The word Puranas (; Sanskrit: पुराण,
purāṇa) literally means "ancient, old",
and it is a vast genre of Indian literature
about a wide range of topics, particularly
myths, legends and other traditional lore.
Composed primarily in Sanskrit, but also in
regional languages, several of these texts
are named after major Hindu deities such as
Vishnu, Shiva and Devi. The Puranas genre
of literature is found in both Hinduism and
Jainism.The Puranic literature is encyclopedic,
and it includes diverse topics such as cosmogony,
cosmology, genealogies of gods, goddesses,
kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, folk tales,
pilgrimages, temples, medicine, astronomy,
grammar, mineralogy, humor, love stories,
as well as theology and philosophy. The content
is highly inconsistent across the Puranas,
and each Purana has survived in numerous manuscripts
which are themselves inconsistent. The Hindu
Puranas are anonymous texts and likely the
work of many authors over the centuries; in
contrast, most Jaina Puranas can be dated
and their authors assigned.There are 18 Maha
Puranas (Great Puranas) and 18 Upa Puranas
(Minor Puranas), with over 400,000 verses.
The first versions of the various Puranas
were likely composed between the 3rd- and
10th-century CE. The Puranas do not enjoy
the authority of a scripture in Hinduism,
but are considered a Smriti.They have been
influential in the Hindu culture, inspiring
major national and regional annual festivals
of Hinduism. Their role and value as sectarian
religious texts and historical texts has been
controversial because all Puranas praise many
gods and goddesses and "their sectarianism
is far less clear cut" than assumed, states
Ludo Rocher. The religious practices included
in them are considered Vaidika (congruent
with Vedic literature), because they do not
preach initiation into Tantra. The Bhagavata
Purana has been among the most celebrated
and popular text in the Puranic genre, and
is of non-dualistic tenor. The Puranic literature
wove with the Bhakti movement in India, and
both Dvaita and Advaita scholars have commented
on the underlying Vedantic themes in the Maha
Puranas.
== Etymology ==
Douglas Harper states that the etymological
origins of Puranas are from Sanskrit Puranah,
literally "ancient, former," from pura "formerly,
before," cognate with Greek paros "before,"
pro "before," Avestan paro "before," Old English
fore, from proto-Indo-European *pre-, from
root *per-."
== Origin ==
Vyasa, the narrator of the Mahabharata, is
hagiographically credited as the compiler
of the Puranas. The ancient tradition suggests
that originally there was but one Purana.
Vishnu Purana (3.6.15) mentions that Vyasa
entrusted his Puranasamhita to his disciple
Lomaharshana, who in turn imparted it to his
disciples, three of whom compiled their own
samhitas. These three, together with Lomaharshana's,
comprise the Mulasamhita, from which the later
eighteen Puranas were derived.
The term Purana appears in the Vedic texts.
For example, Atharva Veda mentions Purana
(in the singular) in XI.7.24 and XV.6.10-11
:"The rk and saman verses, the chandas, the
Purana along with the Yajus formulae, all
sprang from the remainder of the sacrificial
food, (as also) the gods that resort to heaven."
"He changed his place and went over to great
direction, and Itihasa and Purana, gathas,
verses in praise of heroes followed in going
over."
Similarly, the Shatapatha Brahmana (XI.5.6.8)
mentions Itihasapuranam (as one compound word)
and recommends that on the 9th day of Pariplava,
the hotr priest should narrate some Purana
because "the Purana is the Veda, this it is"
(XIII.4.3.13). However, states P.V. Kane,
it is not certain whether these texts suggested
several works or single work with the term
Purana. The late Vedic text Taittiriya Aranyaka
(II.10) uses the term in the plural. Therefore,
states Kane, that in the later Vedic period
at least, the Puranas referred to three or
more texts, and that they were studied and
recited In numerous passages the Mahabharata
mentions 'Purana' in both singular and plural
forms. Moreover, it is not unlikely that,
where the singular 'Puranam' was employed
in the texts, a class of works was meant.
Further, despite the mention of the term Purana
or Puranas in the Vedic texts, there is uncertainty
about the contents of them until the composition
of the oldest Dharmashastra Apastamba Dharmasutra
and Gautama Dharmasutra, that mention Puranas
resembling with the extant Puranas.Another
early mention of the term 'Itihas-purana'
is found in the Chandogya Upanishad (7.1.2),
translated by Patrick Olivelle as "the corpus
of histories and ancient tales as the fifth
Veda". The Brhadaranyaka Upanishad also refers
to purana as the "fifth Veda",According to
Thomas Coburn, Puranas and early extra-puranic
texts attest to two traditions regarding their
origin, one proclaiming a divine origin as
the breath of the Great Being, the other as
a human named Vyasa as the arranger of already
existing material into eighteen Puranas. In
the early references, states Coburn, the term
Purana occurs in singular unlike the later
era which refers to a plural form presumably
because they had assumed their "multifarious
form". While both these traditions disagree
on the origins of the Puranas, they affirm
that extant Puranas are not identical with
the original Purana.According to the Indologists
J. A. B. van Buitenen and Cornelia Dimmitt,
the Puranas that have survived into the modern
era are ancient but represent "an amalgam
of two somewhat different but never entirely
different separate oral literatures: the Brahmin
tradition stemming from the reciters of the
Vedas, and the bardic poetry recited by Sutas
that was handed down in Kshatriya circles".
The original Puranas comes from the priestly
roots while the later genealogies have the
warrior and epic roots. These texts were collected
for the "second time between the fourth and
sixth centuries A.D. under the rule of the
Gupta kings", a period of Hindu renaissance.
However, the editing and expansion of the
Puranas did not stop after the Gupta era,
and the texts continued to "grow for another
five hundred or a thousand years" and these
were preserved by priests who maintained Hindu
pilgrimage sites and temples. The core of
Itihasa-Puranas, states Klaus Klostermaier,
may possibly go back to the seventh century
BCE or even earlier.It is not possible to
set a specific date for any Purana as a whole,
states Ludo Rocher. He points out that even
for the better established and more coherent
puranas such as Bhagavata and Vishnu, the
dates proposed by scholars continue to vary
widely and endlessly. The date of the production
of the written texts does not define the date
of origin of the Puranas. They existed in
an oral form before being written down. In
the 19th century, F. E. Pargiter believed
the "original Purana" may date to the time
of the final redaction of the Vedas. Wendy
Doniger, based on her study of indologists,
assigns approximate dates to the various Puranas.
She dates Markandeya Purana to c. 250 CE (with
one portion dated to c. 550 CE), Matsya Purana
to c. 250–500 CE, Vayu Purana to c. 350
CE, Harivamsa and Vishnu Purana to c. 450
CE, Brahmanda Purana to c. 350–950 CE, Vamana
Purana to c. 450–900 CE, Kurma Purana to
c. 550–850 CE, and Linga Purana to c. 600–1000
CE.
== Texts ==
=== Mahapuranas ===
Of the many texts designated 'Puranas' the
most important are the Mahāpurāṇas or
the major Puranas. These are said to be eighteen
in number, divided into three groups of six,
though they are not always counted in the
same way.
The Mahapuranas have also been classified
based on a specific deity, although the texts
are mixed and revere all gods and goddesses:
The Padma Purana, Uttara Khanda (236.18-21),
classifies the Puranas in accordance with
the three gunas or qualities; truth, passion,
and ignorance.
All major Puranas contain sections on Devi
(goddesses) and Tantra, but of these the six
most significant ones are: Markandeya Purana,
Shiva Purana, Linga Purana, Brahma Vaivarta
Purana, Agni Purana and Padma Purana.
=== Upapuranas ===
The difference between Upapuranas and Mahapuranas
has been explained by Rajendra Hazra as, "a
Mahapurana is well known, and that what is
less well known becomes an Upapurana". Rocher
states that the distinction between Mahapurana
and Upapurana is ahistorical, there is little
corroborating evidence that either were more
or less known, and that "the term Mahapurana
occurs rarely in Purana literature, and is
probably of late origin."The Upapuranas are
eighteen in number, with disagreement as to
which canonical titles belong in that list
of eighteen. They include among many: Sanat-kumara,
Narasimha, Brihan-naradiya, Siva-rahasya,
Durvasa, Kapila, Vamana, Bhargava, Varuna,
Kalika, Samba, Nandi, Surya, Parasara, Vasishtha,
Devi-Bhagavata, Ganesha, Mudgala, and Hamsa,
with only a few having been critically edited.The
Ganesha and Mudgala Puranas are devoted to
Ganesha. The Devi-Bhagavata Purana, which
extols the goddess Durga, has become (along
with the Devi Mahatmya of the Markandeya Purana)
a basic text for Devi worshipers.
=== Sthala Puranas ===
This corpus of texts tells of the origins
and traditions of particular Tamil Shiva temples
or shrines. There are numerous Sthala Puranas,
most written in vernaculars, some with Sanskrit
versions as well. The 275 Shiva Sthalams of
the continent have puranas for each, famously
glorified in the Tamil literature Tevaram.
Some appear in Sanskrit versions in the Mahapuranas
or Upapuranas. Some Tamil Sthala Puranas have
been researched by David Dean Shulman.
=== Skanda Purana ===
The Skanda Purana is the largest Purana with
81,000 verses, named after deity Skanda, the
son of Shiva and Uma, and brother of deity
Ganesha. The mythological part of the text
weaves the stories of Shiva and Vishnu, along
with Parvati, Rama, Krishna and other major
gods in Hindu pantheon. In Chapter 1.8, it
declares,
Vishnu is nobody but Shiva, and he who is
called Shiva is but identical with Vishnu.
The Skanda Purana has received renewed scholarly
interest ever since the late 20th-century
discovery of a Nepalese Skanda Purana manuscript
dated to be from the early 9th century. This
discovery established that Skanda Purana existed
by the 9th century. However, a comparison
shows that the 9th-century document is entirely
different than versions of Skanda Purana that
have been circulating in South Asia since
the colonial era.
== Content ==
Several Puranas, such as the Matysa Purana,
list "five characteristics" or "five signs"
of a Purana. These are called the Pancha Lakshana
( pañcalakṣaṇa), and are topics covered
by a Purana:
Sarga: cosmogony
Pratisarga: cosmogony and cosmology
Vamśa: genealogy of the gods, sages and kings
Manvañtara: cosmic cycles, history of the
world during the time of one patriarch
Vamśānucaritam: legends during the times
of various kings.A few Puranas, such as the
most popular Bhagavata Purana, add five more
characteristics to expand this list to ten:
Utaya: karmic links between the deities, sages,
kings and the various living beings
Ishanukatha: tales about a god
Nirodha: finale, cessation
Mukti: moksha, spiritual liberation
Ashraya: refugeThese five or ten sections
weave in biographies, myths, geography, medicine,
astronomy, Hindu temples, pilgrimage to distant
real places, rites of passage, charity, ethics,
duties, rights, dharma, divine intervention
in cosmic and human affairs, love stories,
festivals, theosophy and philosophy. The Puranas
link gods to men, both generally and in religious
bhakti context. Here the Puranic literature
follows a general pattern. It starts with
introduction, a future devotee is described
as ignorant about the god yet curious, the
devotee learns about the god and this begins
the spiritual realization, the text then describes
instances of god's grace which begins to persuade
and convert the devotee, the devotee then
shows devotion which is rewarded by the god,
the reward is appreciated by the devotee and
in return performs actions to express further
devotion.The Puranas, states Flood, document
the rise of the theistic traditions such as
those based on Vishnu, Shiva and the goddess
Devi and include respective mythology, pilgrimage
to holy places, rituals and genealogies. The
bulk of these texts in Flood's view were established
by 500 CE, in the Gupta era though amendments
were made later. Along with inconsistencies,
common ideas are found throughout the corpus
but it is not possible to trace the lines
of influence of one Purana upon another so
the corpus is best viewed as a synchronous
whole. An example of similar myths woven across
the Puranas, but in different versions, include
the lingabhava – the "apparition of the
linga". The story features Brahma, Vishnu
and Shiva, the three major deities of Hinduism,
who get together, debate, and after various
versions of the story, in the end the glory
of Shiva is established by the apparition
of linga. This myth, state Bonnefoy and Doniger,
appears in Vayu Purana 1.55, Brahmanda Purana
1.26, Shiva Purana's Rudra Samhita Sristi
Khanda 15, Skanda Purana's chapters 1.3, 1.16
and 3.1, and other Puranas.The texts are in
Sanskrit as well as regional languages, and
almost entirely in narrative metric couplets.
=== Symbolism and layers of meaning ===
The texts use ideas, concepts and even names
that are symbolic. The words can interpreted
literally, and at an axiological level. The
Vishnu Purana, for example, recites a myth
where the names of the characters are loaded
with symbolism and axiological significance.
The myth is as follows,
The progeny of Dharma by the daughters of
Daksha were as follows: by Sraddhá (devotion)
he had Kama (desire); by Lakshmí (wealth,
prosperity), was born Darpa (pride); by Dhriti
(courage), the progeny was Niyama (precept);
by Tusht́i (inner comfort), Santosha (contentment);
by Pusht́i (opulence), the progeny was Lobha
(cupidity, greed); by Medhá (wisdom, experience),
Sruta (sacred tradition); by Kriyá (hard
work, labour), the progeny were Dańd́a,
Naya, and Vinaya (justice, politics, and education);
by Buddhi (intellect), Bodha (understanding);
by Lajjá (shame, humility), Vinaya (good
behaviour); by Vapu (body, strength), Vyavasaya
(perseverance). Shanti (peace) gave birth
to Kshama (forgiveness); Siddhi (excellence)
to Sukha (enjoyment); and Kírtti (glorious
speech) gave birth to Yasha (reputation).
These were the sons of Dharma; one of whom,
Kama (love, emotional fulfillment) had baby
Hersha (joy) by his wife Nandi (delight).
The wife of Adharma (vice, wrong, evil) was
Hinsá (violence), on whom he begot a son
Anrita (falsehood), and a daughter Nikriti
(immorality): they intermarried, and had two
sons, Bhaya (fear) and Naraka (hell); and
twins to them, two daughters, Máyá (deceit)
and Vedaná (torture), who became their wives.
The son of Bhaya (fear) and Máyá (deceit)
was the destroyer of living creatures, or
Mrityu (death); and Dukha (pain) was the offspring
of Naraka (hell) and Vedaná (torture). The
children of Mrityu were Vyádhi (disease),
Jará (decay), Soka (sorrow), Trishńa (greediness),
and Krodha (wrath). These are all called the
inflictors of misery, and are characterised
as the progeny of Vice (Adharma). They are
all without wives, without posterity, without
the faculty to procreate; they perpetually
operate as causes of the destruction of this
world. On the contrary, Daksha and the other
Rishis, the elders of mankind, tend perpetually
to influence its renovation: whilst the Manus
and their sons, the heroes endowed with mighty
power, and treading in the path of truth,
as constantly contribute to its preservation.
=== Puranas as a complement to the Vedas ===
The relation of the Puranas with Vedas has
been debated by scholars, some holding that
there's no relationship, others contending
that they are identical. The Puranic literature,
stated Max Muller, is independent, has changed
often over its history, and has little relation
to the Vedic age or the Vedic literature.
In contrast, Purana literature is evidently
intended to serve as a complement to the Vedas,
states Vans Kennedy.Some scholars such as
Govinda Das suggest that the Puranas claim
a link to the Vedas but in name only, not
in substance. The link is purely a mechanical
one. Scholars such as Viman Chandra Bhattacharya
and PV Kane state that the Puranas are a continuation
and development of the Vedas. Sudhakar Malaviya
and VG Rahurkar state the connection is closer
in that the Puranas are companion texts to
help understand and interpret the Vedas. K.S.
Ramaswami Sastri and Manilal N. Dvivedi reflect
the third view which states that Puranas enable
us to know the "true import of the ethos,
philosophy and religion of the Vedas".Barbara
Holdrege questions the fifth Veda status of
Itihasas (the Hindu epics) and Puranas. The
Puranas, states V.S. Agrawala, intend to "explicate,
interpret, adapt" the metaphysical truths
in the Vedas. In the general opinion, states
Rocher, "the Puranas cannot be divorced from
the Vedas" though scholars provide different
interpretations of the link between the two.
Scholars have given the Bhagavata Purana as
an example of the links and continuity of
the Vedic content such as providing an interpretation
of the Gayatri mantra.
=== Puranas as encyclopedias ===
The Puranas, states Kees Bolle, are best seen
as "vast, often encyclopedic" works from ancient
and medieval India. Some of them, such as
the Agni Purana and Matsya Purana, cover all
sorts of subjects, dealing with – states
Rocher – "anything and everything", from
fiction to facts, from practical recipes to
abstract philosophy, from geographic Mahatmyas
(travel guides) to cosmetics, from festivals
to astronomy. Like encyclopedias, they were
updated to remain current with their times,
by a process called Upabrimhana. However,
some of the 36 major and minor Puranas are
more focussed handbooks, such as the Skanda
Purana, Padma Purana and Bhavishya Purana
which deal primarily with Tirtha Mahatmyas
(pilgrimage travel guides), while Vayu Purana
and Brahmanda Purana focus more on history,
mythology and legends.
=== Puranas as religious texts ===
The colonial era scholars of Puranas studied
them primarily as religious texts, with Vans
Kennedy declaring in 1837, that any other
use of these documents would be disappointing.
John Zephaniah Holwell, who from 1732 onwards
spent 30 years in India and was elected Fellow
of the Royal Society in 1767, described the
Puranas as "18 books of divine words". British
officials and researchers such as Holwell,
states Urs App, were orientalist scholars
who introduced a distorted picture of Indian
literature and Puranas as "sacred scriptures
of India" in 1767. Holwell, states Urs App,
"presented it as the opinion of knowledgeable
Indians; But it is abundantly clear that no
knowledgeable Indian would ever have said
anything remotely similar".Modern scholarship
doubts this 19th-century premise. Ludo Rocher,
for example, states,
I want to stress the fact that it would be
irresponsible and highly misleading to speak
of or pretend to describe the religion of
the Puranas.
The study of Puranas as a religious text remains
a controversial subject. Some Indologists,
in colonial tradition of scholarship, treat
the Puranic texts as scriptures or useful
source of religious contents. Other scholars,
such as Ronald Inden, consider this approach
"essentialist and antihistorical" because
the Purana texts changed often over time and
over distance, and the underlying presumption
of they being religious texts is that those
changes are "Hinduism expressed by a religious
leader or philosopher", or "expressiveness
of Hindu mind", or "society at large", when
the texts and passages are literary works
and "individual geniuses of their authors".
==== Jainism ====
The Jaina Puranas are like Hindu Puranas encyclopedic
epics in style, and are considered as anuyogas
(expositions), but they are not considered
Jain Agamas and do not have scripture or quasi-canonical
status in Jainism tradition. They are best
described, states John Cort, as post-scripture
literary corpus based upon themes found in
Jain scriptures.
==== Sectarian, pluralistic or monotheistic
theme ====
Scholars have debated whether the Puranas
should be categorized as sectarian, or non-partisan,
or monotheistic religious texts. Different
Puranas describe a number of stories where
Brahma, VIshnu and Shiva compete for supremacy.
In some Puranas, such as Devi Bhagavata, the
Goddess Devi joins the competition and ascends
for the position of being Supreme. Further,
most Puranas emphasize legends around one
who is either Shiva, or Vishnu, or Devi. The
texts thus appear to be sectarian. However,
states Edwin Bryant, while these legends sometimes
appear to be partisan, they are merely acknowledging
the obvious question of whether one or the
other is more important, more powerful. In
the final analysis, all Puranas weave their
legends to celebrate pluralism, and accept
the other two and all gods in Hindu pantheon
as personalized form but equivalent essence
of the Ultimate Reality called Brahman. The
Puranas are not spiritually partisan, states
Bryant, but "accept and indeed extol the transcendent
and absolute nature of the other, and of the
Goddess Devi too".
[The Puranic text] merely affirm that the
other deity is to be considered a derivative
manifestation of their respective deity, or
in the case of Devi, the Shakti, or power
of the male divinity. The term monotheism,
if applied to the Puranic tradition, needs
to be understood in the context of a supreme
being, whether understood as Vishnu, Shiva
or Devi, who can manifest himself or herself
as other supreme beings.
Ludo Rocher, in his review of Puranas as sectarian
texts, states, "even though the Puranas contain
sectarian materials, their sectarianism should
not be interpreted as exclusivism in favor
of one god to the detriment of all others".
=== Puranas as historical texts ===
Despite the diversity and wealth of manuscripts
from ancient and medieval India that have
survived into the modern times, there is a
paucity of historical data in them. Neither
the author name nor the year of their composition
were recorded or preserved, over the centuries,
as the documents were copied from one generation
to another. This paucity tempted 19th-century
scholars to use the Puranas as a source of
chronological and historical information about
India or Hinduism. This effort was, after
some effort, either summarily rejected by
some scholars, or become controversial, because
the Puranas include fables and fiction, and
the information within and across the Puranas
was found to be inconsistent.In early 20th-century,
some regional records were found to be more
consistent, such as for the Hindu dynasties
in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh. Basham, as well
as Kosambi have questioned whether lack of
inconsistency is sufficient proof of reliability
and historicity. More recent scholarship has
attempted to, with limited success, states
Ludo Rocher, use the Puranas for historical
information in combination with independent
corroborating evidence, such as "epigraphy,
archaeology, Buddhist literature, Jaina literature,
non-Puranic literature, Islamic records, and
records preserved outside India by travelers
to or from India in medieval times such as
in China, Myanmar and Indonesia".
== Manuscripts ==
The study of Puranas manuscripts has been
challenging because they are highly inconsistent.
This is true for all Mahapuranas and Upapuranas.
Most editions of Puranas, in use particularly
by Western scholars, are "based on one manuscript
or on a few manuscripts selected at random",
even though divergent manuscripts with the
same title exist. Scholars have long acknowledged
the existence of Purana manuscripts that "seem
to differ much from printed edition", and
it is unclear which one is accurate, and whether
conclusions drawn from the randomly or cherrypicked
printed version were universal over geography
or time. This problem is most severe with
Purana manuscripts of the same title, but
in regional languages such as Tamil, Telugu,
Bengali and others which have largely been
ignored.
Modern scholarship noticed all these facts.
It recognized that the extent of the genuine
Agni Purana was not the same at all times
and in all places, and that it varied with
the difference in time and locality. (...) This
shows that the text of the Devi Purana was
not the same everywhere but differed considerably
in different provinces. Yet, one failed to
draw the logical conclusion: besides the version
or versions of puranas that appear in our
[surviving] manuscripts, and fewer still in
our [printed] editions, there have been numerous
other versions, under the same titles, but
which either have remained unnoticed or have
been irreparably lost.
=== Chronology ===
Newly discovered Puranas manuscripts from
the medieval centuries has attracted scholarly
attention and the conclusion that the Puranic
literature has gone through slow redaction
and text corruption over time, as well as
sudden deletion of numerous chapters and its
replacement with new content to an extent
that the currently circulating Puranas are
entirely different than those that existed
before 11th century, or 16th century.For example,
a newly discovered palm-leaf manuscript of
Skanda Purana in Nepal has been dated to be
from 810 CE, but is entirely different than
versions of Skanda Purana that have been circulating
in South Asia since the colonial era. Further
discoveries of four more manuscripts, each
different, suggest that document has gone
through major redactions twice, first likely
before the 12th century, and the second very
large change sometime in the 15th-16th century
for unknown reasons. The different versions
of manuscripts of Skanda Purana suggest that
"minor" redactions, interpolations and corruption
of the ideas in the text over time.Rocher
states that the compositions date of each
Purana remains a contested issue. Dimmitt
and van Buitenen state that each of the Puranas
manuscripts is encyclopedic in style, and
it is difficult to ascertain when, where,
why and by whom these were written:
As they exist today, the Puranas are a stratified
literature. Each titled work consists of material
that has grown by numerous accretions in successive
historical eras. Thus no Purana has a single
date of composition. (...) It is as if they
were libraries to which new volumes have been
continuously added, not necessarily at the
end of the shelf, but randomly.
=== Forgeries ===
Many of the extant manuscripts were written
on palm leaf or copied during the British
India colonial era, some in the 19th century.
The scholarship on various Puranas, has suffered
from frequent forgeries, states Ludo Rocher,
where liberties in the transmission of Puranas
were normal and those who copied older manuscripts
replaced words or added new content to fit
the theory that the colonial scholars were
keen on publishing.
=== Translations ===
Horace Hayman Wilson published one of the
earliest English translations of one version
of the Vishnu Purana in 1840. The same manuscript,
and Wilson's translation, was reinterpreted
by Manmatha Nath Dutt, and published in 1896.
The All India Kashiraj Trust has published
editions of the Puranas.Maridas Poullé (Mariyadas
Pillai) published a French translation from
a Tamil version of the Bhagavata Purana in
1788, and this was widely distributed in Europe
becoming an introduction to the 18th-century
Hindu culture and Hinduism to many Europeans
during the colonial era. Poullé republished
a different translation of the same text as
Le Bhagavata in 1795, from Pondicherry. A
copy of Poullé translation is preserved in
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris.
== Influence ==
The most significant influence of the Puranas
genre of Indian literature have been, state
scholars and particularly Indian scholars,
in "culture synthesis", in weaving and integrating
the diverse beliefs from ritualistic rites
of passage to Vedantic philosophy, from fictional
legends to factual history, from individual
introspective yoga to social celebratory festivals,
from temples to pilgrimage, from one god to
another, from goddesses to tantra, from the
old to the new. These have been dynamic open
texts, composed socially, over time. This,
states Greg Bailey, may have allowed the Hindu
culture to "preserve the old while constantly
coming to terms with the new", and "if they
are anything, they are records of cultural
adaptation and transformation" over the last
2,000 years.The Puranic literature, suggests
Khanna, influenced "acculturation and accommodation"
of a diversity of people, with different languages
and from different economic classes, across
different kingdoms and traditions, catalyzing
the syncretic "cultural mosaic of Hinduism".
They helped influence cultural pluralism in
India, and are a literary record thereof.Om
Prakash states the Puranas served as efficient
medium for cultural exchange and popular education
in ancient and medieval India. These texts
adopted, explained and integrated regional
deities such as Pashupata in Vayu Purana,
Sattva in Vishnu Purana, Dattatreya in Markendeya
Purana, Bhojakas in Bhavishya Purana. Further,
states Prakash, they dedicated chapters to
"secular subjects such as poetics, dramaturgy,
grammar, lexicography, astronomy, war, politics,
architecture, geography and medicine as in
Agni Purana, perfumery and lapidary arts in
Garuda Purana, painting, sculpture and other
arts in Vishnudharmottara Purana".
Indian ArtsThe cultural influence of the Puranas
extended to Indian classical arts, such as
songs, dance culture such as Bharata Natyam
in south India and Rasa Lila in northeast
India, plays and recitations.
FestivalsThe myths, lunar calendar schedule,
rituals and celebrations of major Hindu cultural
festivities such as Holi, Diwali and Durga
Puja are in the Puranic literature.
== Notes ==
== References ==
=== Cited sources ===
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(2012). Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader
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Ariel Glucklich (2008). The Strides of Vishnu
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== External links ==
GRETIL (uni-goettingen.de)
=== Translations ===
Agni Purana (in English), Volume 2, MN Dutt
(Translator), Hathi Trust Archives
Vishnu Purana H.H. Wilson
Vishnu Purana, MN Dutt
Brahmanda Purana, GV Tagare
