PURANA. – The P. (Purāṇas), “ancient histories,” are encyclopedic works which, according to a tradition handed down by the more important Purāṇas, should treat of five subjects: 1) cosmogony; 2) the new creation of the world after its periodic destruction; 3) the genealogy of the gods and seers; 4) the cosmic ages, each presided over by a progenitor of the human race; 5) the history of ancient royal dynasties. In fact, only a few of the 18 major Purāṇas, the oldest ones, conform to this scheme. The others have a broader content than that encompassed by the five characteristics (lakṣāṇa), and, even though they allude, in deference to tradition, to these obligatory themes, they then proceed to deal with quite different subjects. The Viṣṇu-Purāṇa is the one that most faithfully reflects the five characteristics. It extols the greatness of Viṣṇu, proclaimed as the one supreme God, with whom Brahmā and Śiva are also identified.
The Purāṇas are in verse, with some passages in prose, and contain in all about 400,000 stanzas written in a debased Sanskrit, not without solecisms. All share a sectarian character, having as their purpose the glorification of Viṣṇu and Śiva, through hymns, myths, and legends (v. HINDUISM). The chronology of the Purāṇas is uncertain, as they underwent various revisions at different times. They are generally assigned to the first half of the 6th century, but the Mārkaṇḍeya-Purāṇa, which takes its name from the seer of that name, is older because instead of honoring the gods of Hinduism (v.), it celebrates Indra and Brahmā Agni (v.) and Sūrya, Vedic deities. The “glorification of the goddess” (devīmāhātmya), namely of Durgā, consort of Śiva, which forms part of the Mārkaṇḍeya-Purāṇa, is a later interpolation. The Vāyu-Purāṇa, so called because it is supposed to have been revealed by the wind god, extols the power of Śiva and therefore also bears the title of Śiva- or Śaiva-Purāṇa; it describes the splendor of the city of Śiva, the paradise promised to those who practice Yoga, making the object of their meditation the aforementioned deity.
The Bhāgavata-Purāṇa is the best known in Europe thanks to the excellent French translation by E. Burnouf, published in Paris in 1840. Later than the Viṣṇu-Purāṇa, on which it depends and with which it often literally agrees, it surpasses it in importance as it is still the sacred text of the Bhāgavatas, who venerate Viṣṇu under the name of Bhagavat, the Blessed One (v. HINDUISM). This voluminous work of about 80,000 stanzas contains a lengthy description of the incarnations of Viṣṇu (20 instead of the usual 10), especially that in the form of a boar.
Limiting ourselves to this brief mention of the major Purāṇas, we cannot fail to recall that belonging to this immense literature are also 18 minor Purāṇas (upapurāṇa) which celebrate deities of secondary importance, especially female ones. Few Upapurāṇas have been published, and both the major and minor Purāṇas still await careful critical elaboration.