Purāṇa

PURĀṆA. - The P., "ancient stories," are encyclopedic works which, according to a notice handed down by the most important P., should treat of these five subjects: 1) cosmogony; 2) the new creation of the world after its periodic destruction; 3) the genealogy of the gods and the prophets; 4) the cosmic ages, each of which is presided over by a progenitor of the human race; 5) the history of the ancient royal dynasties. In fact, only a few of the 18 P., the most ancient, correspond to this scheme. The others have a content broader than that comprised in the five characteristics (lakṣaṇa), and, even though they allude, in homage to tradition, to these obligatory themes, they then pass on to treat of entirely different subjects. The Viṣṇu-P. is the one that most faithfully reflects the 5 characteristics. It extols the greatness of Viṣṇu, proclaimed the one and supreme God, with whom Brahmā and Śiva are also identified.

The P. are in verse with some passages in prose and contain altogether ca. 400,000 stanzas written in a debased Sanskrit, not without solecisms. Common to all is the sectarian character, since their purpose is to glorify Viṣṇu and Śiva, with hymns, rites and legends (v. INDUSMO). The chronology of the P., which underwent various reworkings in different ages, is uncertain. They are generally assigned to the first half of the 6th century, but the Mārkandeya-P., which takes its name from the seer of the same name, is more ancient because, instead of doing honor to the gods of Hinduism (v.), it celebrates Indra and Brahmā and sings hymns to Agni (v.) and Sūrya, Vedic gods. The "glorification of the goddess" (devimāhātmya), that is, of Durgā, consort of Śiva, which forms part of the Mārkandeya-P., is a later interpolation. The Vāyu-P., so called because it is supposed to have been revealed by the god of the wind, extols the power of Śiva and therefore also bears the title of Śiva-or Śaiva-P.; it describes the magnificence of the city of Śiva, the paradise promised to those who practice Yoga by making this god the object of their meditations. The Bhāgavata-P. is the most widely known also in Europe for the excellent French translation by E. Burnouf, published in Paris in 1840. Later than the Viṣṇu-P., on which it depends and with which it often agrees literally, it surpasses it in importance, being still today the sacred text of the Bhāgavata, who venerate Viṣṇu under the name of Bhagavat, the Blessed One (v. INDUSMO). This voluminous work of ca. 80,000 stanzas contains an ample description of the incarnations of Viṣṇu (20 instead of the usual 10), especially of that in the form of a boar.

Limiting oneself to this brief notice on the major P., one cannot fail to recall that there also belong to this immense literature 18 minor P. (upapurāṇa) which celebrate divinities of secondary importance, especially female ones. Few Upapurāṇa have been published, and both the major and the minor P. still await an accurate critical elaboration.

Ferdinando Belloni Filippi