evidently intended to serve as a complement to the Vedas, states Vans Kennedy.
Some scholars such as Govinda Das suggest that the Puranas claim a link to the Vedas but in name only, not in substance. The link is purely a mechanical one. Scholars such as Viman Chandra Bhattacharya and PV Kane state that the Puranas are a continuation and development of the Vedas. Sudhakar Malaviya and VG Rahurkar state the connection is closer in that the Puranas are companion texts to help understand and interpret the Vedas. K.S. Ramaswami Sastri and Manilal N. Dvivedi reflect the third view which states that Puranas enable us to know the "true import of the ethos, philosophy, and religion of the Vedas".
Barbara Holdrege questions the fifth Veda status of Itihasas (the Hindu epics) and Puranas. The Puranas, states V.S. Agrawala, intend to "explicate, interpret, adapt" the metaphysical truths in the Vedas. Some of them, such as the Agni Purana and Matsya Purana, cover all sorts of subjects, dealing with – states Rocher – "anything and everything", from fiction to facts, from practical recipes to abstract philosophy, from geographic Mahatmyas (travel guides) to cosmetics, from festivals to astronomy. Like encyclopedias, they were updated to remain current with their times, by a process called Upabrimhana. However, some of the 36 major and minor Puranas are more focused handbooks, such as the Skanda Purana, Padma Purana and Bhavishya Purana, which deal primarily with Tirtha Mahatmyas (pilgrimage travel guides) while Vayu Purana and Brahmanda Purana focus more on history, mythology and legends.
Puranas as religious texts
The colonial-era scholars of Puranas studied them primarily as religious texts, with Vans Kennedy declaring in 1837 that any other use of these documents would be disappointing. John Zephaniah Holwell, who from 1732 onwards spent 30 years in India and was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1767, described the Puranas as "18 books of divine words".
Modern scholarship doubts this 19th-century premise. Ludo Rocher, for example, states,
The study of Puranas as religious texts remains a controversial subject. Some Indologists, in the colonial tradition of scholarship, treat the Puranic texts as scriptures, or as useful sources of religious contents. Other scholars, such as Ronald Inden, consider this approach "essentialist and antihistorical" because the Purana texts changed often over time and over distance, and the underlying presumption of them being religious texts is that those changes are "Hinduism expressed by a religious leader or philosopher", or the "expressiveness of Hindu mind", or "society at large", when the texts and passages are literary works and "individual geniuses of their authors".
Jainism
The Jaina Puranas are like Hindu Puranas encyclopedic epics in style, and are considered as anuyogas (expositions), but they are not considered Jain Agamas and do not have scripture or quasi-canonical status in Jainism tradition. The Puranas are not spiritually partisan, states Bryant, but "accept and indeed extol the transcendent and absolute nature of the other, and of the Goddess Devi too".