PURANAS

OR
(AN

ACCOUNT OF THEIR CONTENTS AND NATURE)

BY

H. H.

WILSON.

PUBLISHED BY

THE SOCIETY FOR THE RESUSCITATION

OF INDIAN LITERATURE,

CALCUTTA:
Printed by H. C. Dass, Elysiom Press,,
6sl2,

Beadon

11897.

Street,

CONTENTS.

Theology and Antiquity

The number

of

Puranas

Synopsis of the Puranas

Upapuranas

An

...

account of Vishnupuran

PREFACE.
The following pages, from the pen of Professor Wilson whose name India will never
forget, form the introduction to his translation of the Vishnti Purana. They are so well
written, with a complete and excellent synopPuranas that a reprint of them
with occasional changes, we are sure, will
serve the ptirpose of this treatise. The literature, passing by the name of Puranas, is so
very voluminous that it is not possible for
one man to go through them during his life
time. This sketch however will give them
an idea of what all the Puranas contain
their nature and the probable date of composition.
As it is not possible to ascertain
accurately the date of various compositions
we have not entered into details on this subject and have contented ourselves with merely placing before our readers the view of the
learned author.
sis of all the

The

sketch, as

a general reader

it is, is

quiet sufficent for

have an idea of the conof the Pojranas

those who wish to
to

tents
;
learn more,shoiild either resort to the original
works or their translations,

Calcutta,

June

i8gj.

P'URANAS.

THEOLOGY & ANTIQUITY.

The

literature

cultivated,

and, in

for

many

of the

many

of

its

Hindus has now been

years, with singular deligence,

branches, with eminent success.

There are some departments, however, which are

and
yet but partially and imperfectly investigated
;

we

are far from being in possession of that

know-

ledge which the authentic writings of the Hindus

alone can give us of

and

historical

From
had

the materials

access,

it

their

religion,

seems

which we have hitherto

probable that there have
to

been three principal forms

in

Hindus has

at

of the

periods.

The

cumstances of

mythology,

traditions.

existed,

which the religion

as

many

different

duration of those periods, the cirtheir

succession,

and the precise

PURANAS.
state

of the national faith at each season,

possible

to

The premises have been

mined

general and

somewhat

those remain

by

rected,

too

imperfectly

authorize other than

to

is

it

not

with any approach to accuracy.

trace

vague

deter-

conclusions of a

and

description,

be hereafter confirmed, or cor-

to

more

and

extensive

satisfactory

re-

searches.

The
religion
style

earliest

appears

of the

form under
is

language, and

composition,

of

which

Hindu

the

that taught in the Vedas.

the

those works,

as

purport
far

as

The
of the

we

are

acquainted with them, indicate a date long anterior

to
It

that
is

opinion
they

of

yet,

any other class of Sanskrit writings.

however, scarcely safe to advance an

of the precise belief, or philosophy

inculcate.

which

To

enable us to judge of their

tendency, we have only a general sketch of their

arrangement and contents, with a few extracts,

by Mr. Colebrooke, in the Asiatic researches;
a few incidental observations by, Mr. Ellis,
in
the same miscellany ; and a translation
of the
first

book

of

the

Sanhita,

prayers of the Rig- Veda, by

or collection

of the

Dr Rosen; and some

of the Upanishads, or speculative treatises,

attached
rather than part of, the Vedas, by Rammohun

to,

Roy,

Of

the religion taught

in the

Vedas, Mr,

PURANAs.
Colebrooke's opinion

which

that

certainly,

best

i|

no

conversant with the

hended; and
exhibits,

planets,

elements, and

The

as gods.

of

Hindu mythology,

at

leasts

are

the

it

and

stars

of the other

attri^

gods

But the worship

part of that system

incarnations of deities

other portion

comprewhich

indeed, mentioned, or,

are

no

is

the unity

other personified

indicated, in the Vedas.

heroes

the

real

three principal manifesta-

with

divinity,

and energies, and most

of deified

is

is

seeming polytheism^

the

offers

tions of the

butes

tht;

universe

the

as^

The

works.

original

whom

received as

has been equally

whole Indian scripture

in

deity,

thie

%e

deference;

to

Sanskrit scholar

doctrine of the
of

probably

will

entitled

nor

suggested in any

of the text I have yet seen

though

such are sometimes hinted at by the commentators.

Some

statements may,

of these

modification

for,

without a

of all the prayers of the Vedas,

ous to assert
whatever of

do appear
or

to

iliat

the

that

of the

Vedas

elements

of

it

examination

would be hazard-

contain

hero-worship

no

indication

and, certainly,

they

allude, occasionally, to the Avataras,

incarnations

trUe

they

perpaps, require

careful

of Vishnu.

prevailing
is

the

Agai or

Still,

character

however,
of the

worship of the
fir^

;*

it

is

ritual

personified

Indra^ the firmanem

PURANAS.

Vayu, the aL'; Varuna, the water; of Aditya, the

sun

Soma, the moon

planetary personages.

Vedas

of the

consisting

own

of prayers

houses,

not

the

visible

worship

of

ofiered in their

temples by individuals, for

In

to unreal presences,,

word, the religion of

idolatory.

not possible to conjecture

and primitive form

the

and oblations

types.

Vedas was not

It is

also true that worship

is

most part domestic worship^

and addressed

individual good,

not to

in

and other elementary and

It

for the

is,

of adoration

when

this

simple

was succeeded by

images and types, representing

Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, and other imaginary beings^

consisting of a mythologi-cal pantheon of most ample
extent
to

or

when Rama and Krishna, who appear

have been, or originally, real and historical

characters, were elevated to the dignity of divinities.

Image-worship
passages, but

mans who
an

subsist

inferior

of

by ministering

and degraded

incarnation

personoe of the
gods,
ritual

be

The

turns wholly
all

any

of

impersonations of

celestial

allusiou

story

upon the

the chief dramatis-

spirits.

appears to be that of the Vedas

i

several

temples are

in

class.

poems being

and demi-gods and

d(;)ubted

in

intimation that those Brah-

Ramayan and Mahabharata

doctrine

by Manu,

alluded to

is

with an

to

and

it

The
may

image-worship.

PORANAS.

occurs. But the doctrine of propitiation by penance

and

pfaise

prevails

throughout

and Vishnu and

and

Siva are the especial objects of penegyric

vocation.

these two

In

unequivocal

works,

indications

we

then,

from the

departure

of

in-

trace

elemental worship of the Vedas, and the origin or

elaboration of legends

which form the great body

How

mythological religion of the Hindus.

of the

improved upon the cosmogony and

far they only

chronology of their predecessors, or

nate with them,

what degree

in

and dynasties may

the traditions of families

questions that can

are

origi-

only

be

determined when the Vedas and the two works in

have been more thoroughly exa-

question shall

mined.

The

different

of Puranas are

works known by the name

derived from

evedently

the

same

Ramayan and Mahabharata,

mythologic stage of Hindu belief.

religious system as the

or from the

They

present, however,

nate their

pecularities

belonging to a

later

which desig-

period,

and

to

an

important modification in the progress of opinion.

They
great

repeat the

poems;

chronological

m6re

definite

theoretical

they

cosmogony

of the two

expand and systematize the

computations;

and

they

give

and connected representation of the

mythological fictions and the historical traditions.

But,

besides these

and other

particulars

which

PUR AN AS.:

6;

raay be derivable from an old,

tive era,

they offer

more modern

ff

not from a primr-

characteristic

description,

p^culariti^s of a

paramount im-

in the

portance which they assign to individual divinities^

in the variety

and purport of the

ces addressed to them,

legends

to

them.

other form

are

homage

the

parting from
the Vedas,

invention of

and of the

efficacy of implicit devo-

almost the sole objects that claim

of the

Hindus, in the Puranas

the domestic

and elemental

and exhibiting a

sectarial

exclusiveness not traceable in

the

a qualified extent in

to

They

are no longer authorities for

and,
I>iled

they are

sometimes,
for

of

Vishnu or

special

conflicting

the evident

preferential, or,

new

Shiva and Vishnu, under one or

otily

as a whole

and observan-

rites

in the

power and graciousness

illustrative of the

of those deities
tion

and

in

de-

ritual of

fervour and

Ramayana and

the

Mahabharata.

Hindu

belief^

guides for separate

branches of

it ;

com-

purpose of promoting the

some

cases,

the

worship

sole

of Shiva.

That the Puranas always bore the character

here given of them
that

it

may admit

correctly applies

to

met with, the following

stantiate.

It

is

possible

of reasonable

doubt

them as they now are

pages

will

clearly sub-

however that there may

have been an earlier class of

Puranas,

of

whick

those

we now

have, are but the partiaPand adultera-

The identity of the legends

many of themj and still more the identity of the
wordsfor, in several of them, long passages are

ted

refj)resentaiives.

in

the

literally

same

a sufficient proof

is

that, in all

such cases, they must be copied either from some

other similiar work, or from a
original.

stated
is

It

upon the

authority of an old

cited accordingly

earlier source

common and

prior

not unusual, also, for a fact to be

is

information

oi

which

stanza,

showing the existence of an

:

many

and, in very

instances, legends are alluded to, not told

evincing

acquaintance with their prior narration some where

The name

else.

itself

Purana, which implies

*old,'

indicates the object of the compilation to be the

preservation of ancient traditions

the

present

perfectly

fulfilled.

attached

to

these

Puranas,

Whatever

weight

of

effect,

unquestionable authority.

given,

very

there

considerations,

puting evidence to the like

and

a purpose,

the

condition

in

im-

may

be

no

dis-

is

afforded by other

The

description

by Mr. Colebrook, of the contents of a

from

Sanskrit

Lexicon of Amara Sinha

gives, as

Purana

Purana,

is

taken

Panchalakshna,

characteristic topics'

opinion,

among

which

*that

and there

writers.

is

The

synonym
has

of

five

no difference of

the scoliasts, as to what these

are.

PURANAS.

They

Mr. Colebrooke mentions

are, as

creation

or the

cosmogony

or

destruction

eluding

IV.

of the solar

ants to

the

Reigns

Manus, or periods

of

and V.

History, or such
have been preserved of the princes
;

and lunar

modern

constituent

and

and

races,

times.

of

Amara

before the christian era

since

his

should

them

still.

form to

this

find

description?

one instance

applicable;

to

to

some

others

portions

^vere

of

the Puranas had

if

undergone no change
expect to

rate,

Sinha, fifty-six years

and,

descend-

their

Such, at any

characteristic

Parana, in the days of

There

Primary

and renovation of worlds, inIII.

Genealogy of gods and

Manwantaras

particulars as

I.

Secon/^ary cremation,

II.

chronology;

patriarchs;
called

Not

time,

such we

Do

they con-

exactly,

in

any

of

them

it

only partially applies.

it

is

utterly

in-

not one to which it belongs so entirely

as
Visnnu Purana ; and it is one of the
circumstances which gives to this work a
more
is

to the

au-

thentic character than

tend

to.

Yet,

book upon
rites

even

the

most of
in

this

separating

of

the

can pre-

we have a

instance,

institutes of society

interposed between

genealogies

fellows

its

princes;
latter

the end of the world

and obsequial
Manwantaras and the

and
from

an

life

of

Krisna

account

ot

besides the insertion of rari-

PURANAS.

ous legends of a manifestly popular ^and

doubt,

charaeter.

now

many

correspond with the view which Colonel

are,

Vans Kennedy

takes of their purport.

discover, in them,''

The

lists

serts to

of

Royal races that occur

them," he as-

in

be ''evidently extraneous, and not essential

circumstances; as they are omitted in

and very concisely

in

illustrated

the contrary, in all the Puranas,

of the leading principles, rites

the

descrip-

of the earth and of the planetary system, and

tion

on

can not

*'I

he remarks, *'any other object

than that of religion of instruction."

the

sectarial

of the Puranas, as they

Hindu

some Puranas

others

while,

some or other

and observances

reliligion are fully dwelt

trated either by siutable legends

upon and

or by prescibing

the ceremonies to be practised, and the prayers

invocation to be employed, in the worship of

Now, however accurate

rent deities."
tion
that

may
it

of

illus-

be of the Puranas as they

and

diffe-

this descrip-

are,

clear

is

it

does not apply to what they were when they

were synonymously designated as Pancha-lakshanas or

five is

'treatise

on

gious instruction.
Sinha, the
unessential

by a

five

topics';

ever specified by text of

lists
;

not one

comment,

In the knowledge

of
to

of

which
be

of princes were not extraneous

and

their

being

writer so w^ll acquaidted

now

reli-

Amara
and

so considered

with the contents of

PURANAS,
Puranas as Cdonel Van Kennedy,
proof

that, since the

is a
decisive
days of the lexicpgraphen- they

have undergone some material

we have

not, at present, the

pects, that

and

alteration,

same works,

in

that

all res-

were current, undfer the denomination

of

Puranas, in the century prior to

Christiani;y,

The

inference

between

the

deduced from the discrepancy

form and the older defini'-

actual

tion of a Purana, unfavourable

to

the extant works generally,

is

the

antiquity of

converted into cer-

when we come to examine them

For although they have no dates
attached
tainty

in

detail,

to them,'

circumstances are sometimes mentioned.or

attached
or references to authorities are
made, or legends
are narratsJ, or places are
particularized, of which
the comparatively recent date
is indisputable, and
which enforce a corresponding
reduction of the
antiquity of the work in which
they are discovered,
at the same time, they may
be acquitted of subserto,

vience to any but sectaria!

pious frauds for

imposfjre.

They were

temporary

purposes: they never

emanated from any impossible combination
of the

Brahmanas
entire

to fabricate

fully support.

Of

for

the

antiquitty

Hindu system any claims which

all, is

it

of

the

cannot

very great portion, of the contents

genuine and old.

tion or embellishment

is

The

sectarial interpola-

always sufficiently palpable

PURANAS.
to

be

more authentic

without injury to the

set aside

and primitivejnaterial

and the Puranas, aUhough

they belong. especially to that stage of the

religion in

which

some one

faith in

Hindu

to that

upon

which came next

In order

Vedas which grafted hero-worship

the

of

belief

Hindu
was the

valuable record of

prevailing principle, are, also a

the form of

divinity

the simpler ritual of the letter

and which had

been adopted, and was extensively, perhaps universally, established in india, at the time of the Greek
invasion.

The

Herculis of the Greek, writers was,

Balarama

indubitably, the
notices of

dom

of the

Hindus; and

their

Mathura on the Jamuna and of the king-

of the Suraseni

and the Pandyan country,

evi-

dence the prior currency of the traditions which

constitute

argument of the Mahabharata and

tbe

which are constantly repeated

ting to the

and

his

Pandava ar

'

in the

Puranas,

Yadava races

rela-

Krishna

to

contemporary heroes, and to the dynasties

of the solar

and lunar kings.

The theogony and cosmogony

may, probably, be traced to the
not, as far as

those works

is

the

known, described

Puranas

They
in

detail

are
in

but they are frequently alluded to, in

a strain more or
indicates

yet

of

Vedas.

less mystical

and obscure, which

acquaintance with their

existence,

and

which seems to have supplied the Puranas with the

t

'2

PURANAS.'

groundwork of ^heir systems, The

scheme of primary or elementary creation they
borrQw from the
Sankhya philosophy, which is.probably,
one of the
oldest forms of speculation
on men and nature,
amongst the Hindus. Agreeably
however, to that

part of Pauranik character

which there is reason to
suspect of later origin, their
inculcation of the worship of a favourite deity, they
combine the interposition of a creator with the
independent evolution of
matter, in a somewhat contradictory
and in unintelligible style.

It is

evident, too, that their account

of secondary creation, or

the development of the

form of things, and the disposition
of the
universe are derived from
several and different
sources; and it appears very likely
that
existing

they are to

be accused of some of the incongruities

and absurdities by which the rarrative
is disfigured,
in

quence of having attempted

conse-

to

assign reality and

significancy to what was merely

metaphor or mys-

ticism.

There

is,

however, amidst the unnecessary

complexity of the description, a general

agreement

amongst them, as
final distribution,

there

is

seem

to have

to the origin of things

and

in

many

and

their-

of the circumstances

a striking concurrence with the

ideas which

pervaded the whole of the ancient,

may, therefore, believe to be

world, and which

faithfully represented in the

Puranas.

<

PURANAS.

The pantheism
who

divinity

proceed, and to

whom

all

from

whom

all

things

things return, be diversi-

according to their individual sectarial bias.

fied

They seem
Vedas

to

but,

them, the one universal Being

order than a personification of

however,

and,

elements,

or

butes

have derived the notion from the

in

higher

of a

conceived or unworthily described,

the

their

although the particular

things,

all

is

Puranas^s one of

of the

characteristics

invariable

13

imperfectly

God.

is

Puranas, the one only supreme Being

posed

be manifest

to

in

is

attri-

is

Iix

sup-

the person of Shiva or

Vishnu, either in the way of illusion, or

in sport

and one or other

therefore

also

cause of

the

The

exists.

new notion
of antiquity

early

that

all

identity
it

of these divinities

of

is,

was very general

but

it

is,

God and

is,

himself, all that

nature

is

assumed a new vigour

ages of Christianity,

not a

in the speculations

and was carried

in the

to

an

equal pitch of extravagance by the Platonic Christians

by the Saiva or Vaishnava Hindus.

as

seems not impossible

that

munication between them.

was an

Red
and
dise,

active

sea,

that

in

there was

It

some com-

We know

that there

communication between India and.

the

early

ages of the Christian era,

doctrines, as well as articles of

merchan-

were brought to Alexandria from the former.

PURANAS.
Epiphanius

Eusiebius

aftd

accuse

having imported from India,

books on magic and

Manichasism

and

Ammonius Saccos
Platonists at

was,

that

of

same period

at the

instituted

the sect

The

Alexandria.

of the

its

that

new
from

origin

His doctrine of the

nations.

of

basis of the heresy

philosophy derived

true

the eastern

Scythians

second century,

heretical notions leading to

was

it

in the

identity

God and

Puranas
as

their

several

His

the universe is that of Vedas and

and the practices he enjoined, as well
object, were precisely those described in

of the

lication

upon

Puranas, under the

name

God.

of

were taught to extenuate, by morti*

disciples

and contemplation, the bodily

the immortal spirit

restraints

so that, in this

life,

they

might enjoy, communion with the Supreme Being,

and ascend,

after death,

That these are Hindu

will testify

drian

the

loan

the universal parent.

and, by the admission of their Alexan-

teacher,

importation

to

tenets, the following pages,

they

was,

may

originated

The

India.

in

perhaps, not wholly unrequitted

not

impossible that the

have been unpaid.

Hindu

It

is

not

doctrines received fresh

animation from their adoption by the successors

of

Ammonius, and,

who may
the

especially,

have prompted,

ejfpressigns gf Puranas.

by

as, well

the
as

mystics,

employed,

PURANAS.
Anquetil de
tion

tp

his

15

Perron has given,

ir,

the introduc-

of the Oupnekhat, several

translation

hymns by Synesius, a bishop of the fifth contury,

which may serve a parallel to many of the hymns
and prayers addressed

Vishnu

to

Vishnu

the

in

Purana.

But the

ascription, to

deities, of the

and

Supreme

spiritual

later date

also than

being,

and personal

one universal and

of the

an indication of a

is

than the Vedas, certainly, and apparently,

the

incarnation

human

individual

atributes

Ramayana, where Rama, althoug an

of Vishnu,

character

commonly appears
There

alone.

is

in

his

something of

of the

kind in the Mahabharata, in respect to

Krishna; especially in the philosophical
episode

known

as the

Vagabad

in

some,

it is

is

as a prince

exercises

less decidedly affirmed

disputed or denied

the situations in which he

is

In other places, the

Gita.

divine nature of Krishna

and

is

warrior, not

no superhuman

and

most of

in

exhibited in action,
as

faculties

a divrnity.

it

He

in the

defence

of himself or his friends, or in the defeat

and des-

truction of his foes.

is

evidently, a

work

The Mahabharata, however,

of various periods,

ta be read throughout,
before

its

carefully

and requires

and

critically,

weight as an authority can be accurately

appregiated.

As

it.

is

now jn

type, thanks

to the

PURANAS.

i6

public spirit bf the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and

their secretary,

Mr.

Prinsep it ^JU not ^belong

J.

Continent will

before the Sanskrit scholars of the

accurately appreciate

The Puranas are,

its

value.

works of evidently

also,

differ-

and have been complied under different

circumstances, the precise nature of which we can
ent ages,

but imperfectly conjecture from internal evidence

and from what we know

opinion

in India. It is

the history of religious

of

highly probable that, of the

present popular forms of the

Hindu

religion,

none

asisumed their actual state earlier than the time of

who

Saiva reformer,

Sankara Acharya, the great

flourished, in the eighth or ninth century.

Of the

Vaishnaba teachers Ramanuja dates

twelfth

century

Madhwacharja,

Vallabha, in the sixteenth

to have

in the

and

the thirteeth,

in

and the Puranas seemed

accompanied or followed,

their innovation

being obviously intended to advocate the doctrines

they they taught.

This

them a very modern

is

date,

to
it

not think that a higher can, with

ed to them.

assign to
is

true

justice,

This, however, applies

to

some

but

of

can

be ascrib-

some only

out of the number, as I shall presently proceed to

specify.

Another evidence of a comparatively modern date

must be admitted

in those

Chapters of the Puranas

PURANAS.
vihich,

17

assuming a prophetic tone,

true, are

found but

in

it is

Puranas;

but they are conclusive in bringing

four

period

to

subsequent to Christianity.

marked

Matsya Puranas

in

told, have, in all

in

form

is

considerably

also

be re-

to

which these particulars are fore-

of the

the

respects,

other

as great antiquity as any

invariave

It

the

down

Vayu, Vishnu, Bhagabata and

the

that

These

four of

Chapters,

the date of those

what

foretell

dynasties of kin^s will reign in the Kali age.

works of

Puranas

which some person

is

relates

to the inquiries of another.

character

of

The

their class.

that of a dialogue,

its

contents, in reply

This dialogue

is

in-

terwoven with others, which are repeated as having

been held, on other occasions, between different

individuals, in consequence of similar questions
having been asked.

The immediate
constantly,

commonly, though not

or Romaharshana the

disciple

narrator is/

Lomaharshana

of Vyasa,

who

is

other sage.

communicate what was imparted to

he had heard it from some
Vyasa, as will be seen in the body of

the work,

a generic

supposed

him by

to

his preceptor, as

is

or 'compiler.'

title,

meaning an

It is, in this age,

'arranger'

applied to Krishna

Dwaipayan, the son of Parasara, who is said to

have taught the Vedas and Puranas to various
desgiples, but

who appears

to l^hare

been the head

iS

PURANAS.
a college,

of

men

learned

or

school,

Hindus the form

In

under

in

which

various

now Vesents

it

this task, the disciples, as they

Vyasa were,

whom

gave to the sacred literature^of the

itself,

are ter'ned,

rather, his colleagues

of

and coadjutors

for they were

already conversant with what he is

fabled to have taught |them
and, amongst them,
;

Lomaharshana

who were
political

as

if it

represents

and temporal

class

He

events.

text,

who was

is

called

more

is

and Lomaharshana was

bard, or panegyrist,

of persons

with the record

were a proper name, but

title

our

the

especially charged

of

Suta,'

correctly,

'a Suta',

that

is

created according to

to celebrate the

who according

to the

exploits of princes, and

Vayu and Padma Puranas,

has a right, by birth and profession,

to narrate the
Puranas, in preference even to
Brahmanas.
It is

not unlikely, therefore, that

by

we are

his being represented as the

the

institution

of

some

his

the

Vaysa,

made under

attempt,

day,

understand,

disciple of

direction of the latter, to collect,

and annalists of

to

the

from the heralds

scattered

traditions

which they had imperfectly preserved and

hence
the consequent appropriation of
the Puranas, in
a

great measure, to the genealogies

ties

this

of regal

and descriptions of the universe.

may

be, the

dynas-

However

machinery has beea but loosely

PURANAS.
adhered

to

19

and many of the Puranas,

the

like

Vishnu, are refeed to a different narrator.

An

account

is

given,

in

Vinshnu Purana

a series of Pauranic compilations of which in

present form, no vestige

is

of

their

Lomaharshana

appears.

whom com-

of

said to have six disciples, three

posed as many fundamental Samhitas, whilst he

himself completed a fourth.
rally

understood a

The Samhitas

of

Vedas are

and prayers belonging

to the

By

a Samhita

to

is

gene-

'compilation.'

or

collection'

hymns

of

collections

them, arranged according

judgement of some individual sage, who

therefore, looked

of each.

The

upon

as the originator

Samhitas, of the Puranas, then should

be analogous compilations,
to Maitreya,

harshana

attributed,

respectively

Samsapayana, Akritabrana, and Roma-

no

Puranic

such

known. The substance

lected in the

is,

and teacher

Samhitas

of the four

is

Vrishnu Purana, which

another place,

itself

called

are

now

said to be colis,

a Samhita.

also,

in

But such

compilations have, not as far as inquiry has yet pro-

ceeded, been discovered.

The

specification

may be

accepted as an indication of Puranas' having existed

in

some other form,

mef with

although

in
it

which they are no longer

does not appear that the ar-

rangement was incompatible with

their

as separate works; for the Vishnu

Purana, which

existence

20
is

PURANAS.

our authority for the four Samhitas, gives us alsa,

the usual enumeration of the severaj Puranas.

There

another classification oi the Puranas

is

alluded to in the Matsya Purana, and

the

Padma Purana,

deserving

of

but

notice,

by

specified

more

fully.

as

expresses the opinion

it

It

is

not un-

which native writers entertain of the scope of the

Puranas, and of their recognizing the subservience
of these

works

principles.

to

the

Thus,

it is

dissemination of sectarian
said, in the Uttar

the Padma, that the Puranas, as well

works are divided

the

qualities

Vishnu,

into

Kanda
the

of

other

three classes, according to

which prevail

Naradiya,

as

in

Bhagabata,

them.

Thus

the

Garuda, Padma,

Baraha Puranas are Sattwika or pure, from the

predominence, in them of the Sattwa quality, or
that of

goodness and

Vaishnava Puranas.

purity.
They are,
The Matsa, Kurma,

in fact,

Linga,

and Agni Puranas are Tamasa, or

darkness, from the prevalence of the

Siva, Skanda,

Puranas of

Tamas

They are
The third series comprising the Brahmanda, Brahma Vaivarta, Markandeya, Bhavishya, Vaman, and Brahma Puranas, are
quality of

'ignorance,' 'gloom.'

indisputably Saiva Puranas.

designated as Raj asa, 'passionate,' from Rajas, the

property of passion,
represent.

which they are supposed

The ^Matsya does

to

not specify whigh are

21

PURANAS.
the

Puranas that come under these designations,

but remarks that those in which the

Mahatmya

of

Hari or Vishnu prevails, are Sattwika ; those in

which the legends of Agni or Siva predominate

Tamasa; and those which dwell most on the

I have elsewhere
of Brahma are Rajas.

are

stories

considered the Rajas Puranas to lean

stated that I

to the Sakta division of the Hindus, the worshippers

female principle; founding this

Sakti or the

of

opinion on the character of the legends which some

Durga Mahatmya, or
celebrated legend on which the worship of Durga

of

them

or Kali

contain, such as the

is

especially

founded which

episode of the Markandeya.

the celebration of

and other female

Vaivarta

chapter to

its

Radha, the mistress of Krishna,

divinities.

however, objects to the

Sakta to this

The Brahma

portion of

greatest

also devotes the

principal

is

Colonel Vans Kennedy

application

last division of the

of the

Puranas

term.

the wor-

ship of Sakti being the especial object of a different

class of works, the Tantias;

and not such form of

in the

worship being particularly incalculated

ma

Purana.

This

last

argument

regard to the particular instance

designation of Sakti

may

for

there

is

no

of

specified

Brah-

weight in
;

and the

not be correctly applica-

ble to the whole class, although

series

is

it

is

to

some

of the

incompatibility in the ad

PUR ANAS.
vocacy of Tantrika modification of the
Hindu reby any Parana; and it has unq^uestion-

ligion

been practised

ably,
as.

The proper

in

works known as Upapuran-

appropriation of the third class of

the

Puranas, according to the Padma

Purana,
appears to be the worship of Krishna, not
in the
character in which he is represented in the
Vishnu

and Bhagabata Puranas, in which the incidents

of his boyhood are only a portion of his
biography,
and in which the human character largely participates, at least

in

his riper

Krishna, Govinda, Bala

years, but as the infant

Gopal, the sojourner in

Brindavana, the companion of the cow-herd and

milkmaids, the lover of Radha, or as the juvenile

master of the universe, Jagannatha.

The term Rajasa,

implying the animation of passion and enjoyment
of sensual

character

whom

delights,

is

of youthful

his

adoration

applicable not
divinity,

in

the

but

to

only

to the

those with

forms seems

to

have

originated, as the Gosains of

Gokul and Bengal, the

followers and descendants of Valjabba and Chaitanya, the priests and proprietors of Jagannatha

and Srinathdwar, who lead a life of affluence and

indulgence, and vindicate, both by precept and
practice, the

reasonablness of Rajasa property, and

the congruity of temporal enjoyment with the duties

of religion.

THE JSIUMBER OF PURANAS.

The Puranas
in number.

are uniformly stated to be eighteen

It

is

said that there are also eighteen

Upapuranas or minor Puranas

but the names only

of a few of these are specified in the least exceptionable authorities

is

and greater number

With regard

not procurable.

Puranas, there

which
of the

is

is

in

text,

specifies

specification

a pecularity in the

Now,

the

list

some

it.

words than one,

was unfinished

gives
last

As however
it

Which

the exception, and truly the

are

last,

if

not in

are

Vaishnava, 4 Saiva,

one

right

more

last

names must

one,

after

the
is

no clue

to

there
is,

is

probably, an

all.

commonly

specified are

same, and are as follows

in

we a

of the eighteen

specification

interpolation, in most,
that

except

all

whole were completed.

The names

there

evident that the

is

and the

and

of the series have

have been inserted in

discover;

for each of

whole eighteen.

the

of

could not have been complete whilst

only therefore the

to look for

of them, at least

names

the

the work that

eighteen

to the

proof of an interference with the integrity

them

tjie

the works

of

Brahma,

Padma,

Bhagabata, 6 Naradiya, 7

Markandeya, 8 Agneya, 9 Vavishya,

10

Brahma

24

PURANAS.

Vaivarta,

Vaman,

ii

Linga.

12

Varaha, 13 Skanda, 14

Kaurma, 16 Matsya, 17 Gar^da 18

Brahmanda. This is from the twelfth book
of
Bhagabata, and is the same as occurs in
the Vishnu.
15

In other authorities there are a few

variations.
of

list

and

the

Kurma Purana

substitutes

The

omits the Agni Purana,

The Agni leaves out

The Baraha omits

the Vayu.

the Siva, and inserts the Vayu.

the Garuda and Brahmanda, and

and Narasinhar in this last it is

Markandeya agrees with

in omitting the

Vayu.

the

inserts the

Vayu

singular.

The

Vishnu and Bhagabat,

The

Matsya, like Agnf,

leaves out the Siva.

Some of the Puranas, as the Agni, Matsya,

Bhagabat, and Padma, also particularize the
number of stanza which each of the eighteen
contains.
In one or two instances they disagre/;
but, in
general,

400,000

The

they concur.

slokas

or

fabled to be but an

being a krore or ten

thousand millions.

aggregate

1,600,000

abridgment

stanzas, or even a

fragmentary portions

claiming in various parts of India,

the

Puranas were

much exceed
the larger,
as

admitted,

the lesser,

enumeration.

stated at

These are
the whole amount

millions of
If all the

is

lines.

though

their
it

to

would not reach

The former

have elsewhere stated, a

belong to

extent would

is,

quantity

however,
that

an

PURANAS.

25

individual

European scholar could scarcely expect

to perMse

witl^

whole time

due care and

Yet, without

years, to the task.

being achieved,
inexactness of

on the

it

was

which

subject, with

one exception,

the Royal Asiatic

assistance,

me

by which

most of the Puranas.

made

paper

in the

referred

Society,

to

competent

minute abstract of

In course of time I hope to

place tolerably copious and

the

sound

Circumstances,

in the

to avail myself of

the whole eighteen before

in

that

Hindu mythology and

of

not to be expected.

above, enabled

many

some such labour

from the crudity and

clear,

have already explained

journal of

unless his

had been hitherto published

all that

views on the subject

tradition were

attention,

devoted exclusively, for

vvere

connected analysis of

Oriental

and,

scholars,

meanwhile, offer a brief notice of their

several contents.

In general, the enumeration

of

Puranas

simple nomenclature, with the addition^

cases, of the

number

of

but to

verses,

in

is

some

these

the

Matsya Purana joins the mention of one or two

circumstances, peculiar to

each,

scanty, are of value, as offering

ing- the

which,

means

copies of the Puranas

now found

those to which the Matsa refers, or to

a difference between the present

although

of identify-

and

with

discovering

past.

shall

26

PURANAS.

therefore, prefix

the

passage destructive of

Parana, from the Matsya.

however,

that, in the

It is

comparison

between

instituted

and the Purana as

that description

each

necessary to pemark

necessarily refer the copy or copies

it

exists,

which

em-

ployed for the purpose of examination and analy-

and which were procured, with some trouble

sis,

and

cost,

my

tances

in Beneras

and Calcutta.

others from different parts of India

has shown that with regard

Vishnu,

Kurma

Vayu,

Matsya,

Padma,

respects, are generally current

Whether

may be doubted
show

that I have

with mutilated

or

this

is

result

Brahma,

Bhagavat,
in

and

essential

all

under the same apinvariably

the

case,

and further inquiry may possibly

been obliged

to

content

unauthentic works.

this reservation, therefore, that

It

myself
is

with

must be under-

stood to speak of the concurrence or

of

and the

at least to the

Puranas, the same works,

pellations.

In some ins-

manuscripts have been collated with

any Purana with the notice of

disagreement
it

which the

Matsya Purana has preserved.

SYNOPSIS OF THE PURANAS.

I,

Brahma Purana. 'That

Brahma to

formerly repeated by

the whole of which

Marichi,

is

called

PURANAS.
Brahma Parana, and

the

In

stanzas/'
is

all

the

list

contains ten thousand

placed at the head of the series,

and

sometimes also entitled the Adi or

is

also designated as the Saura

part,

*first'

as

it

thence,

is,

Purana. It
in

is,

appropriated to the worship of Surya,

There

sun.'

are,

great
'the

however, works bearing these

names which belong

and

Brahm^

of the Puranas, the

to

the

of Upapuranas,

class

which are not to be confounded with the

Brahma.
ten

occuring
there

It is

usually said, as

thousand slokas;
is

number

contaii;!

actually

between seven and eight thousands;

a suplementary

is

above, to

but the

or

concluding

section,

Brahmamottora Purana, and which is

from a portion of the Skanda called the

called the
different

Brahmottara Khanda, which contains about three

thousand stanzas more.
to

conclude that

But there

is

every reason

distinct

and unconnected

narrator of the

Brahma Purana

this is a

work.

The immediate
is

Lomaharshana, who communicates

Rishis or revealed by (Brahma, not

the Matsya affirms, But to Daksha,
patriarchs.

Hence

its

to

it

to

the

Marichi as

another of the

denomination by the Brahma

Purana.

The

early chapters of the

tion of creation,

work

'give

descrip-

an account of the Manwantaras and

PURANAS.

28

the history of the solar

and lunar dynasties

the

to

time of Krishna, of a summary manner, and in

words which are

Puranas.

ceeds

commen

to

and

it

several

brief description of the

other

universe suc-

and then come a number of chapters

ing to the holiness of Orissa, with

relat*

temples and

its

sacred groves dedicated to the sun, to Siva and

gannatha, the

Purana, and show

characteristic of this

object

be the promotion

to

To

Krishna as Jagannatha.
ceeds a

same

as that of the

lation'^'terminates

mode

There

is

with

is little,

the deiinition of a

original

shows

word

for word, the

Vishnu Purana; and the compia particular detail of

is still

Vishnu,

in this,

the

that

it

is

to

be perform-

which corresponds with

Pancha-lakshana Purana

the mention of the temples of

the

main

its

worship of

which Yoga or contemplative devotion,

in

the object of which

ed.

the

of

these particulars suc-

of Krishna, which

life

Ja-

These chapters are

specially.

latter

construction

could not have

Orissa,
v/hich

of

is

and

date

the

of

recorded,

been compiled

earlier

than the thirteenth or fourteenth century.

The
still

Uttara

more

local

Khanda of the Brahma Purana bears

Mahatmya or

entirely the character of a

legend;

being

intended to

sanctity of the Balaja river,

same

as the

Banas

in

celebrate

conjectured to

Marwar,

There

is

the

be the

no clue

PURANAS.
to

its

date but

nages and
hints

from

of

its

modern

own

grafting perso-

on a

invention

few

ol'der authorities.

Padma

2.

clearly

is

it

ficti(jns

29

That which contains an

Purana.

account of the period when the world was a golden

lotus

(Padma), and of

time,

is,

It

therefore,

contains

fifty-five

second Purana,

Padma,

other

its

amount not

Khanda

far

There

section

on the

is

wise.

stanzas.

The

usual

is

list,

of

also

thousand

2.

which

division,

an imperfect

contents.

5.

supplementary chapter.

current a sixth

their

Khanda,

Patal

below the earth; and

last or

of

an

The Srishti
The Bhumi
The Swarga

i.

creation;

Yoga Sara, a treatise on the practice

The denominations of these divisions
notion of

slokas:

These are divided

truth.

heaven ;4.

region

Purana convey but

containing,

well as that

of the earth; 3,

on

Khanda,

always the

work,

statement, as

from the

Khanda, description

the Uttara

the

thousand

fifty-five

Khanda, chapter
chapter

ocurrances of that

Padma by

books or Khandas

five

or

the

voluminous

own

authorities,

amongst

the

in

very

according to

all

called the

In

devotion.

of the

Padma

and impartial

the

first

tretats of creation, the natrator is

the suta, the son of Lomharshana,

Kriya

the

of

who

section

Ugrasravas,
is

sent,

his father to the Rishis at Naimisharanaya, to

by

com-

PURANAS.

30

municate to them Parana, which, from

an accouut of the lotus (padma)

appeared

Padma

at

creation,

suta

what

repeats

communicated by Brahma

and by him

to

patriarchal familes,

much

same words,

ten in the

The

Bhishma.

narrate the cosmogony,

Brahma

termed the Padma, or

is

The

Parana.

originally

containing

its

in <,vhich

Palastya,

early

chapters

and the geneology

in the

was

to

same

of the

style, arid of-

and short

as the Vishnuj;

accouuts of Manwantaras and regal dynasties but

which are legitimate Pauranik matters, soon

these,

make way

for

new and unauthentic

illustrative of the virtues ot

inventions,

the lake of Puskara or

Pokher. in Ajmir, as a place of pilgrimage.

The Bhumi Khanda,

defers

any description

close; filling

ancient,

or section
the earth

the earth,

near

its

of a very

mixed description,

and common with other Puranas, but

the greater fart peculiar to

by

illustrtaed

itself,

Tirthas, either figuratively so termed,

parent,

of
until

up one hundred and twenty seven

chapters with legends

some

of

as

a wife, a

or a Guru, considered as a sacred object,

or places to which actual pilgrimage should be

performed.

The Swarga Khanda

chapters,

spheres

describes,

in

the relative positions of the

above

the

earth; placing

the

first

Lokas or
above

all,

PURANAS,

3^1.^

Vaikuntha, the sphere of Vishnu, an addrtion

which
is not warranted by what appers
to be the oldest

cosmogony. Miscellaneous notices of some

of
the most celebrated princes then succesd,
conformably to the usual narratives ; and these
are followed by rules of conduct for the several
castes,

and

at

different

is

occupied by legends of diversiied

description,

stages

introduced with

of

much

The

life.

method

rest of the

or

book

contrivance;

a few of which, as Daksha^s sacrifice,

are of ancient
date, but of which the
most are original and

modern.

The
to

Fatal

Khanda

devotes a brief introduction

the description of Fatal,

snake gods.

mentioned, Sesha,
as spokesman,

Rama,

the

regions

of the

name of Rama having been

who has succeeded Fulastya

But, fthe

proceeds to narrate the history of

his descendants,

and

his posterity

the

compiler seems to have taken the

Kalidasa, the Raghu Vamsa, for his

in

which

poem

of

chief autho-

An

rity.

originality of addition may be

suspected,
however, in the adventures of the
horse destined

by

Rama

for

subject of a
to

be

an Aswamedha,
great

sacrificed,

Brahman,

many

the

horse

condemmed

which

chapters.

by

turns

an

forms the

When
out

to

about

be

imprecation

a
of

Durvasas, a sage, to assume

the equine nature.

PljRANAS,

32

and who, by having been sanctified by connection

Rama, is released from his rpetamorphosis,

with

and despatched as a

praises of Sri
juvenilities,

These

of light,

spirit

This piece of Vaishnava

fiction

is

by

Bhagavata, an account of Krishna's

and the merits

of worshipping Vishnu.

communicated

are

accounts

through

machinery borrowed from the Tantras

by Sadasiva

told

heaven.

to

followed

to

the ordinary

Parvati,

they are

inter-

locutors of Tantrika compositions.

The

Khanda

Uttara

is

most

voluminous

aggregation of very heterogeneous matters, but

is

consistent

ed

adopting a decidedly Vaishnava

in

and admitting no compromise with any other

tone,

form

it

of faith.

The

in a dialogue

Vasistha,

chief subjects are

first

discuss-

between king Dilip and the Muni

such as the merits of bathing in the

Magha, and the potency of the Mantra

But the
to Laksmi Narayana.
adressed
prayer
or
use of
Vishnuthe
in
faith
Bhakti,
nature of

month

of

Vaishnava marks on the

Vishnu's Avataras, and
the

construction

important to be

of

of

legends

images of Vishnu are

Parvati,

They

and wound

Vishnu by those

of

Rama and

left to mortal discretion.

explained by Siva to
the adoration of

body the

especially

too
are

up .by

divinities.

The

dialogue theu reverts to the king and the sage,

PURANAS.
m\A

why Vishnu

the latter states

is

only one of

the

respect, Siva being licentious,

the tria^ entitled to

Brahma

33

arrogant, and Vishnu alone pure. Vasistha

then repeats,

is illustrated

the merit

Mahatmya

the

Siva,

after

Bhagavata Gita

by legends of the good consequences,

to individuals, from perusing or hearing

Vaishnava Mahatmyas occupy

of this

tions

Khanda,

Mahatmya, or holiness
by

of an

but the

early origin,

the

of

stories, a

the

Karttika

month

Karttika,

few of which are

the Rishis, after

Sara

is

repeated by

Suta,

Vyasa's communication of

how

Jaimini, in an answear to an inquiry

merit might be secured in the Kali age,

it

be attained.

which

is

liberation

The answer

intimated in the last

Puranapersonal

of

is,

to

religious
in

which

book

was formerly
course, that

of the

devotion to Vishnu.

of him, repeating his

Vishnu

Thinking

names, wearing his marks^

worshipping in his temples, are a

full substitute for

all other acts of moral, or devotional,

and contem^

plative, merit*
.

to

have become incapable of the penances and

abstraction by which final

to

modern>

part

greater

peculiar to this Purana.

The Kriya Yoga

men

Other"

it.

considerable por-

especially

illustrated, as usal

and

the

of

each book of which

of

^he

different portigns

o{

Padma Purana

3*
in

many

probability,, as

all

o which approches to the

the three

practices

ans/'

the^

the |ainas> both by

specify

th^y

;;

flourishing

use of

defin,ition.

talk

India;

in

of

no

remote

origin*

posterior to

intolerantly

tionably

it.

they

commend

The

the-

It

is,:

enjoins

these,,

Ehanda^

Patai

The- Uttara

Vaishnava, and

modern.

name

and otheF Vaishnava marks

frontal

dwells copiously upon the Bhagabat, and

quently

but

of Milechchas,/*barbari-

and they notice other subjects which, Uke

are

06

consider them> as^of high^

reason^ to

They

antiquity.

and

nei&^

portions^ at least as to time

first

no

is

original

There may be some connexion between^

a Parana.

there

different' workiS)-

consi-

is,

Khanda

is,

unques-

therefore,

the veneration ot

the Salagrama stone and Tiilsi plant, the use ot

the Tapta-mudra, or stamping with a hot iron the

name

of

practices

Yishnu on the skin, and a

and observances undoubtedly

of the original system.

of

part

speaks of the shrines^

have no pretension to remote antiquity

names Haripura on

in likelihood,

of the

Kriya Yoga Sara

a Beagali

is

ani

the Tungabhadra. which is

the city of Vijayanagara,

in the middle

iy,

no

Sriranga and Venkatadri in the Dekkan, temples

that
it

It

variety

fourteenth

founded

century.

The-

equally a modern, atid apparent*-

gompositioa,

Na

portioa

of th

35

Padma Parana

is,

probably, older than the twelfth

century ; and the last parts

may be

as

recent as

the fifteenth or sixteenth.

Vishnu Purana. "That in which Parasara,

3.
beginning with the events of the Varaha Kalpa

expounds

all duties, is

called the Vaishnava

and the

know its extent to be tweenty three thousand

stanzas. It may here be observed, however,
that the
actual member of verses contained in it falls far
short
learned

of the

enumeration of the Matsya, with which the

Bhagabata concurs.

Its

seven thousand stanzas.

Instance,

contents are

they are not fewer than seven in

ber, procured both

India,

actual

agree

part being

in the east

and there

wanting.

is

and

no appearance

There

is

How
4.

is

it

stands,

is,

of

any

beginning,

comment

incontestably, entire.

the discrepancy to be explained

Vayu Purana.

num-

in the west of

middle, and an end, in both text and

and the work, as

not

All the copies and, in this

The Purana

in

which Vayii

has declared the laws of duty, in connexiion with

the Sweta
Kalpa, and which comprises the

Mayatmya

of Rudra, is the

Vayaviya Purana:

it

contains twenty-four thousand verses. The Siva'

or Saiya Purana is, as above remarked, omitted
in

some

of tb^ lists; and, in

ij^th^sa^ejtis yepla^ed by the

general,

Vayaor

when

that

Vayavia,

tUHANAS.

When

Siva

the

then the

Vayu

is

is

identity of these

as in the Bhagabata^

specified,

omitted

intimating th^ possibi

two works.

This, indeed,

cOn-*

is

firmed by the Matsya, which describes the Vayaviya Parana as characterised by

Rudra or Siva

greatness of

mentions, that the Vayaviya

is

west of India, the Saiva

in the

name

latter is the

of

Colonel Vans Kennedy observes,

the Upapurana.

to

the Siva,

also called

though, according to some, the

that,

account of the

its

and Balam Bhatta

is

considered

be an Upapurana or minor Purana.

Another proof

by the

that the^

same work

authorities here followed,

intended

is

the Bhagabata

Matsya, under different appellations,

is

their

anA

con-

currence in the extent of the work; each specifying

its

be twenty four thousand.

verses to

copy of

the Siva Purana, of which an index and analysis

have been prepared, does not contain more than

about seven thousand.

It

cannot, therefore, be the

Siva Purana of the Bhagabata: and we

may

safely

consider that to be the same as the Vayaviya of the

Matsya.

The Vayu Purana is

narrated,

Rishis at Naimisharanya, as
/at

the

same

place, to

re{>etition of

it

similiar

by Suta,

to the

was formerly
persons, by

told;

Vayu a

circumstances hot uncharacteristic of

Jibe ipartlfigial.

style of

this

Puraaai

It is

divided

PURANAS.'

37.

four Padas, termed, severally, Prakriya,

ftito

ghata,

Aaushang^ and Upasamhara a

tion peculiar

These

work.

this

to'

are

by an index, or heads of chapters,

of the

Mahabharata and Ramayan

Upad-

classifica-

preceded

manner

in the

^another peculi-

arity.

The
ters,

the

Prakriya portion contains but a few chap-

and

first

treats,

in

a more obscure and

The Upodghata

style.

same purport

beings, to the

evolutions of

as the Vishnu, but

methodical

elemental creation and

chiefly, of

the subject of creation, and

un^

then centiuues

describes the various

Kalpas or periods during which the world has ex^

isted

a greater

number

which

of

three are

here

described, the

Thirty

of which

last

by

specified

is

the Saiva, than by the Vaishnava, Puranas.

the

is

Swettaor white *Kalpa/ from Siva's being born, in

it,

of

the

Then geneologies

a white complexion.

the patriarchs, the

description of the universe,

incidents of the

treated of

in

first

six

this part of

Manwantaras are

the work

of

and
all

but they are

intermixed with legends and praises of Siva, as the

sacrifice of

Daksha, the Maheswara Mahatmya, the

Nilakanta

stotra,

and

others.

altlwugh, in the main, the

Vaishnava
,

Puranas,

A long account of the

same

present
Pltris

The

geneologies,

as those

some

in tl^^

variations.

or progenitors

is

alo

PURANAS.
Parana

peculiar to the

as are

the most celebrated Rishis

some

of

engaged

in

stories of

who

^were

the distribution of the Vedas.

The
of the

third

commences

division

seven Rishis and their

describes the

origin of

the

with an account

descendants,

different

and

classes

of

creatures from the daughter of Daksha, with a pro.

fuse copiousness of

nomenclature, not found in

any other Purana. With the exception of the greater

minutesness of
those

the

detail,

occurs on the worship of

Pitris

or places sacred to them

formance
Kalpa.
solar

of

Sraddhas,

and

another on Tirthas

several,

its

of various

of the

pages, with this difference, that

place,

is,

prose.

chiefly in

text,
It is

it

as

ex-

detailed accounts

insertion of

incidents, briefly noticed in the Vishnu,

though derived, apparently, from a

ginal.

Sraddha

parallel to that

throughout, in verses, whilst that of our

tended, also, by the

on the per-

the

account

full

and lunar dynasties, forming a

noticed in

with

chapter then

contituting

comes a

After this

in the following
is

particulars agree

Vishnu Purana.

of the

The

section

terminates

with

common

ori-

similiar

ac-

counts of future kings, and the same chronological

Calculations, that are

The

last

-briefly the

found

portion,

future

the

in the

Vishnu.

Upasamhara describes

Manwantaras, the measures of

3^

^ace and time,

of Yog^,

the

and the

end

whom

ing of the Siva, with

'united.

of the world, the

the

Yogin

The manuscript concludes

dwelU

Is to

bo

with a different

teachers

successive

history of the

efficacy

glories of Sivapura, or the

Vayu

the

of

Parana, tracing them from Brahma

the

Vayu,

from Vayu to Brihaspati, and from him, through

various deities and sages, to Dwaipayana and Suta.
given of this Purana in the journal

The account
of

the

Society of

Asiatic

something

less

Bengal was limited to

than half the work

had not

as I

then been able to procure a larger portion

more complete one

now

are

several copies

library, of

the like extent.

A. D, 1482, and
to be.

is,

my own and

is

One

presented by His

Samvat 1540 or

it

affords,

be regarded as one of the oldest

tic

professed

it

it

and, from

may

perhaps,

and most authen-

specimens, extant, of a primitive Purana.

It

appears,

however, that we have not yet a

copy of the entire Vayu Purana.

ia

it

have made of the work

confirms the view I formerly took of

the internal evidence

there

dated

evidently, as old as

The examination

have

East India Company's

in the

Highness the Gaikwar,

of

mentioned above,

sand verses.
thousand, and

The

should be twenty

The Gaikwar Ms. has

is

extent

denommated

the

of

it

fpur thou-

but twelve

Purvardha or

PURANASJ

40
first

My

portion.

copy

of the

is

The

like extent.

index also shows, that several subjects remain untold;

subsequently to

as,

the description of the

sphere of Siva, and the periodical dissolution of the

world, the work

an account

said to contain

is

of a

succeeding creation, and of various events that oc-

cured

in

it,

as the birth of several celebrated Rrshis,

Vyasa, and

including that of
distribution

Vedas

of the

mity between Vasistha and

Vishwamitra

Mahatmya.

Naimisharanaya

description of his

an account of the en-

These

and a

topics

carry the Parana to the whole extent

of the

which

number

it is

said to

contain.

the index must

curate,

are,

minor importance, and can scarcely

however,, of

If

still

th

verses
ac-

is

omit a considerable

portion of the subsequent contents.

3.

ample

Sri

Bhagavata Purana.

details

of duty

are

"That

opens with (an extract from) the Gayatri

which the death of the Asura Vritra

in

is

that

told,

in

and

which the mortals and immortals of the Saras-

wata
to

which

in

and which

described,

Kalpa,

them

with

the

in the world,

events

that

are related

brated as the Bhagavata, and consists

thousand verses/'

Bhagavata

celebrity

and exercises

in India,

and powerful influence

upon

is

happened

that

is

cele-

of eighteen

a work of great

the

more
opinions

direct

and

4i

PURANAS*

of the Purana^

but

lists;

than, perhaps, any

of the people

feelings

the

It

placed the

is

Padma Parana

ranks

it

eighteenth, as the extracted substance of

rest.

sists

According to the usual specification

thousand

eighteen

of

amongst three hundred

divided

named Bhagavata from

glorification of

The
at

the

con^

and thirty-two chapters

its

books.

or

It

is

being dedicated to the

is

communicated

Naimisharanya by Suta, as usual

the

Parikshil,

the grandson of

Arjuna.

to the Rishis

but he only

Suka, the son

repeats what was narrated by

to

it

Bhagavata or Vishnu.

Biiagavata

Vyasa,

the

as
all

distributed

Slokas,

twelve Skandas

into

other

in all the

fifth

king

of

Hastinapur,

cf

Having incurred the

imprecation of a hermit, by which he was sen-

tenced to die of the bite of a venomous snake at

the expiration of seven days, the
tion

for

this

king,

in prepara-

event, repairs to the banks of the

Ganges, whither also come the gods, and sages

to witness his death.

and
a

is

it

man

should do

narrates

Vyasa:

in reply

the
for

Amongst

the latter

Parikshit's

to

who

is

about to

die,

Bhagavata, as he had heard

nothing

secures

certainly, as to die whilst t4ie

engrossed by Vishnu.

is

question

final

Suka
what

that

he

from

it

happiness so

thoughts are wholljr

...

The

course of the narration opens with a cos*

inogony, which, although, in most respects, (Similar

to that of other Puranas,

more

fs

with allegory and mysticism,

more from

the Vedanta than

The

sophy.

doctrine

of

largely intermixed

and drives

its

by the

creation

active

supreme, as one with Vasudeva,

more

is

distinctly

asserted, with a decided enunciation of the

Maya

being resolvable into

also,

doctrinal

of this Purana,
it

was

Narada, that
<:aste,

all

highly characteristic

amongst which the

originally

and even

assertion.,

that

by Brahma

communicated

men

effects

There are

or illusion.

peculiarities

tone

the Sankhya philo-

to

whatsoever, Hindus of every

Mlechchas, out-castes or bar-

barians, might learn to have faith in Vasudeva.

In the third book, the interlocutors are changed

to Maitreya or Vidur, the former
disciple

in the

Vishnu Purana

half-brother of the

Kuru

partly peculiar
it

from

his

is

the

Maitreya again

princes.

gives an account of the

creation, in a strain partly

whom

of

the latter was the

Shristi-lila,

common

or sport of

to the

Puranas

although he declares he learned

teacher

Parasara, at

the

desire

of

Pula^tya referring, thus, to the fabulous origin of

the Vishnu
Its

priority.

<;hanged

Purana and furnishing evidence of

Again

however,

and the narrative

is

the

authority

is

said to have been that

PURANAS,

4^3

which wis communicated by Sesha to the Nagas.

The

oreation jDf

the divisions

'of

Brahma

and peculiar account

of the Prajapati and
is

then described, and

A very

long

given of the Varaha incar-

is

nation of Vishnu, which

Devahuti

is

time are explained.

is

followed by the creation

Swayambhuva whose daughter

married to Kardama Rishi, an incident

peculiar to this work, as that follows, the Avatara of

Vishnu as Kalpa the son of Kardama and Davahuti,

the author of the Sankhya philosophy, which be

expounds
in the last

Vaishnava fashion,

after a

to his mother,

nine chapters of this section.

The Manwantaras

Swayambhuva, and the

of

multiplication of the

patriarchal families,' are, next

some

peculiarities of nomenclature.

-described with

The

traditions of

princes

Dhruba, Vena,

in the period, are the

Prithu,

fourth Skandha, and are continued in

that of the Varata
details generally

who

and other

other subjects of the

the

fifth,

obtained emancipation.

conform

to those

of

to

The

the Vishnu

Purana ; and the same words are often employed

so that

it

would be

work had the best

gavata

The

itself

difficult

to

right to them,

indicated

reminder of the

Its

had not the Bha-

obligation to the

fifth

description of the universe

book
;

is

determine which

Vishnu.

occupied with the

and the same confor-

mity with the Vishnu codtinues.

PURANAS.

44
This

only partially the cause with the sixth

is

book, which contains a variety

of ^legends of

miscellaneous description, intended to iliustratrate

the merit of ^worshipping Vishnu.

Some

belong to the early stock

are

novel.

The

seventh book

the legend of Prahlada.

but
is,

some

of

them

apparently

mostly, occupied with

In the eighth, we have an

account of the remaining Manwantaras; in which^

as happening in the course of them, a variety of ancient legends are repeated, as the battle between' the

king of the elephants and an

alligator, the

churning

of the ocean, and the dwarf and fish Avataras.

The

ninth [book narrates the dynasties of the Vaivaswata

Manwantara, or the princes of the solar and lunar

The

races to the time of Krishna.

particulars con*

form, generally, with those recorded in the Vishnu.

The

tenth

book

is

the characteristic part of this

Parana, and the portion upon which

founded.

It is

of Krishna, which

manner

its

popularity

is

appropriated entirely to the history

it

narrates

as the Vishnu, but in

much

more

a middle place, however, between

it

in

detail

the
;

and the

same

holding
extra-

vagant prolixity with which the Harivamsa repeats

the story.
further.

It
It

is

not necessary to particularise

it

has been translated into, perhaps, aH

the

languages in India, and

with

all

descriptions of

is

people.

a favourite work

PURANAS.
Tne
the

eleventh

Yadavas

45

book describes the destruction

^d the

Uddhava

the latter event, Krishna instructs

performance of Yoga

much

The

than that of the Vishnu.

nues the lines of

the

The

twelfth

book

the kings of the Kali

all

conti-

age,

pro-

and gives

pheticaily, to a similiar period as Vishnu,

a like account of the deterisration of

narrative

summary

but something more

the same,

in

a subject consigned by the

Vishnu, to the concluding passages.

is

of

Previous to

death of Krishna.

things

and

their final dissolution.

Consistently with the subject of the Purana, the

serpent Takshaka bites

Parikshit,

and the work should terminate

be extended

to the

is

and he expires

or the close might

subsequent sacrifice of Janame-

jaya, for the destruction of

There

the whole serpent race.

a rather awkwardly introduced description

however of the

arrangement of the

Vedas and

Puranas by Vyasa, and the legend of Markandeya's

intervie\y with the infant

of worldly dissolution.

Krishna, during a period

We

then

come

of the Bhagavata in a series of

mendations of

its

own

sancity

to

the

end

encomiastic com^-

and

efficacy to salv4

iion.

Mr. Colebrooke

observes of

the

Bhagavata

Purana, "I am, myself, inclined to adopt an opinion

supported by many4earned Hindus,

^ho

gonsideit

PURANAS.

4$

the celebrated Sri Bhagavata as the work of a grar*

xnarian [Bopedeva] supposed to have lived about
six

hundred years

considers this
*'it is

Colonel Vans Kennedy

ago.'^

incautious admission^ because

unquestionable that the number of the Puranas

have been always held to be eighteen

most

but,

of the Puranas th&.names of the eighteen

enumerated, amongst which the Bhagavata

riably included

posed only

six

and consequently,

if it

in

are

is inva-

were com-

hundred years ago, the others must

modern date." Some of them are^

P0 doubt, more recent;: but, as already remarked
no weight can be attached to the specification o
eighteen names; for they are always complete;
be

of an equally

each Purana enumerates

all.

Which

which had the opportunity of naming

last?

is theits

seventeen

The argument

predecessors, and adding itself?

proves too much.

There can be little doubt that

the list has been inserted, upon the authority of
tradition either by some improving transcriber, or

by

the copipiler of a

jeighteen

genuine

work more recent than the

Puranas.

The

object

is

also

rebutted by the assertion,, that there was another

Purana to which the name

to be

met

For the
pf tUe

fe^w

with,

applies,

and which is

still

the Devi Bhagavata.

authenticity

of the Bhagavata

is

on^

(juestious, effecting their sagged Ut^j-**,

ture,

which Hindu writers have ventured to discuss.

The

qpcasion

is

by the

furni&hed

the fourth chapter of the

first

it i&

said that

Vyasa arranged the Yedas, and divided them

and

four,

that

Puranas, as a

Xomaharshana, the

The Vedas he gave

Veda.

and Puranas,

and mixed

casts,,

within their reach.

wandered,, in

religious

he

S-till,.

much

to

him

his secret

him a

Yyasa

remedy

once admitted

for

that
in

that
tot

the

is

the

and was

his^

the works he had

and found a

Suka,

to

positive

composed

his

oae

the

of the

Sma^

son*.

assertion

subsequently

given to a difierent

not, therefore,

^hiQh JRomaharshaaa

dissatis*

in the composition of

most

Bhagavata was

the Puranas and

situated,,

arose from

it

truth,

its

his uneasiness

therefore,

and

banks

of worshipping Yasudeva..

Bhagavata, which he taught

There,

waa

and seemingly causeless

upon the merit

at

knowledge

Having confided

visit..

not having sufiiciently dwelt,

finished,,

women,

to

along the

perplexity,

Narada suggested

faction,,.

to

reflecting:

felt dissatisfied,

of the Saraswati, where hia hermitage

while Narada paid

to-

he composed the Bharata^

the purpose of placing

for

Then,

father of Suta..

works may not be accessible

these

Sudras,.

into,

he then^ compiled the Itihasa and

fifth

Paila and the rest; the Itihasa

that

In

text itself.

book,,

pupil^

eighteen

was, agiQQrdiog^

PUR AN AS.
to

all

concurrent testimonies, the depositary.

Bhagavat

the

Puranas,

named amongst

is

by

inspired

the

the

authorities

Still

t^ighteen

and how

can these incongruities be reconciled.

The
been

principal

started

point

a commentator on the

made

incautiously

in

work than the subject

other

had been expressed,

term

the

that

of

the

the

cor-

opinion

belonged, not

Devi Bhagavata

not a Vaishnava composition.

Saiva,

was

an admission that

entertained

to the Sri Bhagavata, but to

any

of his labours

This was therefore,

some suspicions had been

no

there was

Bhagavata,

rectness of the nomenclature, and that an

to a

have

to

who somewhat

Bhagavata,

the remark, that

reason to suspect that by the term

meant.

seems

dispute

by an expression of Shridhara Swamin

With

whom

doubts prevailed prior to Sridhara Swamin,

or by

whom

for as far

as

his date, in

they were

we

vile,'

Ramasrama

Chapetika.'
wicked,' by

3Iukha

India

Chapetika.

by

anterior

There are three

subject.

library of the East

Mukha

does not appear

no works

to

which they are advanced, having been

on the

written

urged,

aware,

are

great

Company,

slap

the

of the

aduka

face

slap of

the
;

face

in the

Durjana
for

Durjana Mukha

Kasinalha Bbatta

F^ma

the

the

Maha

for

the

and the Durjani

slipper'

fgr

fhe saise

PURANAS.

same persons, by a nameless dispu-

part of the

The

tant.

Bhagavata
is

the

49

first

maintains the authenticity of the

the second asserts, that Devi Bhagavata

genuine Parana

the arguments of the

by Purushathama,
for dispelling all

and the

There

first.

entitled.

'

third replied to
is,

arguments
the

of

character

doubts of the

work

also, a

Thirteen

Bhagavata' (Bhagavata Swarupa Vishya Sanka Nirasa

Trayadasa)

Balam

whilst

Bhatta, a

on the Mitakshara, indulging in

meaning

the

of the

commentator

a dissertation

on

word Purana, adduces reason

for questioning the inspired origin of this Purana.

The

of

insertion

eighteen Puranas

is

Bhagavata amongst the

acknowledged

but

this,

can be the Devi Bhagavata alone

said,

circumstances apply more correctly to

Vaishnava Bhagavata.

Thus, a

Kasinatha, from a Purana

text is

he does not

that says, of the Bhagavata, that

it

it

it

is

for the

than to

quoted, by
state

which

contains eighteen

thousand verses, twelve books, and three hundred

and

thirty

two chapters.

Kasinatha asserts that

the chapters of the Sri Bhagavata are three hundred

and

thirty five,

and

that the

numbers apply, through-

out, only to the Devi Bhagavata.

It is

also said that

tbe Bhagavata contains an account of the

ment

of holy

culars of the Saraswata

acquire-

knowledge by Hayagriva, the

parti-

Kalpa" adialouge between

PURANAS.
Ambarisha and. Suka

and that

the Gayatri, or, at least, a

it

commences

citation of

it.

with

These

all

apply to the Devi Bhagavata alone,

bxcept the last
but it also is more true of the
Saiva than of the

Vaishnava work
of the

Gayatri,

for the latter has only one word

dhimahi. Sre meditate,' whilst the

former to dhimahl adds, yo nah'

prachodaya't 'who
may enlighten us/ To the third argument
it is, in
the

first

place, objected, that the citation of the

Bha-

gavata by modern writers

is

and, with regard to the

more ancient commentary

of

Sankara Acharya,

Those who advocate

reply

^*It

obsolete,

plea,"

was written

and

retort

no

is

it

the

their

said,

in difficult style,

*'A

opponents;

the works of Sankara,

as difficult as any in the

existence,

of this

thority of

Madhwa,

is

and became

we

''for

still

have

which are quite

Sanskrit language"
rests

upon

that. Ije

The

the au-

or Madhava, who, in a
asserts

it"?

Bhagavata

very unsatisfactory

several of

comment, too

mentary af his own,

''Where

sancity of the

last,"

is

test of its authenticity;

com-

has consulted

eight others.
Now, amongst these is one by the
monkey Hanqmat^and, although a Hindu disputant may believe in the reality of
such a composition, yet we may recieve its
citation as a proof
that

Madhwa was

not very

fication of authorities.

scrupulous in the veri-

PURANAS*

51

There are other topics urged,

in this

controversy

on both ^ides, same of which are simple enough,

some are ingenious but the statement of the text
:

of

is,

the recieved
priority
it

opinion,

eighteen

of the

ber; and

which

the evidence of

by the disputants,

in

the

superiority of

general
it

is
is

admitted
the

be considered as an original

composition of Vyasa,

is

equally questionable

can not be doubted that

tfie

Bhagavata

Sri

product of uninspired erudition.

the

is

work
Whether the Devi Bhagavata

to

title

style,

also a proof that

of a different hand.

has a better

Bharata,

Bhagavata, which

should be of the num-

Puranas

is

authorities, of the

Purans, to the

the Bharata,

to that of the

according to

that,

of all the

impossible that the Sri

is

subsequent to

it

show,

sufficient to

itself,

but
is

There does

not seem to be any other ground than tradition for

ascribing
there

is

it

Bopadeva the grammarian

to

no reason

to call the

Bopadeva flourished
of

Devagiri,

consequently, have
that

principality

teenth century.

lived prior

The

arid is that of the

date

but

Hemadri, Raja

Dowlatabad, and must,

to

the conquest of

by the Mahomadans

commonly assigned
6.

at the court of

Deogur or

tradition in question.

of the

to him,

is,

in the four-

twelth

century,

probably, correct,

Bhagavat Purana.

Narada or Naradiya Purana. Where Narada

UNIVERSITY OF
ILLINOIS LIBRARY

AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGf

PUR ANAS.

52

has described the duties which

the

Kalpa,

Brihat

having

twenty

that

were observed

called

the, Npradiya,

thousand stanzas.

five

ber of verses

is

If

the

num-

be here correctly stated, the Purana

has not fallen

my

into

'

analysed contains, not

The copy I have

many more than three thouhands.

sand slokas.

There

is

another work which might

be expected

to be

of

greater

extent, the

Naradiya or great Narada Purana

Brihan

but this, ac-

cording 10 the concurrence of three copies

and

possession,

of

library,

contains

hundred

verses.

According

others in

the

in

may be doubted,
of the

Matsya

to the Matsya, the

my

Company's

but about three thousand

It

Narada Purana

the

five

five

therefore,

if

Narada Purana

is

exists.

related by

Narada, and gives an account of the

Brihat Kalpa.
The Naradiya Purana is communicated, by

Narada, to the Rishis

on the Gomati
lated to the

Suta,

as

it

river.

same persons,

is

no

Kalpa or day

From
it

is

Brihat

specification

but there

Naimisharanya

same

is

re-

by
was told by Narada to Sanatkumar.

Possibly, the term

by the

at

The Brihan Naradiya

of

at the

place,

may have been suggested

which

is

description, in

given in the Matsya:

it^

of

any particular

Brahma.

a cursory

examination of these Puranas

very evident that they

have no conformity to

PURANAS.
the

a Parana, and that both are

of

definition

and giodern

sectarial

S3

intended to

compilations,

support the doctrine of Vakti or faith in Vishnu.

With

this

view,

have collected a variety of

they

prayers addressed to one or other form of that

divinity

number

his adoration;

connected with

and holydays

of observances

more recent

some, perhaps, of an early, others of a

date,

illustrative of

Thus,

in tha

Narada, we have the

and Prahlada; the

Vishnu

devotion to

of

efficacy

stories of

told

latter

the

in

whilst the second portion of

with a legend of Mohini,

it is

the will-born

Rukmangala

of a king called

legends

different

Hari.

Dhruva

words of
occupied
daughter

beguiled by

whom,

the

king offers to perform for her whatever she

may

desire.

She

calls

him

upon

the rule of fasting on the

either

to

violate

eleventh day of the fort-

night, a

day sacred to Vishnu, or put his son to

death

and he

This shows the

two.

work.

spirit of the

may also be inferred from

its

tenor

as

Its

date

such mons-

extravagances in praise of Bhakti are, cer-

trous

tainly, of
itself

as the lesser sin of the

kills his son,

for

modern
it

locutors of the

One

origin.

refers to

Sukaand

limit

it

Bhagavata; and

it is

consequently,

subsequent to the date ot the Purana.

bably, considerably later

for

furnishes,

Parikshit, the inter-

it

affords

It is.

pro-

evidence?

PURANAS.

54
that

it

was written

after

the

Mahomedans.

In

it

is

said

presence of the
the gods."
sixteenth

It

the

*killers of
is,

passage

cows' and contemners of

possibly,

compilation of the

or seventeenth century.

The Brihan Naradiya

tenor and time.
gyrical

concluding

not this Purana be repeated.in the

''Let

India was in the hands of

It

is

contains

work

little

of

else

prayers addressed to Vishnu, and

tions to observe various rites,

seasons,

injunc-

and keep holy certain

honour of him.

in

introduced are the

same

the

than pene-

The

earlier

legends

Markandeya, the destruction of Sagara's sons, and the dwarf Avatara,

birth

of

but they are subservient to the design of the whole,

and are rendered occasions

for

praising Narayana.

Others, illustrating the efficacy of certain Vaishnava

observances, are purile

inventions,

wholly foreign

more ancient system of Pauranik fiction.

There is no attempt at cosmogony, or patriarchal
to the

or regal geneology.

may be

treated of

seems more
lists
its

has

7.

is

those topics

missing stanzas

kely that tie

Narada Purana

in

common

with the

but

it

of the

words to which

applied in Bengal and Hindusthan.

Markanda
in

possible that

the

little

name

Purana

It is

in

which,

Markandeya Purana. 'That

commencing with the story of the
or

birds that were acquainted with

right

and wrong

^RANAS.
every thing

is

55

by M^tkan

iiarrated fully

as

it

was expflamed by holy sages, in reply to the quesMuni,

tion of the

Markandeya, con-

the

called

is

This

taining nine thousand verses."

from

its

being, in the

Markandeya Muni, and,

certain fabulous birds

account given of

thus far agreeing with the

other authorities, specify

sand stanzas

Muni was
in the

six

ject with

on

library,

copy closes with a verse

number

by the

of verses recited

The
;

termination,

and there

which

it

further.

is

and a copy

is,

however, some-

no reason why the sub-

ends should not have been car-

One copy

Company's

the

in

indeed belonging to the Guickwar's collec-

tion, states, at the close, that

Kanda

or section.

If

is

it

the

the

end

of the

Purana was ever

completed, the remaining portion of

be

as well as

nine thou-

containing

East India Company's library has a similiar

what abrupt

first

That

Matsya.
its

thousand nine hundred

specification.

ried

my

but

affirming that the

second place, by

in the

in the

it

so called

is

narrated by

instance,

first

it

appears to

lost.

Jaimini, the pupil of Vyasa, applies to

deya to be
Vasudeva,

made acquainted
arid for

with

Markannature

the

of

an explanation of some of the

incidents described in the

ambrosia of which divine

Mahabharata
poeiii,

with

the

Vyasa, he declares

PURANAS*

S6

has watered the whole world:

a reference which

establishes the priority of the Bharat^. to

kandeya Parana, however incompatible

the Mar-

this

may be

with the tradition, that, having finished the Puranas

Vyasa wrote the poem.

Markandeya excuses himself saying he has a

and he refers Jaimini to
some very sapient birds who reside in the Vindhya
religious rite to perform

mountains
just

birds of celestial origin,

found,

when

born by the Muni Samika, on the

field of

Kuru-

kshetra,

scholars

and brought up by him, along with his

in consequence of which, and by virtue
;

of their heavenly descent, they

became profoundly
versed in the Vedas and a knowledge of spiritual

truth.

This machinery

is

borrowed from the Maha-

some embellishment.

bharat, with

ingly, has recourse

his brethern,

to

and puts

the
to

had asked of the Muni

born as a mortal

How

Pingaksha and
them the questions he
*'Why was Vasudeva

was

the wife of the five Pan da vas

do penance
children

of

for

Brahmanicide

Draupadi

Jaimini, accord-

birds,

it

?
?

that

Why

Draupadi

was?

did Baladeva

And why were

the

when they had

Krishna and Arjuna to defend them ?" The answers
to these inquiries occupy a number of chapters,
and form a

sort of

destroyed,

supplement to the Mahabharata

supplying, partly by invention, perhaps, and

partly,.

>

FUR ANAS.
by reference
blanks

left in

Legends

7
authorities, the-

equally ancient

to

sqpe

of

its

narrations.

Baladeva's

death,

Britrasura's

of

penance, Harish Chandra's elevation to heaven, and;

the quarrel between Vasistha and Vishwakarma, are
death,

followed by a discussion respecting birth,

and

sin

which leads

more extended

to a

tion of the different hells than

Puranas.

The account

tained in the

work

creation

of

descrip-

found

is

in

which

other

con-

is

repeated by the birds, after

is

Markandeya's account of

it

to

Kraushtuki, and

is

confined to the origin of the Vedas and patriarchal

families,

Daksaha and
dants

whom

amongst

new

are

allegorical

tolerable iniquity

consequences.

its

then a description of the world,

this

their

as

descen-

representing

personages,

and

characters,

and

his wife Marshiti,

There

in
is

with, as usual to

Purana, several singularities, some of which

are noticed in the following pages.

state of the

world

This being the

Swayambhu Manwantara

in the

an account of the other Manwantaras succeeds, in

which the birth of the Manus, and a number of other
particulars are peculiar to this work.

Vaivaswata Manwantara

batthenext, the

first

is

of

The

present or

very briefly passed over

the future

Manwantaras

contains the long episodical narrative of the actions

of the goddess Durga, which

is

the special

boast

PURANAs.

58
of this Purana,

and

is

the text

book

the Chandi Patha, or

of the worsliip-

pers of Kali, Chandi, or Durga,

Bengal.

Durga Mahatmya

the victories of the goddess

It is

which

in

over different

evil

beings or Asuras are detailed with considerable

power and

spirit.

It is

read daily in the temples of

pomp and

circumstances

of the great festival of Bengal, the

Durga Pooja,

Durga, and furnishes the

public worship of that Goddess.

After the account of the

Manwantaras

pleted, there follows a series of legends,

some old

continued to Vaivaswata
their

immediate

Dama,

and

relating to the sun

the son

Manu and

descendants

is

com-

some new,

his posterity

and

sons,

his

terminating with

Of most

of Narishyanta.

of

the

persons noticed the work narrates particulars not

found elsewhere.
This Purana has a character different from that
of all the others.
spirit,

little

It

has

nothing of a sectarial

of a religious tone

prayers and invocations to any deity

are inserted are brief
in

precepts,

rarely
;

and moderate.

ceremonial or moral.

inserting

and such as
It

deals
Its

little

leading

feature

is narrative; and it presents an unintereupted succeseion of legends, most of which, when an-

cient, are

embellished with

when new, partake so

new circumstances, and,

far of the

spirit

of

the

old,

PURANAS.

59

that they are u'sinterested creations of the imagination,

having

n*:^

particular motive being designed ta

recommend no
Whether they

or whether they are

possible to

from any other source^

original inventions,

assertain.

They

has been narrated in the compiler's

manner superior

to that of the

is

it

not

most probably,

are,

for the greater part, at least original

observance.

doctrine or

special

are derived

and the whole

own manner,

Puranas

in general,

with exception of the Bhagavata.

It is

not easy to

Puraua. That

it is

conjecture a date for this

subsequent,

is

doubtful. It

is,

un-

questionably, more ancient than such works as the

Brahma Purana, and, Naradiya

its

it

and

its

reason for suppos-

anterior to the Bhagavata.

At the same time

freedom from
ing

Purana

sectarial bias

is

Purana,

partial conformity to the definition of a

and the tenor

of the additions

which

it

has

made

to

received legends and traditions, indicate a not very

remote age

more

and, in the absence of any guide to

positive conclusion,

it

may, conjecturally, be

placed in the ninth or tenth century,

8.

Agni Purana.

"

The Purana which

cribes the occurances of the Isana

related

by Agni

consists of

to

sixteen

Vasistha,

is

called Agneya. It

thousand stanzas.

or Agneya Purana derives

its

des-

Kalpa, and was

The Agni

na,me from

its

having

6o

PURANAS.

being communicated,
of

Muni
him in

to the

fire,

instructing

By him

Brahma.
imparted
repeating

to

it

the

the

by Agni, the deity

for

and the

purpose of

t,he

knowledge of

two-fold

was taught

it

to Suta

it

orio;inally,

Vasistha,

who

Vyasa,

to

represented as

latter is

Rishis at Naimisharanya.

Its

contents are variously specified as sixteen thousand,

fifteen

thousand,

The two
tain
in

or

thousand

fourteen

copies which were employed

about

thousand slokas.

fifteen

the company's

library,

twelve thousand verses

There

Agra,

at

in

con-

are two,

which do not extend

but they

are,

other respects different from mine.

was written

stanzas.

me

by

One

to

many

in

them

of

the reign of

Akbar, in

form

it

A. D. 1859.

The Agni Purana,

been obtained

in

striking contrast to the

doubted

if

was

the

which

has

it

time

may be
it

may be

It

original.

it is

and a more careful

worth

in

Markandeya.

a single line of

great proportion of

sources

in the

Bengal and Beneras, presents a

traced

collation

would

to

very

other

the tash

if

require

would

probably discover the remainder.

The
Avatars,

Purana describe the

early chapters of this

and

in

those

of

Rama and

Krishna,

avowedly follow the Ramayan and Mahabharata.

considerable

portion

is

appropriated

to

6l

PORANAS.

many

and are

rituals

performance

the

for

instructions

ceremoiiies

apparently transcribed from

forms of Saiva worship,

Hindusthan, though, perhaps,

One

south.

of these

is

still

the

Some belong
little known in

principal authorities of that system.

to mystical

religious

of

of wliicli belong to the Tantrika

the

practised in

the Diksha or

of

initation

a novice; by which with numerous ceremonies and

invocations, in which the mysterious monosyllables
of Tantras are constantly repeated,

the

transformed into a living personation

receives, in that

capacity, the

homage

Interspersed with these are chapters

legends

of holy

Purana

places,

Siva,

is

and

of his Guru,

descriptive

of

same

as

the earth and of the universe, which

those of the Vishnu

disciple

of

are

and Mahatmyas or

particularly

of

Chapters on the duties of kings and on the

Gaya.
art

of

war then occur, which have the appearance of being

extracted from

some older work,

the chapter on judicature,

which

is

the

Subsequent

same

is,

undoubtedly,

the

Mitakshara.

we have an account

of the distri-

the text of

as

to these

as

which follows them, and

bution and arrangement of the Vedas and Puranas

and, in a chapter on

gifts,

we have a description

the

Puranas, which

is

the

same

as the

situation,

Matsya Purana*

The

precisely the same,

and

similar subject in

geneological

chapters

of
in

the
are

PURANAS.
rneagre
those;

diff^ring^^

lists,,

commonly

in-

a few respects, from

received, as hereafter notic?,d, but

unaccompanied by any

such as those

particulars

recorded or invented in the Markandeya.

subject

is

diciously,

The

next

medicine, compiled, avowedly, but inju-

from the Susruta.

ef chapters

series

on the mystic worship of Siva and Devi follows;

and the work winds up with a treatise on rhetoric,
prosody, and grammar, according to the Sutras,

and Panini.

of Pingala

The
1

cyclopadical

Purana, as

now

character

of

Agni

the

from
any legitimate claims to be regarded as a Purana,

and proves
It is

is

it

that

its

described, excludes

origin cannot be

it

very remote.

subsequent to the Itihasas, to the chief works on

grammar,

rhetoric,

and medicine, and

duction of the Tantrika worship

this latter

but there

took place,
is

is

yet

far

very probability that

to the

of Devi.

intro-

When

from determined
it

dates long

after

the beginning of our era.

The

materials of the Agni Purana are, however,

no doubt,
Susruta
tury

is

of

some

antiquity.

The medicine

of

considerably older than the ninth cen-

and the grammar of Panini probrably pre-

cedes Christianity.

The

chapters on

archery

and

arms, and on regal administration, are also distinguished by an entirely

Hindu character, and

PURANAS.?
must have been

medan

written long anterior to the

So

^invasion*

valuable, as em1)odying

Maho*

Agni Parana

the

far

and preserving

compiled

although

antiquity,

63

at

a more

is

of

relics

recent

date.

Colonel Wilford has

made

great use of a

list

kings derived from an appendix to the Agni Purana,

which professes

to

As he

it

observes,

Purana.

be the sixty-third or
is

have never met with

last section*

seldom found annexed

to

and doubt

it,

ever having formed any part of the original

pilation.

very

and

this

list

It

notices

mentions,

known
in

of the

explicitly,

as the
is

personage

all

parts

establish

its

character.

their

chronology as well

Vikramaditya*

as

of India,

various

There

compilations

ascribed to the Puranas, which never formed

portion

not

however,

Puranas were not such bung-

bring within

lers as to

Mahammed

speaks of Salivahan and Vikramaditya

this is quite sufficient to

The compilers

are,

list

an era but his account of his

distinct.

that the

its

com-*

would appear, from; Colonel Wilford*s

It

remarks that
institutor of

the

of

their

contents,

offering sometimes, useful

and
local

any

which although,
information,

and

valuable as preserving popular traditions, are not,

in justice, to

be confounded with the Puranas, so

as to cause to them to be charged with even

more

PtJi^ANAS.

^4
serious

and

errors

which they are

The two

anachronisms

than those of

guilty.

copies of this work in- the library of

the East India

Company

appropriate the

ordinary

to a description of the

and

half

first

occasional

observances of the Hindus, interspersed with a few

legends.

The

history of

Rama.

The Purana

Bhavishya Purana.

9.

Brahma, having described the greatness

explained to

Manu

Aghor Kalpa,

that

the stories being for the

future period,

hundred
implies,

It

doubtful.-

This

events of

part, the

Purana, as

the

The

(Bhavishyati),

five

name

my

There

the Bhavishyattara, as

exists, is

in the library

entire,

of the

agreeing in their contents,

possession,

thousand stanzas.

Matsya

the

which appear to be

copies,

which there are three

with two in

as

Whether such a work

East India Company,

if

it

is

contain

about seven

another work, entitled

was a continuation or

supplement of the former, containing,

s^even

Bhavishya

called the

is

most

and

course

the

in

should be a book of prophecies, foretell-

ing what will be

of

which

contains fourteen thousand

stanzas."

Purana intimates.

and

in

the

of the sun,

the existence of the world,

the characters of all created things,

of the

of

latter half treats exclusively

also,

about

thousand verses, but the subjects of both

t>URANAS.

but to a very imperfect degree

are

these works

65

analogus to these to which the Matsya alludes.

Purana, as

The Bhavishya
In

have

it,

work

is

a hundred and twenty-six short chapteis, repea*

by Sumantu

ted

He

family.

with

to Satanika, as king of the

parts

of five

seem, to as many

the

Possibly>

my

hands

first

and describes

they

it

as

termed,
whilst

or repeated creation,

may have come

part only

although

are

it

should

it

and Twashtra;

Saiva,

the Partisharga

is

fifth

Pandu

having origianted

four dedicated,

deities, as

Brahma, Vaishnava,
the

its

or Brahma,

Swayambhu

consisting

however

notices,

into

does not so appear by the

manuscript.

Whatever
is'

may be, the work

The first portion,

it

not a Purana.

of creation; but
of the
rest

is

it

is

words of the

initiatary

It

a transcript

else that

explains the

rites; the

question

chapter of Manu.

a manual of religious

entirely

ceremonies.

little

first

in

indeed, treats

ten

rites

The
and

Samskaras or

performance of theSandhya;

the reverence to be

shown

to a

Guru

the duties

of the different Asramas and castes; and enjoins

nniJlber

and the

of

like,

Vratas

or observances of fasting

appropriate to different lunar days.

few legends enliven the

That af th^ sage Chyavana

5

series
is

of

precepts:

told at considerable

66

PURANAS.

length,

taken,

from

chiefly,

The Naga Panchami,

the

serpent Gods,

or

gives

the

rise

Mahabbarata.

lunation sacred to

fifth

a description of

to

different sorts of snakes. After these,

about one third of

of

them conform,

in subject, to

remainder

one of the topics

They

to by the Matsya.

referred

which occupy

the chapters, the

chiefly represent

Sambo,

conversations between Krishna, his son

who had become,

vasas,

Vasistha,

a lepar by the curse of

Narada and

Dur-

upon the

Vyasa,

power and glory of the sun, and the manner

which he

to

is

be

There

worshiped.

is

curious matter in the last chapters, relating to

Magas,
dwipa

silent

as

if

in

som&
the

worshippers of the sun, from Saka-

had adopted the persian

the compiler

term Magh, and connected the

This

Iran with those of India.

fire
is

worshippers of

a subject, how-

ever, that requires further investigation.

The
ing,

Bhavishyottara

is,

a sort of manual
portion

greater

the remainder,

which

gifts

are

equally with the preced-

of

religious

the forms
to

and circumstances with

Many

be presented.

ceremonies are obsolete, or are

different

offices; the

being appropriated to Vratas, and

manner, as the Rathayatra or

and the Madanotshava or

descriptions of those

festival of

throw some

the

of

observed in

car-festival

spring.
light

The

upon the

PORANAS,
public condition of the

probably prior <o the

ceremonies

different

which

religion at a period

are

by legends,

God

of love by Siva,

The work supposed

lord of hearts.

assemblage of holy persons

to

the

after

latter,

commu-

be

at

great

coronation

the

{at

and

disembodied

Ananga, the

becoming

nicated by Krishna to Yudhisthira,

of

The

conquest.

illustrated

sometimes, ancient; as, for instance,

are,

his thence

Hindu

Mahomedan

destruction of the

the

67

the conclusion of

the

great

war.

Brahma Vaivarta Purana.

10.

which

is

'That Purana

related by Savarni to Narada,

of the greatness

the account

of

and contains

Krishna, with

occurances of the Rathantara where, also, the

the

story of

Brahmavaraha

Brahma

the

sand

repeatedly told,

is

is

called

Vaivarta, and contains eighteen thou-

The account

stanzas.''

here given of the

Brahma Vaivarta Purana agrees with its present

The copies rather exceed
state, as to its extent.
than

fall

short of eighteen

also correctly represents

or legend

the

The Brahma

narrated,
to

if

thousand stanza?.

It

comprising a Mahatmya

Krishna; but

of

nevertheless,

its

Vaivarta,

is

it

same work

is

as

very

doubtful,

intended.
it

now

exists,

is

not by Savarni, but the Rishi Narayana,

Narada, by

whom

it is

communicated

to

Vyasa

PUR AN As.
he teAche$

to Suta;

it

and the

latti^r

the Rishis at Naimisharauya,

It

Khandas or books, Brahma?

four

repea^

to

it

divided intq

is

Ganesa,

Prakriti,

and Krishna Janma Khandas ; dedicated, severally

to describe the acts of Brahma, Devi, Ganesa,
and

Krishna;

the

throughput

however,

latter,

absorbing the interest and importance of the work.

In none of these

there

is

Varaha Avatara of Vishnu,

intended by Matsya,

Rathantara Kalpa.
in

nor

It

any

any

may

of the

accoujit

which

seems

be

to

reference

to

a,

also be observed, that

describing the merit of presenting a copy of

this

Purana, the

such

gift is

which

is

worshipper

Krishna

of

The

so decidedly

a sphere

which

inferior in dignity to that to

very

Purana.

Matsya adds: "whoever makes

honoured in the Brahma-loka

taught to aspire by

is

character of the
sectarial,

work

and the

is,

at

tjiis

iu truth,

sect to whicJ^Jt;

belongs so distinctly marked, that, qf thp worshippers of the Juvenile Krishna iind Ra^Iha, %form
belief

of

known

modern,

o^igin,rr:that

scarcely

haye found a notice ia a work:

like the

Matsya, a

to belong,

be received

much

it

tp:

mpre. reniiot^ date

of;

cani

wh|ch,
seem,^^^

A^l^ough, therefore, th^ Matsya may^

in

propf

of: there

Brahma

Vaiyarta P^ra,Qa^

piUliOHi

d^kJ^ed

at. the,

e^p^i^lly tQi

haying^

been

datf^,;Qf itscpj^^r,
t-

hsomm. qC

t9

PUR ANAS.
we cannot credit the
saftie we now possess.

krishna, yet
its

Beih^ the

possibility of

of the legends, believed to be

Ateough some

ancient, are scattered through the different portions

mass of

of this Purana, yet the great

up

with tiresome

descriptions

taken

is

it

and

of Brindavana

Goloka, the dwelling of Krishna on earth and in

heaven

endless repetitions of prayers and

tions addressed to

tions

him

person and sports, and the love of

of his

There are

the Gopis and Radha towards him.

some

particulars

castes, which

is

the

of

origin

the

of

the

valuable, because
affecting

as authority in matters
in

invoca-

and with insipid descrip-

Brahma Khanda,

artificer-

cited

is

it

them, contained
and

and, in the Prakriti

Ganesa Khandas, are legends of those

divinities,

not wholly, perhaps, modern inventions, but

which the source

life

of

Krishna,

siirie as ttio^e

incidents

the

are

narrated in the Vishnu and

much compressed

matter

recorded

Of

In the

the

in

but the stories absurd as thay are,

Bhagavata ;
ai^e

has not been traced.

still

mdre

to

make room

purile

Bfdhma Vaivarta has not

and

for

original

tiresome.

the slightest

title

The
to

be

regarded as a Purana,
II.

Linga Purana.

sent in th^

Where Maheswara,

Agni Linga, explained

(the

pre-

objects

of

PURANAS.

70
virtue,

life)

at the

pleasure and final liberation

wealth,

end of the Agni Kalpa,

th^t

Pura^a, con-

thousand stanzas, was called the

sisting of eleven

Linga by Brahma himself.

to

The Linga Purana conforms accurately enough

this description,
The Kalpa is said to be the

Isana, but this

the only difference,

is

thousand stanzas.

of eleven

It

been originally compesed by Brahma

primitive Linga

Maheswara
same

the

is

consists

It

said to have

is

and the

a pillar of radiance, in which

is

The work

present.

as that referred to

short account

is

therefore,

is,

by the Matsya.

given in the beginning, of

elemental and secondary creation, and of the patriarchal families;

which, however,

in

the place of Vishnu,

Brief

things.

all

and proceedings
offering
sectarial
fiery

to

no

accounts of Siva's incarnations

in

Linga takes place,

disputes

when

the

Kalpas next occur,

except as characteristic

The

separate Vishnu

in the interval of a creation

and Brahma, who not only

supremacy,

to

shame ; as

downwards

direction, neither

of

appearance of the great

but

fights

the Linga suddenly springs up,

them both
and

different

interest,

notions.

Siva takes

as the indescrible cause of

for

after

travelling

for

it;

and puts
upwards

a thousand years in each

can approach

to

its

termination.

71

PURANAS.

Upon

the Linga the sacred

*e Vedas

and

visible*;

monosyallable

proceed from

become

Brahma and Vishnu

it,

Om

is

by which
and

enlightened,

acknowledge and eulogise the superior might and

glory of Siva.

A notice

creation

of the

and

then follows;

this

tended as a counterpart,
of

of Siva

number

twenty.eight in

incarnations,

four Avataras

praises

Siva repeats the story

and Vishnu and Brahma.

of his

Padma Kalpa

in the

leads to

no doubt,

Vishnu,

as

the

to

in-

twenty-

described

in

the

Bhagabata and both being amplications of the

original ten Avataras, and of much less merit as
;

fictions.

Another

the legend of

of Shiva.

instance of

rivalry

occurs in

Dadhichi, a Muni and worshipper

In the Bhagavat, there

a story of

is

Ambarisha being defended against Durvasas by

the discus of Vishnu, against which that Saiva sage
is

helpless.

Here

Vishnu pulls

discus

his

at

the ground;

blunted, to

Dadhichi: but

it

and a

ensues in which Vishnu and his

conflict

partisans are

A
regal

all

falls,

overthrown by the Muni.

description of

dynasties of

the

and

universe,

the Vaivaswata

to

number

of

Ihe time of Krishna, runs through a

chapters in

substance,

and very

of the

Manwantara
commonly,

words, the same as other Purans;

after

in

which

PURANAS.

72

work resumes

thq

proper character narrating

its

legends, and enjoining

and

rites,

intending to dp honour to

reciting prayers

Siva under various

forms.

Although, however, the Linga hold$ a

prominent place amongst |them, the spirit of the

worship

is

as

influenced by the

little

of the type as will be imagined.

like the phallic orgies of antiquity

and

cal

and

the proper

to a

meaning

'mark' or
of the

is

mysti-

minds, the

invisible,

Siva himself.

'

type

which

word *Linga'of

or stone; but the wise look

ward emblem as nothing,

their

nothing

is

is all

it

The Linga is two-fold, external

The ignorant, who needs a visible

internal.

wood

spiritual.

sign, worship Siva

is

character of

There

upon

this

out-

and contemplate,

inscrutable type,

Whatever may

in

which

have been the

origin of this form of worship in India, the notion

upon which

it

was

founded, according to the

impure fancies of European

writers, are

not to be

traced in even the Saiva Puranas.

Data

for conjecturing the era of this

defective.

But

it is

more

ritual

and the Pouranik chapters which

than a
it

order to keep up something of

its

been, evidently, borrowed

the

for

work are
Purana

has inserted, in

character,

have

purpose.

The

incarnations of Siva, and their 'pupils', as specified

in

one place, and the importance attached,

to the

73
practice of the

Yoga remJer

am

the for^ier,

who belong

religion

it

possible that, imdet

intended those teachers

Yoga

to the

erf

Saiv^

school, which

ninth
seems to have flourished about the eighth or
century.
it

may

It is

not likely that the work

be considerably

later.

some Saiva legends

apparently,

but the greater part

ritual

is

is earlier

has preserved,

It

an early date ;
and mysticism ci

of

comparatively recent introduction.

Varaha Purana. That in which the glory
12.
of the great Varaha

predominant, as

is

vealed to earth by Vishnu,

it

was

re*

connexion, wise

in

Munis, with the Manava Kalpa, and which contains

twenty four thousand verses,

is

called

the Varaha

Purana."
It

may be doubted

present day

is

Vishnu as Varaha, or
the

in

personified earth,

half that specified

It

stanzas.

the

if

Varaha Purana of the

It is narrated by

here intended.

little

furnislies

the boar
extent,

Its

incarnation, to

however,

is

not

exceeding ten thousand

also

itself,

evidence of the

prior currency of some other work, similiarly de-

nominated
tained in

it,

as, in the description

Sumantu, a Muni,

is

of Mathura, con-^

made

to observe.

a
'^The divine Varaha in former times expounded

Purana

for the

of Earth."

purpose of solving the perplexity

74

PURANAS.
Nor can Varaha Parana be regarded

Parana agreeably

to the

common

idefinitioli

as
;

as

it

contains but a few scattered and brief allusions to

the creation of the world and the reign

of kings
has no detailed geneologies, either of the patriarchal or regal families, and no account of the
reigns of the Manus. Like the Linga Purana, it
:

it

is

a religious

with

forms

manual,

almost wholly occupied

and

of prayer

observances, addressed to

with legendary
peculiar to

itself,

common and
incompatibly

devotional

for

interspersed

most of which are

though some are taken from the

illustrations,

Many

ancient stock.
with,

compilation, relate

Durga.

rules

Vishnu;

the

the

to

of them, rather

general

scope of

history

considerable portion

of

the

Siva and

of

the

work

is

devoted to descriptions of various Tirthas, places

of Vaishnava pilgrimage, and one of the Mathura
enters

into

a variety

of

particulars

relating

to

the shrines of that city constituting the Mathura

Mahatmya.
In the
there

Krishna
included

sectarianism

no leaning

is
:

of

the

Varaha

Purana

to the particular adoration of

nor are the Rathayatra and Janmastomi

amongst
the observances
enjoined.
There are neither indications of its belonging to
an earlier stage of Vishnu worship ; and it may,

PURANAS.

75

Ramamya,

perhaps be referred to the age of

the

early part of ^he twelfth century.

Skanda Purana-

13.

that in

is

"The Skanda

Purana^

six^faced deity (Skanda) has

which the

related the events of the

Tatpurusha Kalpa, enlarg-

ed with many tales, and subservient to the duties

eighty
taught by Maheswara. It is said to contain

one thousand one hundred stanzas

so

it is

asserted

amongst mankind/'
uniformly agreed that the Skanda Purana,
collective form, has no existence ; and the

It is

in

fragments in the shape of Samhitas, Khandas, and

Mahatmyas, which are affirmed,

formidable mass of stanzas than even

much more

the immense number

The

various parts

in

Purana, present a

of India, to be portions of the

of which

it is

said to consist.

most celebrated of these portions,

dustan,

is

or

cription of the temples of Siva in

Benares, mixed with directions

Maheswara, and a great

merits

natory of

its

Many

them are

some

of

are of a

and

variety

for

adjacent to

worshipping

of legends

purile

and uninteresting

The

Hinduism

in

the

story

Agastya records, probably, in a legendary

and

expla-

of the holiness of Kasi*

higher character.

the propagation of
India,

Hin-

in

the Kasi Khanda, a very minute des-

but
of

style,

south of

in the history of Divodasa, a king of

PURANAS.

76
Kasi,

re have an embellished

tfadUioii 6f the

porary depression of the tvdrship df^Siva,

its

^^endancy

metropolis, before the

lowers of

Bhdha

there

is

Ghajini.

first

attack

in

of the fol-

etery reasbn to Believe

the greater part of the ebntehts of the Kasi

interior to the

tem-

es^eri

Khanda

upon Benares by Mahmud

The Kasi Khanda

alone contains

fifteen

thousand stanzas.

Another considerable work ascribed,

India, to a

Skanda

i?urana,

is

the

in

Upper

Utkala Khanda,

giving an account of the holinesss of Orissa, and

the Kshetra of Purushottama or Jaganiiatha.

same

vicinity is

The

the site of templet once of great

magnificience and extent, dedicated to Siva, as

Bhuvaneshwara, which forms an excuse for

taching an*account of

at-

a Vaishnava Tiftha to an

eminently Saiva Piirana.

There can be

however, that the Utkala Khaiida

is

little

doubt

uhwarrant-

ably included amongst the progeny of the parent

work*

Besides this, there is a Brahmottera Khanda

a Reva Khanda, a Siva Rahashya Khanda,

Himavat Khanda and

others.

Of

the

Samhitas

the chief are the Suta Samhitai, Sainatkumar Sinihita

Saura Sambita, and

several

are

Kapila Samhrta, there are

denominated Samhitas.

more numerous

still.

Siimhita$ as quotedby

The Mahatmyas

According to the Suta

Colonel

Vans Kennedy,

PURANAS?

77

Skanda Puranas contains six Sa;nhitas, five hundred

Khandas, and, five hundred thousand stanzas;

more than what

is

even attributed to

all

the Puranas.

He

thinks judg'ing from internal evidence,

the

Khandas and

genuine, though

San^hltas

evidence

ternal

is

Now

quantity

the

ever been claimed

ahove

that

n^any of

instance, are

Khanda^,
quite a^

safictily, erf

temples, audi
origin

c^f

it,

all

with

Skanda Purana,

1-ingas

for

the

the:

groups of
interested,

reasonably,,

present state of our

the reputed portions of

my own

But;

as the Mafeatmyas,

which Tendens them,> very

acquaintance

excess

relating to the erection

tO; certain

In

stanzas

in

Khanda

Kasi

in-

more

questionable-i

<:ertain temples,

object of suspicion.

a^re

the

local,

being legendary stories

and

for

amount must be
the

and, as no

all

rather

one kind of

thousand one hundred

than eighfy-one
have

have

Mahatmyas

the

questionable appearance.

that

admitted to be

may be

the

views of their authenticity

SQ opposed to those entertained by Colonel

Kennedy, that, instead of admitting all the

Vans

Samhitas and Khandas to be genuine, I doubt if

any one of them was ever a part of the Skaada
PjU,raria,

14,

Ymf^mw 'Pmm.

"That

Itk

whicb the

7S

PURANAS.

nce, as subservient to the account of the greatness

of Trivikrama, which treats, also, of (Ahe Siva^-Kalpa

and

which consists of ten thousand stanzas,

is

Vamana Purana."
The Vamana Purana contains an account

of

called the

the dwarf incarnation of Vishnu

by Pulastya

There

is little

contents

Its

scarcely

ot no order in the subjects which

recapitulates,

made by

replies

related

is

claim to the character of a Purana.

its

this (work

it

Narada, and extends to but about

to

seven thousand stanzas.

establish

but

and which

arise

out of

Pulastya to questions put, abrupity

and unconnectedly by Narada^ The greater parT

them relate to the worship of the Linga; a

of

rather

strange

topic

a Vaishnava

for

but engrossing the principal part

tion.

of

They

are,

illustrating

so that the
cession

of

the

sancity

Mahatmyas.

work

of certain holy places

is little

Thus,

sacrifice, the

object of which

Tirtha, at Beneras,

in

the

to

is

Kamadeva

send Siva to

for the

illustrating the holiness of a Siva

in

the

opening,

where he

leased from the sin of Brahmanicide.

the story of burning

else than a suc-

occurs the story of Daksha's

Papamochan

war^

Purana,
compila-

however, subservient to the object

the

Vamana Purana

almost, of the

of

Himalaya,

and

Linga

of

is

re-

Next comes
purpose of
at

Kedares-

Badarikasrama.

PURANAS.

The

larger part of the

mahatmya,

work

79

consists

holiness of Sthanu Tirtha

that

is,

various Lingas and certain Pools

There are same

legends

is

in

Hindusthan.

the

to

holisite of

In the course of these

narrative

Uma, and

riage of Siva with

Thansar and

but the general

we have a long

accounts,

of the sancity of

at

stories, also, relating

ness of the Godavari river

of the

north-west from Delhi.

the country

Kurukshetra,

Saro*

of the

or legendary exemplifications

mar-

of the

the birth

of Kartti-

keya.

There are a few br ief allusions

Manwantaras

the

and

all

cient.

but they are

the five charicteristies of a purana

In noticing the

and

to creation

merely incidental
are

difi-

Swarochisha Manwantara,

towards the end of the book, the elevation of Bali

monarch

of the Daityas,

universe, the

and

subjugation of the

his

gods included, are described

and

this leads to the narration that gives its tittle to

the

Purana, the birth of Krishna as a dwarf for the

purpose of humilating Bali by fraud, as he was

vincible by force.

The

the scene

Kurukshetra.

A
that

is

laid at

story is told as

more minute examination

which has been given to

discover
date.

some

It is of

hint

of
it,

from which

this

usual

in-

but

work than

might,
to

perhaps,

conjecture

its

a more tolerant character than the

8o

PURANASi

Puranas, and divides

its

Vtshnu with

homage between Siva and

tolerable impartiality.

not con-

It is

and

nected, therefore, with any sectarial principles,

may have

proceeded

introduction.

their

its

com-

the pleasure of

some

not, however, the air of any antiquity

may have amused

pilation

Brahman

Beneras

of

has

It

three

or

and

centuries

four

ago.

Kutma

15.

in the

'*That in which janardan

Purana.

of a tortoise, in the regions under the

form

earth, explained the objects

wealth,

of life duty,

with
pleasure^, and liberation* in communication
of
proximity
the
in
Rishis
the
and
Indradyumna
Sakra, which refers to the Lakshmi Kalpa, and

Kurma

contains seventeen thousand stanzas, in the

Ptnrana;.

Inthefirst chapter of

an account of

itself,

most

is

made

excellent

Purana,

it

gives

which does not exactly agree

Suta

with this description.

naTration>

Kurma
who

is

repeating the

say to the Rishis;

to

Kurma Purana

is

the

'This

fifteenth.

Samhitas are fourfold, from the variety of the colThe Brahmi, Bhagavali, Sour i, and Vailections.
shnavi are well
confer

This

is

virtue,

known

the Brahmi

four Vedas >

as the four Samhitas which

wealth,

pleasure

and

liberation.

Sanhitas, conformable

to

the

slokas;
in" which there are six thous^nd

8t
Unij by
lite,

It,

the importance

There

\vara is*known.*

rence

is

an irreconcilable

in this specification of tbe

number

and that given abeve. It is not very

^eant by a Samhita, as here used.

Samhita,

of

diffe-

of stanzas

clear what

observed above

as

from a Parana.

thing different

objects

the four

of

knowledge and Paramesh-

great sages, holy

13

some-

is

may be an

It

assemblage of pfayers and legends, extracted pro*

from a Purana, but

fessedly>

cable to the original.

refer

specified

is

The

not, usually, appli-

Samhitas here

four

rather to their

character

religious

than to their connexion with any specific work ; and,

In

the

fact,

same terms are applied

Purana might be also a Samhita;

of

ing

of

to a division

question,

both

titles.

other

is

the

isj it

might

and the work

Vishnu Purana, does adopt

says: '*This

is

Purana, the fifteenth of the

"This

that

Hindu system

like the
It

the excellent
series,'*

Kurma

and again

Brahmi Samhita.'' At any

work has been met with pretending

rate>

to

With regard
the

no

be the

-Kurma Purana.

/by

formulae and legends belong-

%e an assemblage
'in

what are

to

In this sense, a

Samhiias of the Skanda,

called

to

the

other particulars specifie

Matsya, traces of them are to be found.

Although,

in

two

ai9(0^&ts

of

the

traditional

PURANAS.

82
communication of

made

to

repeats,

Vishnu

might lead us

and

always,

put into the

an Avatara f Vishnu,

it
it

correctly,

classed

Puranas; the greater portion of

with the Saiva

it

the worship of Siva and Durga.

two

incalculating

divided into

It is

In the

parts, of nearly equal length.

first

accounts of the creation, of the Avataras of

of the

solar

and lunar dynasties

the time of Krishna,

in general

manner, but not unfrequently,

ployed

the Vishnu

in

part

Vishnu

of the kings to

and

universe,

of the

Manwantaras, are given,

at the

ocean; and

of the

Vaishanava work, but

that

to expect a

is

Suta

between

dia^.ogue

of the subsequent narrative is

mouth of the former.

The name being

is

set,

mention

teachers, yet

the

time of the churning

the

much

out

no

Parana,

the

one of

the Kurma and Indradyumna,

Vishnu, as
at

the

at

as

in the

of the

summary

in

words em-

With these are

Purana.

blended hymns addressed to Maheswaraby Brahma

the defeat of Andhakasura by Bhairava,

and others
the

origin

of four

Saktis,

and Haimavati, from Siva

One

chapter gives a

account of the

more

Maheswari, Siva,

distinct

incarnations

sent age, than the Linga, and

the appearance,

of

Sati

and other Saiva legends.

and connected

of Siva,
it

in

wears,

an attempt to

the pre-

still

more,

ideutify

the

PURANAS.
teachers of the

Yoga

second part there are no legends.

two

into

parts,

the Iswara

In the

Benares.

a legend of

Kasi M*ahatmy^,

form a

Several chapters

deity.

preferential

their

school with personations of

Gita,

It

divided

is

and Vyasa Gita.

In the former, the knowledge of God, that

through xcontemplative devotion,

Siva,

same object

latter the

In the

is

of

taught.

is

enjoined through

is

works, or observance of the ceremonies and precepts of the Vedas.

The
remote

date of the
;

for

Kurma Purana

cannot be very

avowedly posterior to be estab-

it is

lishment of the Tantrika, the Sakta and the Jaina

In the twelfth chapter

sects.

Vairava,

said

Vama, Arhata, and Yamala

There

intended for delusion.

lieve

it is

that

is

" The

Sastras are

no reason

to be-

and Yamola Tantras are

the Vairava

are very ancient works, or that the practices of the

kft hand,
Jina,

Saktas,

were known

i6.

doctrines

or the

in early centuries of

Matsya Purana.

That

of Arhat or

our era.

in which, for

sake of promulgating the Vedas, Vishnu,

beginning of a Kalpas related to

of

Manu

in

the

the
the
story

Narashimha, and the events of several Kalpas

that,

sages,

know

to

be the Matsya Purana,

containing twenty thousand stanzas.''

We

might,

it

is

to

be

supposed, admit the

PURANAs,

84

description which the Matsya gives of

correct

there

and

seems

good copies
Company's
concur in

yet, as

to

one

library,

my
and

than between fourteen and

In

this case

assigns to

it

possession, one

and one

all respects,

Bhagavata

is

fifteen

jects of the
in the

form

The

the

more

containing no

thousand stanzas,

nearer the

truth,

We may

therefore, that the reading of the passage

is

in

library-

in Radcliffe

in

fourteen thousand.

respect erroneous. It

of verses

Three very

be a mis-statemeiVt.
in

be

to

itself

number

regards the

when

it

conclude
is,

in this

correctly said, that the

sub-

Purana were communicated by Vishnu,

of fish, to

Purana,

Manu.

after the usual

prologue of Suta

and the Rishis, opens with the account of the

Matsya or fish Avatara of Vishnu, in which he prea king, named Manu, with the seeds of all
things, in an ark, from the waters of that inundation which, in the season of a Pralaya, overspreads
serves

This story

the world.

is

in the

told

with reference to the Matsya as

which

it

its

Mahabharata,

authority

from

might be inferred, that the Purana was

prior to the

poem.

This, of

with the tradition that the

posed by Vyasa.

course,

is

Furanas were

consistent
first

com-

But there can be no doubt that

the greater part of the Mahabharata is much older

than any extant Purana. The present instance i^^

PURANAS.

85

a proof; for the primitive simplicity with

itself,

which the story of the

Mahabharata,

Avatara

fish

plexion than the mysticism and

the actual

Matsya Purana.

collects the seeds of

is

how:

not said

together by
the great

antique

the

comes

Manu

things in the ark

it

he brings them

latter,

power of Yoga.

the

serpent

the

com-

extravagance of

In the former,

existing
in

told in

is

much more

of a

is

In the

to the king, to

latter

serve

as

a cord wherewith to fasten the ark to the horn of

the fish

more

employed

Whilst the ark

floats,

and the

replies

fastened to the

him

of

which

patriarchs.

Some

is

is

fish,

Manu

his

ques-

and

Vishnu form the main

The first subject is

Brahma and the

substance of the compilation.

the creation,

ropes

of

for the purpose.

enters into conservation with

tions

made

former a cable

in the

intelligibly

of

that

of the

are

details

the

usual

ones; others are peculiar, especially those relating

to the Pitris or

progenitors.

are next described

the duties of

The

regal

dynasties

and then follow chapters on

different

orders.

It

is

relating

in

those of house-holders, in which the duty of

gifts to

the

Brahmana

specification

Puranas.

It is

is

of

comprehended,
the extent

that

and subjects

meritorious to have copies

them, and to give them away

making

we have

on

of the

made

particular

of

occa-

PURANAS.

86
Thus,

sions.

gives

it

away

it

of

said,

is

at either

Matsya

''Whoever

equinox, along with a golden

fish,

and a milch cow, gives away the whole earth

that

is

he reaps a

like reward, in the next migration.

Vratas or occa-

Special duties of the house-holder

sional acts of piety

are

then described at consi-

The

derable length, with legendary illustrations.

account of the universe

given in the usual

is

destruction

Saiva legends ensue; as the

purasura

the war of the gods with

Daityas, and the

events involved in that narrative

of the Asuras,

the Matris,

of

Uma's

The

Maya and Andhaka

and the

like

the

and

birth

other

destruction
origin

of

interspersed with the

Some Mahat-

Vaishnava legends of the Avataras.

myas contain some

Karttikeya,

Kamadeva, and

marriage, the burning of

Tri-

of

Taraka and the

consequent birth

with the various circumstances of

strain.

interesting particulars.

There

on law and morals, and one of

which furnishes directions for building houses and
are various chapters

making images.

We

then have

kings of future periods

an account of the

and the Purana concludes

with a chapter on gifts.

The Matsya Purana,

this brief sketch of

compilation,

its

it

will

be seen, even from

contents,

but including, in

elements of a genuine Purana.

is

a miscellaneous
its

contents,

the

At the same time

PURANAS.
it is

mixed a character

of too

to

be considered as

and, upon
class
a genuine work^ofthe Pauranik
that it is
suspected
examining it carefully, it may be
;

for* its matter,

indebted to various works, not only
and historical
but for its words. The geneological

much

chapters are

many

and

the

same

as those of the Vishnu,

on the

as those

chapters

and

pitris

of the
Sraddhas, are precisely the same as those
Khanda of the Padma Purana. It has
Sristi

drawn

largely also

other instances,
of Savitri,

from the Mahabharat. Amongst

which

Satyavat,

wife of

the devoted

given in the Matsya

to quote the story

sufficient

it is

is

same manner, but con-

in the

siderably abridged.

Although a Saiva work,

and

it

has not such

Kurma and

Linga.

derable interest; but,

from the

is

It is
if it

Padma which

occasion, the

subsequent

not exclusively so

it is

sectarial

its

materials

also quotes

on one

has extracted

specification of the
to

work,

that

of cons-

a composition

it

absurdities as the

Upapuranas, it

and,

therefore,

not

very ancient.
17.

Garuda Purana.

'That which Vishnu

Garuda Kalpa, relating,

Garuda from Vinata, is here

cited in the

birth of

Garuda Purana and

thousand

verses/'.

re-

chiefly, to the

in

it

called

there are read

the

fifteen

88

The Garuda Parana which has been the su?k

of my examination corresponds^ln no respect

ject

and

with this description,

\\ork,

is,

probably a different

though entitled the Garuda Purana.

identical,however,wrth two copies in the

library.

no more than about seven

It consists of

thousand stanzas

Indra;andit
Garuda.

repeated by

is

; it

contains no

There

is

It is

Company's

Brahma ta

account of the birth of

a brief notice of the creation

but the greater part

occupied with descriptioo

is

of Vratas or religious

observances,, of bolydays, of

sacred places dedicated to

and with

sun,

the

prayers from the Tantrika ritual addressed to the

sun,

to

and to Vishnu.

Siva,

It

contains,

also^

chapters on astrology ,palmistry,and precious stones^

and one,

more

still

latter

portion

with

directions for

rites.

There

application

is

Garuda Purana

the

name.

the
exists

given in the Matsya

of

is

all

is

The

taken up

those, to justify the

Whether

doubtful.

is less

other

Kalpa,

performance of obsequial

nothing, in

of

brief notices

extensive on medicine.

called the Preta

The

particular than

Puranas

genuine

description

even the

and might have

easily

been written without the knowledge of the

book

itself

of stanzas,

being, with the exception of the

number

confined to cireumstaaces that the

aioue indicates^

title

FURANAS.
18.

tv^elve

thousand two hundred verses^

magnificence of the egg of Brahma, and

called the

future

of the

which the account

is

which has

'*That

Brahmanda Purana.

declareci, in

the

89

Kalpa

is

in

contained

Brahmanda Purana and was revealed

by Brahma/'

to

The Brahmanda Purana is usually considered

be in much the same predicament as the Skanda

no longer procurable

Skandas and Mahatmyas,

presented by a variety of

derived from

professing to be

which any

tract

may be

existent original,

taken

of

its

body, but re-

a collective

in

thus

it.

The

with

facility

non-

attached to the

and the advantage

has been

that

absence to compile a variety of un-

authentic fragments, has given to the

Brahmanda,

Skanda, and Padma, according to Colonel Wilford,

the character, of

imposters/'

being

This

is

*^the

not

Puranas of thieves or

applicable to the

Padma,

which, as above shown, occurs entire and the same

in various parts of India.

the other two are

made

The

one; as ihi purpose of the

ways too obvious

imposition of which

the vehicles can deceive

to leave

particular

any doubt of

Copies of what profess to be the

manda Purana
curable.

legend
its

origin.

entire

Brah-

are sometimes, though rarely,

met with one

mer containing

one

in

two portions, the

hundred

and

no

is al-

profor-

twenty-fpur

PURANAS.

90
and the

chapters,

seventy-eight

latter,

whole containing about

number

the

and

the

stanzas

of

The first and largest portion, howthe same as the Vayu Purana,
be
ever, proved to
with a passage occasionally slightly varied, and at

to the Purana^

the end of each chapter

Brahmanda Purane'
I

common

the

substituted

phrase,

do not think there was any intended fraud

substitution.

The

Vaya Purana

Iti

Vayu Purane/

*Iti

last section of the

in

the

part of

first

termed the Brahmanda section,

is

giving an account of the dissolution of the universe

and a

taken this for the

to the

both

specification of

title

of the

The second portion

any part of the Vayu it
;

as a Sanihita or

presented as going

the

Brahmanda

of this
.

is,

answear

means

Agastya

Khanda.

to the city

to his

tion, the

of the

main subject

exploits

Durga and her

of

work

Lalita

destruction

of

re-

him, and,

to

imparts to him the

of this

of the

the

is

worship of Parasakti.

illustration of the efficacy

not

Kanchi (Ccnjevram),

inquiries,

of salvation, the

is

probably, current in the

where Vishnu, as Hayagriva, appears

in

frequent

narrator of

as the teacher or

Vayu

it.

Dakhin

and

the index

in

The checks

whole.

work have been honestly

of the

identity

preserved,

might have

careless or ignorant transcriber

form
is

Devi,

the

In

of adora-

an account
a

form of

demon Bhan-

91

PURANA5.

Rules for her worship are decidedly of a

adSakta or Tantrlka type and this work cannot be
Purana.
genuine
of
a
part
a
be
mitted, therefore, to

dasur.

UPAPURANAS.
The Upapuranas, in
are known differ a little
,

some
bed.

the

few instances which

or subject, from

in extent

of those to which the

title

of

Purana

but four

The Matsya enumerates

is

ascri-

but the

Devi Bhagavata has a more complete list and speThey are: i. Sanatkumar, 2.
eighteen.
cifies
Narasimha,
Kapila,

7.

3.

Naradiya,

Manava,

Samba,

12.

Parasara, 15. Aditya,

16.

Kalika,

II.

4,

Siva, 5. Durvasasa, 6.

Ausanasa,

8.

9.

Nandi,

Varuna,

10.

Saura,

14,

12.

Maheswara,

Bhaga-

17.

The Matsya observes, of the

second, that is named in the Padma Purana, and
contains eighteen thousand verses. The Nandi
vata 18. Vasistha.

is
it,

called

Nanda, and

the story of

sasa, 6.
7.

II.

Kapila

3.

Nanda.

given in the Reva

Narasimha,

says, that Karttikeya

Khanda

Nanda,

4,

tells,

in

rather

difierent

list

is

or

Sanatkumar,

2,

i.

Sivadharma,

5.

Daurva-

Bhavishya, related by Narada or Naradiya

8.

Varuna,

Manava,

9.

Ausanasa, 10. Brahmanda

12. Kalika, 13.

Maheswara,

15. Saura, 16. Parasara, 17. Bhagavata,

14.
18.

Samba
Kaur-

PURANAS.

92
These

ma.

able weight

authorities, however,

are of question-

having in view, no doulit, the

preten-

sions of the Devi Bhagavata to be considered as the

authentic Bhagavata.

Of
Those

these

Upapuranas few are

my

in

possession

are

be procured.

to

considered

the Siva,

as distinct from the Vayu, the Kalika, and, perhaps

one

of the Naradiyas, as

noticed above.

have,

also three of the Skandas of the Devi Bhagavata,

which, most undoubtedly,

vata,

the work of Bopadeva.

that

is

not the real Bhaga-

supposing that any Purana so named preceded

in

There can be no doubt

any authentic

list

the

name

Bhagavata

of

does not occur .amongst that Upapuranas

been

tried there to

so entitled, of which the Purana

vata, the

has

It

prove that there are two works

Upapurana, the

Sri

is

the Devi Bhaga-

The

Bhagavata.

true

reading should be Bhargava, the Purana of Bhrigu

and the Devi Bhagavata

It is

very questionable

far as

it

extends,

is

is

not even an

Upapurana.

the entire work, which,

if

as

eminently^ Sakta composition,

ever had existence.

The

Siva

Upapurana contains about

sand stanzas, distributed into two

related by

Sanatkumar

Naimisharanya
of

from the

and

to

its

questions

six

parts.

thouIt

is

Vyasa and the Rishis

at

character
to

may be judged

which

it

is

a reply.

PURANAS.
*'the rules of

the Rishis,

us'* said

*'Teach

93
worship-

ping the Linga, and of the god of gods adored

under * hat

typ,e

which

and the prayers with

birth

Vishnu and Brahma

divisions

of

the universe

Sanat-

Purana, containing the

Siva

repeats the

of

In answer,

be addressed.''

to

is

it

kumar

forms,

his various

describe to us

the places sanctified by him,

the

and

the creation

origin of

all

from the Linga; the rules of worshipping

things

and

it

Siva; the sancity of times, places, and things, [dedi-

dated to him, the delusion of

by the Linga;

rules

honor of Mahadeva

Yoga;

the

Brahma and

mode

the glory of Benares

practising the

of

and other Siva Tirthas;

and the perfection

of the objects of

with Maheswarar.

These subjects are

the
is

first

part, with very

made up almost

births of Karttikeya

Nandi and

others

few legends

life

by union

illustrated in

but the second

wholly, of Saiva stories, as th6

defeat of Tripurasura

and

Vishnti

observances in

for various

the sacrifice of

and Ganesha,

Bhringriti

(his

Daksha

the

(the sons of Siva)

attendants),

together with descriptions of

and

Beneras and

other places of pilgrimage, and rules for observing

such

festivals as the Sivaratri.

This work

is

a Saiva

manuel, not a Purana.

The Kalika Purana

Stanzas,

in,

contains about nine thousand

ninety-eight chapters,

and

is

the only

PURANAS.

94
work

of the series dedicated to

ship of the biide of Siva,

recommend

the wor-

one or other of her

in

manifold forms, as Girija, Devi, Bh^drakali,* Kali,

Mahamaya. It belongs, therefore^, to the Sakia

Hindu

modification of

female powers of the

worship shows

worship of the

belief, or the

The

deities.

itself in

the very

influence of this

first

pages of the

work,which relates the incestuous passion of Brahma

for his daughter Sandhya, in a strain that has nothing analogous to

it

in the

Vayu, Linga, or Siva

Puranas.

The marriage

and Parvati

of Siva

a subject

is

early described, with the sacrifice of Daksha, and

the death of Sati.

And

this

work

is

an authority

for

Siva's carrying the dead body about the world ;

and the origin of the Pithasthanas or places where

the different

members

Lingas

where

of

it

were scattered, and

erected.

were, consequently,

legend follows of the birth of Bhairava and Vetala

whose devotion

to different

forms of Devi furnishes

occasions to describe, in great details, the

formulae of which her worship

consists,

the chapters on [sanguinary sacrifices,

the Asiatic researches.

work

is

number

rites

and

including

translated in

Another pecularity

in this

afforded by very prolix descriptions of a

of

Tirtha, in

rivers

Asam

and

mountains

at

Kamarupa

and rendered holy ground by the

PUR ANAS.
celebrated

Kamakshi

temple of Durga in
or

Kamaskya.

the north-east of Bengal,

in great degree, the

country, as

that

and yet

a singular,

It is

circumstance,

uninvestigated?
least,

95

Assam,

tiiat

see^iis to

at

or,

have been,

source from which *the Tantrika

and Sakta corruptions

of the

religion of the

Vedas

and Puranas proceeded.

The
names

specification of

the

Upapuranas, whilst

several of which the existence

is

tical,

omits other works bearing the same

tion,

which are sometimes met with.

collection of Colonel Mackenzie,

of the Bhgavata,

it

problemadesigna-

Thus,

in

the

we have a portion

and a Mudgala Purana, which

is,

probably the same with the Ganesa Upanishada

cited by Colonel.

copy of

Vans Kennedy.

have also, a

the Ganesa Upapurana, which seems to

agree with that of which he speaks the second portion being entiled the

Krida Khanda,

in

which the

pastimes of Ganesa,including a variety of legendary

The main

matters, are described,

work

is

the greatness of Vanesa

subject of the

and prayers and

formulae appropriate to him are abundantly detailed.

It

appears to be a work originating with the

patya sect or worshippers of

also,

Ganesa.

a minor Purana called Adi or

ded in

the

list.

This

is

'first,'

Gana-

There
not

a work, however, of

great extent or importauge,

and

is

is,

inclu^-

gonfined to

no
a

WRANAS.

96

the juvenile Krishna.

detail of the sports'of

the sketch thus offered of the subjects of the

Ffoift

Pura*

Has, and which, although admitting of collection,

believed to be, in the main, a candid and

summary,

it

their present

be evident, that in

will

caution,

with

conditions they must be received

is

accurate

as

authorHies for the mythological religion of the Hin-

dus

at

many

preserve no doubt

They

any remote period.

ancient notions and traditions

but these have

been so much taken up with foreign matter intended

to favour the popularity of perticular forms of wor*
ship, or articles of faith, that they can

servedly recognized as genuine

what we have reason

not be unre-

representations of

to believe the Puranas

origin*

ally were.

The

safest sources, for the

ancient legends of

the Hindus, after the Vedas, are no doubt, the two

great poems, [the

The

first

mitive character.
tile in fiction

much

that

it

[and uncertain
rials

Ramayana and Mahabharata.

offers Only a [few

that are

but

but they are of a pri*

The Mahabharata

contains
date.

and

affords

it

it

great fountain from which most,

.

Puranas have drawn

declares, that there

as
is

more

fer*

of equivocal authenticity

is

Still,

genuine

is

more miscellaneous; and

is

it

it

if

is,

evidently, the

not

intimates,

many mateall,

of the

itself,

when

no legend (urrent ia tUe

PURANAS.
world which has not

A work

of

some

with

the

and

authenticity

origin in the Mahabharata.

its

extent, professing

of the Mahabharata,

ranked

more

may,

be part

to

but, as introductory to his era,

world,

chal and regal dynasties.

least

The Harivamsa
it

records particulars

and

This

is

of Krishna';

the adventures

of the creation of the

be

accurately,

Pauranik compilatiops of

latest origin.

chiefly occupied with

carelessness

97

partiar-

of the

done with much

is

and inaccurancy of compilation

as

1 have had occasion, frequently, to notice in the

following pages.
triously translated

The work has been

by M. Langlois,

indus-

very

AN ACCOUNT OF VISHNUPURAN.
A comparison

ciently show, that, of the

most

closely

conforms

whole

although

topics.
it

It

religious

treats

comprehends them

it

Pancha
of five

all;

and

has done so with sobriety and

with judgement, and has not

its

which

suffi*

Vishnu

series, the

has infused a portion of extraneous and

seetarial matter,

of

will

to the definition of a

Lakshana Purana, or one

specified

following

of the subjects of the

pages with those of the other Puranas

zeal to

suffered

transport

it

the

fervour

into ver)' wide

PUR AN AS.

98

deviations from th prescribed

dary tales which

it

The

path.

are few,

has inserted

legen-

^nd are

conveniently arranged, as that they do not

distract

more

the attentioi? of the compiler from objects of

permanent

interest

The

book

is

first

divided,

the

first

ceeds from

second

in

developed
viously

explaining

the

what manner the forms

of

universal pro;

the

of things are

from the elementary substances pre-

evolved, or

periodical;

how

they reappear after their

Both these creations are

but the termination of the

only at the end of the

all

how

or eternal crude matter

Prakriti

temporary destruction.

only

which the work

occupied chiefly with the details

primary (Sarga) and secondary (Prati*

creation,

sarga)

is

and importance.
of the six, into

the gods

and

life

all

of

first

occurs

Brahma, when not

other forms are annihilat-

ed, but the elements are again merged into {primary

substance, besides which, one only spiritual being
exists.

The

latter

takes place at the end of every

Kalpa or day of Brahma, and affects on\^ the

forms of inferior creatures, and lower worlds ; leav^
ing the aubstance of the universe entire, and 9flges

wd

gods unharmed.

The

explanation

of

tbes^e

events involves a description of the periods of time

upon which they depend, and which

in^ly, detailed,

are,

Their character has been a

accords
source?,

99
of

every

writersij as

unntices^aty

European

to

f^rplexity

the^ belong to a scheme of chronology

wholly mythological, having no reference to any

supposed history of the Hindus,* but appli-

real or

cable, according to their system, to the infinite

eternal revolutions of the

tions,

and

in

that

universe.

and

In these no-

of the co-eternity of the spirit

and matter, the theogony and cosmogony

of

the

Puranas, as they appear in the Vishnu Purana,

belong to and
of

illustrate

systems of high antiquity,

which we have only fragmentary traces

in the

records of other nations.

The

course of the elemental creation

in the

is,

Vishnu, as in other Puranas, taken from the Sankya

philosophy; but the agency that operates upon

passive

matter

quence of a

is

confusedly exhibited, in

partial

conse-

adoption of the illusory theory

df the Vedanta philosophy, and the prevalence of

Pauranik doctrine of pantheism.

patible

However incom-

with the independent existence of Pradhan

or crude matter, and however incongruous with

the separate condition of pure spirit or Purusha,
is

declared, repeatedly, that Vishnu,

the supreme being,

is

not only

spirit,

and not only the latter, but all

stance, and Time.
He is Purusha,
nsatter,

as

it

one with
but crude
sub-

visible

Pradhana, 'crude matter'; Vyakta, /visible form'; aa4

'spirit'

PURANAS.

100

This cannot but be regarded as a

Kala, 'time'.

departure from the primitive

dogmas

of the

Hmdus,

which the distinctness of the Deity and

in

works was enunciated ;

the world to be,
position

it

was

and

upon

which his

in

his

bis willing
inter-

held to be inconsistent with

creation,

in

in which,

was explained away

the quiescence of perfection,

by the personification of

attributes in action,

afterwards came to be considered as real

Brahma, Vishnu, and

Siva, charged,

which

divinities,

for

severally,

a given season^ with the creation, preservation and

temporary annihilation of material forms.

divinities are, in the

These

following pages, consistently

with the tendency of a Vaishnava work, declared

be no other than Vishnu.

to

In Saiva Puranas,

they are, in like*manner, identified with Siva

the

Puranas thus displaying and explaining incompatibility,

of which there are traces in other ancient

mythologies, between three distinct hypostases of

one superior

deity,

and the

identification of

other of those hypostases with their

one or

common and

separate original.
After the world has been
of

living

creatures,

It

is

fitted for

engendered sons of Brahma,

patriarchs,
a.

and

the reception

peopled by the

their posterity.

the
It

will-

Prajapatis

would seem as

primitive tradition of the descent of

mankind

or
if

froiu

PURANAS.
seven holy personages had at
that,

the course of time,

11/

into complicated,

How

fication.

have posterity

it

101
first

prevailed,

but

had been expanded

and not always

consistent, ampli-

could these Rishis oi patriarchs

?

It

was necessary to provide them

In order to account for their existence,

with wives.

Manu Swayambhuva and his wife Satarupa

were added to the scheme. Or Brahma became

the

twofold,

male and female ; and daughters are then

begotten,

who

this

been constructed.

been derived,
of

pair, yet the

in

But, although they

some

may have

degree, from the authentic

the origin of

mankind from a single

circumstances intended to give more

and precision to the

interest

double

no doubt, as old as the Vedas, have

nature, some,

tradition

Upon

are married to the Prajapatis.

various legends of Brahma's

basis

story are, evidently, of

an allegorical or mystical description, and conducted,

in

apparently later timeS;

to

course

of realization which was neither the letter nor spirit

of the original legend.

the

self-born

Swayambhuva

the

son of

or uncreated, and his wife Satarupa,

the hundred-fotmed or multiform, are, themselves,

allegories;

became
tion,

the

aud

their

female

descendants,

who

wives of the Rishis, are Faith, Devo-

Content, Intelligence, Tradition, and the like ;<

whilst,

amongst

their posterity,

we have

the

difier#

PURANASr

102

moon and

phases o the

ent

the sacrificial

fires.

In another creation, the chief source of creatures

is

the patriarch

Daksha

the mothers of all

are

legends,

daughters-

(ability ),whose

Astronomical Phenomena

virtues^ or Passions, or

existing

These

things.

perplexed as they appear to

be, seem

to

admit of allowable selection, in the conjecture that

the Prajapatis

real personages, the

and Rtshis were

authors of the

Hindu system
and the

religious obligations,

of social, moral,

first

and

observers of the

heavens, and teachers of astronomical science.

The regal

personages of Swayambhuva

wantara are but few

Man-

but they are described, in

the outset, as governing the earth

the

in

dawn

of

society and as introducing agriculture and civilization.

How much

of their story rests

remembrance

upon a

actions,

it

useless to conjecture; although there

is

tional

gance

in

of their

tradi-

would be

no

extrava-

supposing that the legends relate to a

period prior to

Brahmanical

full

establishment, in India, of the

institutions.

The

legends of Dhruva

and Prahlada, which are intermingled with these

particulars, are,

they

in

are amplified,

all

in

probability, ancient;

strain

but

conformable to

the Vaishnava purport of this Parana,

by doctyine^

of

Vishnu with

and prayers asserting the

Sapreipe^

It is clear

identity

that the stories

do npt

origin

PUR AN AS.

In that of Prahlad^, parti,

nate With this Patanl.

essential to the

alluded

pointed Out/ circumstances

he^fter

cularlyi* as

103

completeness of the story are only

not recounted; showing, indisputably,

to,

the writer having availed himself

6ome

of

prior

authority for his narration.

The second book opens

the kings of the

Bharata

is

first

said

to

with a continuation of

Manwantaraf amongst whom,

have given a name to India,

This leads

called, after him, Bharata- Varsha.

detail of the geographical

to a

system of the Paranas,

with mount Meru, the seven circular continents,

and

surrounding oceans, to the limits of the

their

which are mythological fictions, in

which there is little reason to imagine that any to-

world

all

of

pographical truths are

Bharata

able

rivers

and the

which are named are readily

cities

and the nations

cularized may, also in

many

have had a real existence.

that

verifi-

are parti-

instances, be proved to

The

list

long one, in the Vishnu Purana, and

abridged from some more ample

is

not a very

is,

detail,

probably,
lik6

which the Mahabharata affords, and which,

hope

to

The moun-

or India, the case is different.

and

tains

With regard

concealed.

in

that

the

of supplying information .with respect to a sub-

ject yet imperfeGriy investigated, the ancient political

cmiiiion

of India, I

have

ii^serted

and

elucidated.

104

PURANAs.

The

description which this

ei the planetary

logical, although occasionaily

details

book also contains

and other spheres,

and nation

in

which there

is

accuracy.

The concluding legend

his former

life,

Brahman, who acquires

compiler and

is

an approach to

Bharata in

of

king so named, but

the

attains, liberation

rqually sny tho*

is

presenting practical

palpably, an invention of the

is,

The arrangement

of the

Vedas and other

considered sacred by the Hindus

fact,

the

authorities

belief,

which
book,

of

Hindu

The

of

their

writ-

religious

being
rites

in

and

described in the beginning of the

is

is

peculiar to this Purana.

ings

third

now

wisdom, and thereby

true

of

literature

sage V^asa

much importance to the history

and of the Hindu religion.

is

here represented, not as the

author but the arranger or compiler, of the Vedas,

the Itihasas, and Puranas.
character,

who

has nothing, in
fabulous
separated.

old

it,

intervals

The

materals

is

of

that is improbable, except the

by

which

their

labours

are

re-arranging, the re-fashioning, of

nothing more than the progress

of time would be Jikely to render

last

'distributor';

many Vyasas, many indire-modelled the Hindu scriptures,

and the recurrence

duals

His name denotes his

meaning the arranger' or

recognizing compilation

is

necessary.
that

of

The

Krishna

PURANAS.

105

Dwaipayana, assisted by Brahmans, who were

ready convers.^nt with the

They were

assigned to them.

the

members of
Hindus

College, or school, supposed by* the

the
to

al-

subjects respectively,

have flourished in a period more remote, no

doubt,

than the truth, but not at

all

unlikely to

have been instituted at some time prior to the

accounts of India which we owe to Greek writers,

and
to

justify

That

we

which

in

enough

see

our inferring that

there have been

other

schools since that date, that

to

fame have

scriptures,

remodelled

system

the

entire.

Vyasas and other

Brahmans unknown
some of the Hindu

and

especially,

the

be

contested,

after

reasonably

of

was then

it

Puranas, cannot
dispassionately

weighing the strong internal evidence, which

them

afford, of their

intermixture

and comparatively modern ingredients.

same

decisive,

of

materials;

the

the

and

irrational, to

of

testimony furnishes proof

internal

in

circumstantial

doctrines

it

is,

existence

therefore,

of

as

of

But the
equally
ancient

idle as

it

dispute the antiquity or authenticity

greater

Puranas,

anterior

all

of unauthorized

portion of

the

face of

evidence of

the

contents

of

the

abundant positive and

the*

prevalance of the

which they teach, the currency of the

legeads which thqy narrate, and the intdgi ity of

I06
the institutions which they describe, at least three

cBut the origin

centuries before the Christian era.

developement of their doctrines, traditions,

^nd

institutions

were not the work of a day

centuries before Christianity,

i^,

carries

back to a

it

an antiquity

antiquity^ to

and

existence three

the testimony that establishes their

much more remote

that

probably, not surpassed by any of the Iprevail-

ing fictions,

or belief of the ancient

institutions,

world.

The remainder
the leading

of the

institutions

third

book

describes

of the Hindus, the duties

of castes, the obligations of different

stages

and the celebration of obsequial rites, in a

short but primitive strain, and in hermony with
life,

the laws of Manu,

is

It

a distinguishing feature

of the Vishnu Purana, and

its

it

is

characteristic of

being the [work of no earlier period than most

of the Puranas, that

it

enjoins no sectarial or other

acts of supererogation;

no Vratas^ or occasional

imposed observances, no holiday^ no birthdays

nights dedicated to Lakshmi
of Krishna, no

self

no

sacrifices or

modes or worship other than those

conformable to the
tains

ritual

of the Vedas.

no Mahatmy^ or golden

It

con-

legends, even of

the temples in which Vishnu is adored.

The

fourth

book contains

alt that the

Hindus

puranas.

107

have of their ancient history^ It is a tolerably

comprehensive Jist oi dynasties and individuals :
it

a barren record of events.

is

be doubted, however,
chronicle of persons,

can scarcely

It

of

it

Is a

genuine

not of occurances.

if

by palpable absurdities

discredited

it is

much

that

That

in regard

to the longevity of the princes of the earlier dynas-

must

ties,

Still,

in

there

is

an

artificial

some

probability in

particulars

the

are trivial and fabulous.

simplicity

succession of persons,

ttee

and

and

granted;

be

some of them,

preserved of

and consistency

and a

possibility

of the transactions, which

give to these traditions the semblance of authentic

and render

city,

absence of

or

likely,

aside.

It

it is,

is

At any

rate,

the

deserves not to be altogether

not essential to

usefulness,

its

that these are not alto**

other sources of information, the

all

record, such as
set

it

without foundation.

gether

that

any

exact

its

credibility;

chronological

adjustment of the difierent reigns should be at^

tempted.

Their distribution amoi^gst the

several

yugas, undertaken by Sir William Jones, Or bis

Pandits^ finds
texts,

no countenance from the

further than

an

incidental

notice

original

of the

which a particular monarch ruled, or the

genera^l ia<ct tteal; the dynai5tie& prior to Krishna

a|:e

in

pr{Cpd ;th9 M"!^ Qi

thje

greal jr^if andthje bepn-^

PURANAS.

io8
of

ning:

the

placed

are

Kali

both

age,

thousand

five

age the solar dynasty of

three descents,

which

princes offers

the lunar, but forty five

commence at the same

may have been added to

they both

names

some omitted

list,

most

likely,

nous

beginning,

in the

the

Some
former

the

seems

it

princes of the lunar

were subsequet to those

They avowedly branched

of

the

solar

race

dynasty.

from the solar line;

off

Sudyumna,

of

ninety-

though

time.

and

latter;

that

notwithstanding their synchro-

that,

and the legend

events,

To

years ago.

that explains the con--

nexion, has every appearance of having been contri-

ved for the purpose of referring

more remote than

the truth.

it

to

a period

Deducting, however,

from the larger number of princes a considerable

proportion, there

is

nothing to shock probability in

supposing, that the Hindu dynasties and their ramifications

were spread

through an interval of about

twelve centuries anterior to the war of the

Maha-

bharata, and, conjecturing that event to have

hap-

pened about fourteen centuries before Christianity

thus

carrying

the

commencement

of the regal

dynasties of India to about two thousand six

hun-

This may, or

may

dred years before that date.

not,

be too remote

where precision

is

but

it is

suflScient,

in a subject

impossiblei to be satisfied

with:

the general impression, that,

kings detailed \^ the

which, although

it

in

Puranas,

can not

dynasties of

the

we have a record

fail

have suffered

to

detriment from age, and

may have beens

careless or injudicious

compilation,

injured by

preserves

an

account not wholly undeserving of confidence, of

the establishment and succession of regular monarchies,

and

amongst the Hindus, from as early an

any

for as continuous a duration, as

era,

in the cre-

dible annals of mankind.

The

circumstances that are told of the

princes have evident relation

of India,

of

new

It

India

on

first

colonization

and the gradual extension of the authority

commonly

is

Brahmanical religion and

tribes

the

races over an uninhabitant

region.

into

to

from

or uncivilized

admitted,

civilization

without.

the borders, and

Certainly,
in

the

that

the

were brought
there

are

heart of the

the

who are still not Hindus, and ^passages in

Ramayana and Mahabharata, and Manu, and

the

uniform tradition of the people themselves,

country,

point to a period

when Bengal,

Orrssa,

and the

whole of the Dakhin were inhabited by degraded

or outcaste, that
^

traditions of the

is,

by barbarous,

they lend no assistance to the

question whence the Hindus

The

tribes.

Puranas confirm these views

but

determination of the

came

whether from

PWANAS.

IK)

a centred asiatic nation, as Sir William Jones supposed,

from

or

the

Caucasiatt

^oiintaii;,Sj

the

plains of Babylonia, or the borders of the Caspian,

Vans Kennedy, and

as conjectur^ed bj Klaproth,

The

Schlegel.

prove a

of

affinities

common

origin of the

Sanskrit

language

new widely

scattered

nations amongst whose dialects they are traceable,

and render

unquestionable that they must

all

have spread abroad from some central spot

in

it

that part of the globe

first

inhabited by mankind,

according to the inspired record.

Whether any

indication of such an event be discoverable

Vedas, remains to be determined

but

in
it

the

would

have been obviously incompatible with the Pauranik; system

to

have referred the origion of Indian

princes and principalities

sources.

We

need

to

than

other

not, therefore, expect,

native

from them

any information as to the foreign derivation of the

Hindus.

We
arriving

have, then,
at

wholly insufficient means for

any information concerning the Anti-

Indian period of Hindu History,beyond the general

conclusion derivable from the actual presence of
barbarous and, apparently, aboriginal tribes from

the admitted progressive extension

of

into parts

of India

the code of

Manu was compiled--from

where

it

Hinduism

did not prevail

when

the general

PURANAS*

II

use of dialects \n Indh, tbotq

that

ties of

came

affini-

world that a people ^ who spoke

and followed the

Sanskrit,

which

language wltb forms of speech cmrent

western

ia the

less copious,

Sanskritand irom the

are difi^erent from

into India, in

religion af the Vedas,

some very

distant

from

age,

Whether the date and

lands west of the Indus,

circumstances of their immigratien will ever be

ascertained,
to

is

extemely doubtful

form a plausible outline of

their

but

it is

early

di^cult

site

and

progressive colonization.

The

earliest seat of the

Hindus, within the con-

fines of Hindustan, was, undoubtedly, the eastern

confines of the Panjab.

and the Puranas

Sataswaii rivers,

and the Asrams or

religious

first

in this vici*

domiciles of

on the bank of the

According to some

authorities,

it

was

the abode of Vyasa, the compiler of the Vedas arid

Purans

and, agreeably to another,

occasion, the

Vedas had

fallen

when, on one
into

disuse

and

been forgotten, the Brahmana were instructed

One

in

them by Saraswata, the son

of

the

the tribes of the Brah-

nw)8t

Sursooty of our

Various adventures of the

several of the latter are placed

Saraswati

Manu

between the Drishadwati and

most famous sages occur

princes and
;

holy land of

the Caggar and

barbarous maps.

nity

lies

The

distinguished

of

Saraswti.

of

>

'

PURANAS.

112

manas is known as the Saraswata and the same

word was employed, by Mr. Colebrqoke, to denote
;

that

modification

which

Sanskrit

of

termed

is

generally Pr^kriti, and which, in this case, he sup-

poses to have been the language of the Saraswata

occupied the banks of the river

nation, "which

Saraswati/*

The

river itself receives

its

appellation

from Saraswati, the goddess of learning, under

whose auspicies the sacred

assumed shape and
render

its

Saraswati

land cultivated,

The

it

was

in

tract of

establishment of

in

were import-

country adjacent

the

were

river that they

and reared

Hindus

These indications

certain, that, whatever creeds

ed from without,
to the

literature of the

authority.

planted,

first

Hindusthan.

land thus assigned for the

Hinduism

India,

in

is

first

of very

circumscribed extent, and could not have

been

the site of any numerous tribe or nation.

The

that

traditions

evidence the early settlement

of

the Hindus in this quarter, ascribe to the settlers

more
a

of a philosophical

seculior,

and

religious,

narrow bounds of the holy land,

possible,

that

members, not
religious,
priests,

the
of a

political,
;

that

to

emigrants

earliest

community

than

of

and combine, with the very

character,

so

thy

much

render

were
as

it

the

of a

were a colony of

not in the restricted sense in which we use

PURANAS.
but in

term,

the

that

which

in

it still

applies in

India, ?o an Agrahara, a village or hamlet of Brah-

raans who, although married, and having families,

and engaging
in

the

tillage, in

in

domestic duties, aiid

conduct of secular interests affecting the

community, are

still,

attention

principal

offices.

supposed

society of this description, with

ficers and servants, and, perhaps,

martial

with

followers, might have found a

Brahmanvarta of Manu, the land,

was

entitled

Brahman,

the

holy,' or

religious,"

mor

home

in the

which thence,
the

literally,

and may have communicated

rudiments of social organization,

and

arti-

its

a body of

uncivilized, unlettered aborigines> the

to the rude,

religion

devote their

to

sacred study and religious

to

partly,

in

all

literature,

probablity,

and

brought

along with them, and partly devised and fashioned

by degrees,

for

conditions of

the

of

new

whom

this

growing necessities

society.

Those, with

commenced, would have had ample

inducements to prosecute their successful work
civilization

and

course of time, the improvement, which

in the

germinated on tbe banks of the Saraswati, was

extended

beyond the borders

We

of the

Jamuna and

'

the Ganges,

have no satisfactory intimation of the stages

hj whi^h the

pgliti<;al

grg^nizaticn of the people

PURANAs.

114

Upper India traversed the space between the

and the more easterly co^mtry, wfeere it
seems to have taken a concentrated form, and

of

Saraswati

whence

diverged, in various directions,

it

out Hindustan.

The Manu

wata, the son of the sun,

Ayodhya; and that city continued

capital of the most celebrated branch
of

cendants, the posterity of Ikshwaku.

posterity

it

site,

it

manding

is

not

it is

spot,

difficult to

settlers in

in

the

understand

India to such

com-

whence emigrations might pro-

east,

the west,

seems to have happened.

of

this

tradition

inconveniently situated as a

position

ceed to the

house

The Vishnu

gives of the dispersion of Vaivaswata's

and although

what could have led early

a

from

be the

to

of his des-

to describe the

of conquest or colonization

accounts

Vaivas-

regarded as the founder

is

Purana evidently intends

through-

of the period,

Ikshwaku spread

the Maithili kings and the

and the south. This

A branch from the

into Tirhoot constituting

posterity

of another

Vaivaswata's sons reigned at Vaisati, in

of

Southern

Tirhoot^ or Sarun.

The most

adventurous emigration, however,.

tQok place through

the

lunar dynasty, which as

observed above, originates from the solar; making

the whole.
in fact,., but one race and, source for
I^eayipg out of gonsideraiio^ the

legend of Sudy/.^

PURANAS.
of
umna's double transformation, the first prmce
one
was
Ayodhya,
from
south
city
Pratirfithana,-a
IkshwakU.
of Vaivaswata's children, equally with

sons of Pururavas, the second o^ this branch,

extended by themselves, or their posterity, in every

The

direction

to the east, to Kasi,

and Behar

Magadha, Benares,

southwards, to the Vindhya

and,

hills,

across them, to Vidharva or Behar; and westwards

along the Narmada, to Kusasthali or Dwaraka,
in

in a

Gujrat; arid

north-westerly

distinctly

amidst

discoverable

stances narrated in the fourth

Purana, and

are

to

These movements are

Mathura and Hastinapur.

very

direction,

book

precisely such as

the
the

circum-

Vishnu

might be ex.

pected from a radiation of colonies from Ayodhya.

Intimations also occur of settlements in Bangal,
Kalinga, and the Dukshin

but they are brief and

and have the appearance of additions

subsequent to the comprehension of those countries
indistinct,

within the pole of Hinduism.

Besides these traces of migration and settlement, several curious circumstances, not likely to

be unauthorized inventions, are hinted

historical traditions.

'not fully

developed

The

prior to ^he

Vaivaswata,

in

these

distinction of castes
coloni2;ation.

some, as

kings,

was

Of
were

sons of
Kshatriyas; but one founded a tribe of Brahmans,

the

PURANAS.
and another became a Vaisya, and a
Sudra.

It

is

fourtli^ a

also said, of other pri^ices, th^t

amongst

established the four castes

There are 5IS0 various

notices

their

they

subjects.

Brahmanical

of

Gotras or families proceeding from Kshatriya races

and there are

several indications of severe struggles

between the two ruling

This seems

tie Vedas.
of the

inveterate

temporal

not for

castes,

dominion

but for spiritual

the right

to teach the

to

be the especial purport

hostility

that prevailed between

Brahmana Vas istha, and Kshatriya Viswamitra,

the

who, as the Ramayan

relates,

compelled the gods

make him iBrahmana also, and whose posterity

became celebrated as the Kausika Brahman.
to

Other legends, again such as Daksha's

strife;

and the legend of Para-

conflict

even for temporal autho-

denote sectarian

surama reveals a
rities,

sacrifice,

between the two ruling

castes.

More

or less

weight will be attached to these conjectures, ac-

cording to the temperament of different inquiries.

But, even, whilst fully aware

of the facility with

which plausible deductions may cheat the fancy,

and

little

disposed to relax

imagination,

find

it

all

difficult

legends as wholly unsubstantial

of all resemblance

curb upon the

to

regard these

fictions,

or devoi(!

to the realities of the past.

After the date of the

great

war,

the

Yishau

PURANAS.

with those Puranas, which con-

common

Parana, in

tain si/niliar

li^ts,

specifies kings

greater precision, and offers

logical particulars
bability,

there

117

is

political

and chrono-

on the

iscore of pro-

to which,

nothing

and dynasties with

In truth

object.

to

accuracy has been incontrovertibly

their general

on columns

of

stone

deciphered only of

late

years,

established.

Inscriptions

on rocks, on

coins,

through the extraordinary ingenuity and persever-

ance of Mr.

races and

of

names of
and Andhra Rajas, mentioned
have placed beyond

titles

which

persons

and

specifies -the

compute the date

to

like

Vishnu Purana

between the Chandragupta

to

the

be eleven hundred years

shown

little

my

in

and

more than fourteen

observations

on

remarkably concurs with inferences

date

from

different

premises.

.picture of the political

distractions of

time when they were written

The

are considerably

but they probably afford

plexity arises

other

Thus

historical notices that then follow

confused

of

events.

centuries B. C. as

the

Puranas and

thus giving us a fixed

the occurance of the latter

of

in the

interval,

and the great war,

the passage,

princes the Gupta

dispute the ideritity of Chandra-

gupta and Sandrocoptus

point from

have verified the

Prinsep,

James

an accurate
India at the

and much of the per*

from the corrupt

state of the

manus-

PURANAS.

*r'|58

obscure brevity of the record, and our

the

cripts,

want of the means of collateral ilIustrafe^ion.

total

The
sively

fifth

of the

is

It is possible,

exclu-

is

This

of Krishna.

life

one argument against

is

the

of

characteristics

distinguishing

Purana, and

antiquity.

its

though not yet proved, that Krishna

Vishnu,

an Avatara of

^as

Vishnu Purana

occupied with the

of the

'one

book

mentioned

is

indisputably genuine text

the

of

an

in

He

Vedas.

is

conspicuously prominent in the Mahabharata, but

described

very contradictorily
^that

he usually performs

The

there.

that of a

is

part

mere mortal

although the passages are numerous that attach

divinity to

his

There

person.

are,

frolics, of his sports

Brindabana, his pastimes

in

with the cow-boys, or even his

Asuras sent

to kill

however, no

Mahabharata, of his juvenile

descriptions, in the

him.

a modern complexion

have,

stories

is

They

grave,

generally,

are

the

creation

of a purile taste and grovelling imagination.

Vishnu Porana

chapters of the
culties as to their
lis

those on the

they
vata.

sire

all,

do not harmonize with

they

^he ancient legend, which,

and, sometimes, majestic.

the

destruction of

These

originality.

sam^ subject

in

cifer

some

These
diffi-

They are the same

the Brahma Purana;

not very dissimilar to those of the Bhaga-

The

latter

has some

incidents

which the

PURANAS.
Vishnu has
have

irr^proved^^^

On

latter.

not,

proof

hand, abridgement

posterity,

simpler style

priority

its

borrowed these chapters from the

life

The

however,

is,

in

and miscellaneous composi-

Purana renders

tion of the Brahnria

equally

is

amplificAtion.

as

Vishnu Purana

of

the

of

narrative

prior

the

the other
of

favour of

upon

thought to

therefore, be

and may,

of Krishna in the Hari

have

likely to

it

The

Vishnu.

Vamsha and

the

Brahma

Vaivarta are, indisputably, of later origin.

The

last

contains an

of the world, in both

clysms

major and minor cata-

and, in the particulars

things by
of their

account of the dissolution

its

fire

and water,

opinions that

ancient world.

end

the

presents

renovation,

perpetual

exhibition of

of

as well as in the
.

a faithful

were general

The metaphysical

of all

principle

the

in

annihilation of

the universe, by the release of the spirit from bodily

already remarked,

existence, offers, as

logies to doctrines

other

ana-

and practices taught by Pytha-

goras and Plato, and by the

Platonic

Christians of

later days.

The Vishnu Purana

particulars

date may. be conjectured.

Nq

of jvhich the sacredness has

anx;^work

kept very clear of

has

from which an approximation

gited

of

probabje

place

is

any known
reQej\t

to

its

described
limit,

nor

QompositlonM

PURANAS.

120

The Vedas,
body

the Puranas, other

the Mahabharat, to

was, therefore,

it

is

written

But

dissappeared.
of India, as

and

which,

therefore,

and

'

is

it

before the

they existed,
the

late as

twelfth

in

the seventh century.

some
at

seems

little

the

were compiled

some,

if

not

In
all,

of

which brings

describing the latter dynasties,

which were, no doubt, contem^

porary, they are described

as reigning,

one thousand seven hundred and ninety

Why

this

duration

latter

Mahommadans, which

took place in the eighth century

lower.

parts
least

doubt that the same alludes

to the first incursions of

it still

to.

The Gupta kings reigned in

The historical record, of the

Purana which mentions them, was therefore,

there

is

former had

century,

probable that the Puranas

before that period.

and

'^o

subse-

Both 'Buddhas and Jainas are averted

quent.
It

works forming the

are namec^

of Sanskrit literature,

altogether,
six years.

should have been chosen doe

not appear; unless, in conjunction with the

number

of years which are said to have elapsed between the

War and the

Great

last of

the

Andhra dynasty, which

preceded these different races, and which amount-

ed

to

two thousand three hnndred and

compiler was influenced by the actual date

he wrote.

be the

The

fifty,

at

the

which

aggregate of the two periods would

Kalryeaii: 4146,

equivalent to A. D.

i045

121

PURANAS,
There are same

the

enumviration
total

to

indistinctness in

the

periods which compose

this

variety

and

but the date which results

be an approximation to

it

not unlikely

is

that

Vishnu

the

oi'

Purana.
It is the

draws

its

boast of inductive

conclusions from the

an4 accumulation
business of
its

of facts

philosophy, that

and

it

is,

it

observation

careful

equally,

the

philosophical research to determine

all

facts before

it

ventures

upon

This

speculation.

procedure has not been observed in the investigation ot mythology and traditions of the Hindus.
Impatience to generalize has availed

itself

greedily

of whatever promised to afford materials for genera-

and the most erroneous views have been

confidently avocated, because the guides to which

lization

their authors tiusted

The

were ignorant or

insufficient.

information gleaned by Sir William Jones was

rather in

an early season

the field was cultivated.

study,

before

The same may be

said of

of Sanskrit

the writings of Paslinoda S. Bartolomeo,

further disadvantage of his having

with the

been imperfectly

acquainted with the Sanskrit language and literature,

and

his veiling his deficiencies

of pretension
erudition.

and a prodigal display

under loftiness
of misappliqci

The documents to which Wilford

ed proved to be,

iiv great^ pi^U,

trust-

fabrications,

and

PURANAS.

122

where genuine were mixed up with so much loose

and unauthenticated matter and so bverwheimed
with extravagance of speculation, that his citations

need

to

be carefully and

they can be serviceably

tions of

dices to

Ward

skilfully

be implicity confided

communications

ate not, in general, very

ties of their

The

descrip-

are too deeply tinctured by his preju-

also derived, in a great measure,

written

before

sif4;ed,

employed.

mythology.

some

of

and they are

Pandits,

who

deeply read in the authori-

The accounts

were, in like manner, collected

sources; and his

in

from the oral or

My thologic

of

Tolier

from questionable

des Indous

presents

an heterogeneous mixture of popular and Puranik

legends apparently
tales, of ancient traditions, and
invented for the occasion, which renders the publication worse than useless, except

those
alloy.

who can

in the

distinguish the pure metal

Such are the

authorities to

hands of
from the

which Maurice,

trusted, in
Taber, and Crenzer have exclusively
and it is
mythology;
Hindu
the
of
description
their
utter
an
been
have
should
there
no marvel that

of
confounding ofgood andbad in their selection
and
truth
of
mixture
materials, and an inextricable
^rror in their ccnclusiuns.

THE SOCIETY FOR THE RESUSCITATION OF

mDIAN LITERATUREOBJECTS.
1.

To

undertake the publication

of rare Sanskrit

texts not published before,

2.

To undertake

the publication of cheap editions

of the texts already published.

3.

To

publish popular editions of works relating

to the antiquity of

4.

To

Indian literature.

publish such works of oriental scholars as

are already out of print.

5.

krit

To

works

undertake translations of standard Sans

into various living languages.

For other particulars please apply

To THE Secretary.
65/2

Any

Beadon

Streetj Calcutta,

donation or pecuniary help

forwarded to the Secretary.

may be