- Sanskrit:
- “Ancient”
Purana
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What are the Puranas in Hindu literature?
The Puranas are a genre of Hindu literature characterized by popular collections of myth, legend, and genealogy. Written in narrative couplets, they cover topics such as the creation of the universe, the history of gods and humans, religious customs, ceremonies, and places of pilgrimage.
Traditionally, there are 18 Puranas, though different lists exist. Some of the earliest Puranas include the Brahmanda, Devi, Kurma, Markandeya, Matsya, Vamana, Varaha, Vayu, and Vishnu. The Puranas are sectarian, devoted to particular gods such as Shiva, Vishnu, or a goddess, but often give attention to other gods as well. The Bhagavata-purana, known for its stories of Krishna's early life, is the most popular. Unlike the Vedas, the Puranas are accessible to everyone, including women and members of the lowest social order.
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When and why were the Puranas written?
The Puranas, a collection of Hindu sacred literature containing myth, legend, and genealogy, were written between approximately 400 and 1500 CE. The earliest Puranas were likely compiled between 350 and 750 CE.
These texts served as scriptures for the common people, offering access to all, including women and those of lower social orders, unlike the Vedas. The Puranas were written to address how to live a pious life and worship the gods through rituals, festivals, and pilgrimages. Upper-caste authors likely compiled the early Puranas, integrating popular beliefs and local religious traditions.
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What kinds of stories do the Puranas contain?
The Puranas are a collection of Hindu literature containing myth, legend, and genealogy. They cover a range of topics, such as:
* Primary creation of the universe
* Secondary creation after periodic annihilation
* Genealogy of gods and patriarchs
* Reigns of the Manus (the first humans)
* History of solar and lunar dynastiesIn addition, the Puranas explore religious developments, customs, ceremonies, sacrifices, festivals, caste duties, donations, temple construction, and pilgrimages from 400 to 1500 CE. The stories also focus on how to live a pious life and worship the gods through rituals, prayers, and pilgrimages.
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How are the Puranas different from other Hindu texts like the Vedas?
The Puranas and the Vedas are distinct Hindu texts serving different purposes and audiences. The Vedas, considered Shruti ("What Is Heard"), are divine revelations recited by inspired seers and are the oldest Hindu texts. In contrast, the Puranas are encyclopedic collections of myths, legends, and genealogies that were written to be accessible to all, including women and lower social orders, unlike the Vedas, which were restricted to initiated men of the higher orders.
While the Vedas emphasize liturgical practices and fire sacrifices, the Puranas focus on religious developments, customs, ceremonies, and the worship of gods through rituals, stories, and pilgrimages. The Puranas incorporate popular beliefs and local traditions, often devoted to specific deities such as Shiva, Vishnu, or Devi, and treat a wide range of topics concerning religious developments.
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What are some of the most important Puranas?
Puranas are encyclopedic collections within Hinduism that contain myths, legends, and genealogies. Written in narrative couplets, they incorporate popular beliefs and religious traditions.
Traditionally, a Purana addresses five subjects: the universe's primary creation, secondary creation after annihilation, the genealogy of gods and patriarchs, the reigns of the Manus, and the history of solar and lunar dynasties.
There are traditionally 18 Puranas, with varying lists. The earliest, composed between 350 and 750 CE, include Brahmanda, Devi, Kurma, Markandeya, Matsya, Vamana, Varaha, Vayu, and Vishnu. The Bhagavata-purana is the most popular, known for its stories of Krishna. Sectarian, the Puranas are devoted to Shiva, Vishnu, or a goddess, while also giving attention to other gods.
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How do the Puranas influence Hindu beliefs and traditions today?
The Puranas, a collection of Hindu sacred texts filled with myth, legend, and genealogy, significantly shape Hindu beliefs and traditions today.
These texts, unlike the Vedas, are accessible to all, regardless of gender or caste, and have become the scriptures of the common people. The Puranas influence modern Hinduism by providing guidance on pious living and the proper ways to worship the gods through rituals, festivals, and pilgrimages. They cover a range of topics, including cosmology, cosmogony, and the stories of gods, heroes, and saints, thus serving as a vital link between ancient traditions and contemporary Hindu life.
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Purana, in the sacred literature of Hinduism, any of a number of popular encyclopaedic collections of myth, legend, and genealogy, varying greatly as to date and origin.
Puranas were written almost entirely in narrative couplets, in much the same easy flowing style as the two great Sanskrit epic poems, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. The early Puranas were probably compiled by upper-caste authors who appropriated popular beliefs and ideas from people of various castes. Later Puranas reveal evidence of vernacular influences and the infusion of local religious traditions.
Traditionally, a Purana is said to treat five subjects, or “five signs”: the primary creation of the universe, secondary creation after periodic annihilation, the genealogy of gods and patriarchs, the reigns of the Manus (the first humans), and the history of the solar and lunar dynasties. Creation and dissolution (sarga, “emission,” and samhara, “gathering in”) occur when Prajapati, a creator figure of the Vedic age, emits the universe and opens it, but everything is always in it, just alternately revealed (manifest) or concealed (latent); sarga lets it out, and samhara pulls it back in.
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The Puranas also treat various topics concerning religious developments that occurred between about 400 and 1500 ce. Those additional topics include customs, ceremonies, sacrifices, festivals, caste duties, donations, the construction of temples and images, and places of pilgrimage. The genealogies of gods, Manus, and kings form an open-ended structure into which individual authors place whatever they wish to talk about (though some Puranas ignore the genealogies entirely). The questions of primary concern to those authors are how to live a pious life and how to worship the gods. Such worship includes the rituals (pujas) that should be performed at home, in the temple, and on special festival days; places to go on pilgrimage; prayers to recite; and stories to tell and listen to. Significantly, most of those rituals do not require the mediation of a Brahman priest.
There are traditionally 18 Puranas, but there are several different lists of the 18, as well as some lists of more or fewer than 18. The earliest Puranas, composed perhaps between 350 and 750 ce, are the Brahmanda, Devi, Kurma, Markandeya, Matsya, Vamana, Varaha, Vayu, and Vishnu. The next earliest, composed between 750 and 1000, are the Agni, Bhagavata, Bhavishya, Brahma, Brahmavaivarta, Devibhagavata, Garuda, Linga, Padma, Shiva, and Skanda. Finally, the most recent, composed between 1000 and 1500, are the Kalika, Kalki, Mahabhagavata, Naradiya, and Saura.
All the Puranas are strongly sectarian—some devoted to Shiva, some to Vishnu, and some to a goddess. But even those officially devoted to a particular god often pay considerable attention to other gods. By far the most popular Purana is the Bhagavata-purana, with its elegant treatment of the childhood and early life of Krishna. There are also 18 “lesser” Puranas, or upa-puranas, which treat similar material, and a large number of sthala-puranas (“local Puranas”) or mahatmyas (“magnifications”), which glorify temples or sacred places and are recited in the services at those temples.