Puranas

Purana Manuscripts from 15th- to 18th-century

The word Puranas (/pʊˈrɑːnəz/; Sanskrit:

पुराण, purāṇa) literally means "ancient,
old",[1] and it is a vast genre of Indian
literature about a wide range of topics,
particularly myths, legends and other
traditional lore.[2] The Puranas are known
for their intricate layers of symbolism
depicted within the stories. Composed
primarily in Sanskrit, but also in Tamil and
other Indian languages,[3][4] several of
these texts are named after major Hindu
deities such as Vishnu, Shiva and Devi.[5][6]
The Puranic genre of literature is found in
both Hinduism and Jainism.[3]

The Puranic literature is encyclopedic,[1]

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.[2][4][5] The
content is highly inconsistent across the
Puranas, and each Purana has survived in
numerous manuscripts which are
themselves inconsistent.[3] 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.[3]

There are 18 Maha Puranas (Great

Puranas) and 18 Upa Puranas (Minor
Puranas),[7] with over 400,000 verses.[2]
The first versions of the various Puranas
were likely composed between the 3rd-
and 10th-century CE.[8] The Puranas do not
enjoy the authority of a scripture in
Hinduism,[7] but are considered a Smriti.[9]

They have been influential in the Hindu

culture, inspiring major national and
regional annual festivals of Hinduism.[10]
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.[11] The
religious practices included in them are
considered Vaidika (congruent with Vedic
literature), because they do not preach
initiation into Tantra.[12] The Bhagavata
Purana has been among the most
celebrated and popular text in the Puranic
genre, and is of non-dualistic tenor.[13][14]
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.[15]

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 *per-."[16]

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,[note 1] three of
whom compiled their own samhitas. These
three, together with Lomaharshana's,
comprise the Mulasamhita, from which the
later eighteen Puranas were derived.[17][18]

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:[19]

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.

— Atharva Veda XV.6.10-11,

[20]

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.[21] 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 [21]
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.[21] 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.[21]
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".[22][23][note 2]
The Brhadaranyaka Upanishad also refers
to purana as the "fifth Veda",[25]

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.[18]

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".[26] 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.[27] 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.[27]
The core of Itihasa-Puranas, states Klaus
Klostermaier, may possibly go back to the
seventh century BCE or even earlier.[28]

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.[17] The date
of the production of the written texts does
not define the date of origin of the
Puranas.[29] They existed in an oral form
before being written down.[29] In the 19th
century, F. E. Pargiter believed the "original
Purana" may date to the time of the final
redaction of the Vedas.[30] 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.[8]

Texts
Mahapuranas

Of the many texts designated 'Puranas' the

most important are the Mahāpurāṇas or
the major Puranas.[7] These are said to be
eighteen in number, divided into three
groups of six, though they are not always
counted in the same way.
 Verses
S.No. Purana name Comment s
number

Cont ains encyclopedic informat ion. Includes geography of

Mit hila (Bihar and neighboring st at es), cult ural hist ory, polit ics,
educat ion syst em, iconography, t axat ion t heories, organizat ion
15,400 of army, t heories on proper causes for war, diplomacy, local laws,
1 Agni
verses building public project s, wat er dist ribut ion met hods, t rees and
plant s, medicine, Vast u Shast ra (archit ect ure), gemology,
grammar, met rics, poet ry, food, rit uals and numerous ot her
t opics.[31]

The most st udied and popular of t he Puranas,[13][32] t elling of

Vishnu's Avat ars, and of Vaishnavism. It cont ains cont roversial
18,000 genealogical det ails of various dynast ies.[33] Numerous
2 Bhagavat a
verses inconsist ent versions of t his t ext and hist orical manuscript s
exist , in many Indian languages.[34] Influent ial and elaborat ed
during Bhakt i movement .[35]

Somet imes also called Adi Purana, because many Mahapuranas

list s put it first of 18.[36] The t ext has 245 chapt ers, shares
many passages wit h Vishnu, Vayu, Markendeya Puranas, and wit h
10,000
3 Brahma t he Mahabharat a. Includes myt hology, t heory of war, art work in
verses
t emples, and ot her cult ural t opics. Describes holy places in
Odisha, and weaves t hemes of Vishnu and Shiva, but hardly any
ment ion of deit y Brahma despit e t he t it le.[36]

One of t he earliest composed Puranas, it cont ains a

cont roversial genealogical det ails of various dynast ies.[33]
12,000 Includes Lalit a Sahasranamam, law codes, syst em of
4 Brahmanda
verses governance, administ rat ion, diplomacy, t rade, et hics. Old
manuscript s of Brahmanda Purana have been found in t he Hindu
lit erat ure collect ions of Bali, Indonesia.[37][38]

5 Brahmavaivart a 18,000 It is relat ed by Savarni t o Narada, and cent res around t he

verses great ness of Krishna and Radha. In t his, t he st ory of Brahma-
 varaha is repeat edly t old.[39] Not able for assert ing t hat Krishna is
t he supreme realit y and t he gods Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma are
incarnat ions of him.[40] Ment ions geography and rivers such as
Ganga t o Kaveri.

An encyclopedia of diverse t opics.[38] Primarily about Vishnu, but

praises all gods. Describes how Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma
collaborat e. Many chapt ers are a dialogue bet ween Vishnu and
t he bird-vehicle Garuda. Cosmology, Describes cosmology,
relat ionship bet ween gods. Discusses et hics, what are crimes,
good versus evil, various schools of Hindu philosophies, t he
t heory of Yoga, t he t heory of "heaven and hell" wit h "karma and
rebirt h", includes Upanishadic discussion of self-knowledge as a
means of moksha.[41] Includes chapt ers on rivers, geography of
Bharat (India) and ot her nat ions on eart h, t ypes of minerals and
19,000
6 Garuda st ones, t est ing met hods for st ones for t heir qualit y, various
verses
diseases and t heir sympt oms, various medicines, aphrodisiacs,
prophylact ics, Hindu calendar and it s basis, ast ronomy, moon,
planet s, ast rology, archit ect ure, building home, essent ial
feat ures of a t emple, rit es of passage, virt ues such as
compassion, charit y and gift making, economy, t hrift , dut ies of a
king, polit ics, st at e officials and t heir roles and how t o
appoint ment t hem, genre of lit erat ure, rules of grammar, and
ot her t opics.[41] The final chapt ers discuss how t o pract ice Yoga
(Samkhya and Advait a t ypes), personal development and t he
benefit s of self-knowledge.[41]

17,000 Cont ains a combinat ion of Vishnu and Shiva relat ed legends,
7 Kurma
verses myt hology, Tirt ha (pilgrimage) and t heology

Discusses Lingam, symbol of Shiva, and origin of t he universe. It

11,000
8 Linga also cont ains many st ories of Lingam, one of which ent ails how
verses
Agni Lingam solved a disput e bet ween Vishnu and Brahma.

9 Markandeya 9,000 Describes Vindhya Range and west ern India. Probably composed
 verses in t he valleys of Narmada and Tapt i rivers, in Maharasht ra and
Gujarat .[42] Named aft er sage Markandeya, a st udent of Brahma.
Cont ains chapt ers on dharma and on Hindu epic Mahabharat a.[43]
The Purana includes Devi Mahat myam of Shakt ism.

An encyclopedia of diverse t opics.[38] Narrat es t he st ory of

Mat sya, t he first of t en major Avat ars of Vishnu. Likely
14,000 composed in west India, by people aware of geographical det ails
10 Mat sya
verses of t he Narmada river. Includes legends about Brahma and
Saraswat i.[44] It also cont ains a cont roversial genealogical
det ails of various dynast ies.[33]

Also called Naradiya Purana. Discusses t he four Vedas and t he

six Vedangas. Dedicat es one chapt er each, from Chapt ers 92 t o
109, t o summarize t he ot her 17 Maha Puranas and it self. List s
25,000 major rivers of India and places of pilgrimage, and a short t our
11 Narada
verses guide for each. Includes discussion of various philosophies,
sot eriology, planet s, ast ronomy, myt hs and charact erist ics of
major deit ies including Vishnu, Shiva, Devi, Krishna, Rama, Lakshmi
and ot hers.[45]

A large compilat ion of diverse t opics, it escribes cosmology, t he

world and nat ure of life from t he perspect ive of Vishnu. It also
discusses fest ivals, numerous legends, geography of rivers and
regions from nort hwest India t o Bengal t o t he kingdom of
Tripura, major sages of India, various Avat ars of Vishnu and his
55,000 cooperat ion wit h Shiva, a st ory of Rama-Sit a t hat is different
12 Padma
verses from t he Hindu epic Ramayana.[46]The nort h Indian manuscript s
of Padma Purana are very different from sout h Indian versions,
and t he various recensions in bot h groups in different languages
(Devanagari and Bengali, for example) show major
inconsist encies.[47] Like t he Skanda Purana, it is a det ailed
t reat ise on t ravel and pilgrimage cent ers in India.[46][48]

13 Shiva 24,000 Discusses Shiva, and st ories about him.

 verses

Describes t he birt h of Skanda (or Kart hikeya), son of Shiva. The

longest Purana, it is an ext raordinarily met iculous pilgrimage
81,100
14 Skanda guide, cont aining geographical locat ions of pilgrimage cent ers in
verses
India, wit h relat ed legends, parables, hymns and st ories. Many
unt raced quot es are at t ribut ed t o t his t ext .[49]

10,000
15 Vamana Describes Nort h India, part icularly Himalayan foot hills region.
verses

Primarily Vishnu-relat ed worship manual, wit h large Mahatmya

sect ions or t ravel guide t o Mat hura and Nepal.[50] Present at ion
24,000
16 Varaha focuses on Varaha as incarnat ion of Narayana, but rarely uses t he
verses
t erms Krishna or Vasudeva.[50] Many illust rat ions also involve
Shiva and Durga.[51]

Possibly t he oldest of all Maha Puranas. Some medieval Indian

t ext s call it Vayaviya Purana. Ment ioned and st udied by Al Biruni,
t he 11t h cent ury Persian visit or t o India. Praises Shiva.
24,000 Discusses rit uals, family life, and life st ages of a human being.
17 Vayu
verses The cont ent in Vayu Purana is also found in Markandeya Purana.
Describes sout h India, part icularly modern Telangana and Andhra
Pradesh regions. It cont ains a cont roversial genealogical det ails
of various dynast ies.[33]

One of t he most st udied and circulat ed Puranas, it also cont ains

a cont roversial genealogical det ails of various dynast ies.[33]
Bet t er preserved aft er t he 17t h cent ury, but exist s in
23,000 inconsist ent versions, more ancient pre-15t h cent ury versions
18 Vishnu
verses are very different from modern versions, wit h some versions
discussing Buddhism and Jainism. Some chapt ers likely
composed in Kashmir and Punjab region of Sout h Asia. A
Vaishnavism t ext , focussed on Vishnu.[52]
The Mahapuranas have also been
classified based on a specific deity,
although the texts are mixed and revere all
gods and goddesses:

Brāhma:[47] Brahma Purana, Padma Purana

Surya:[47] Brahma Vaivart a Purana[note 3]

Agni:[47] Agni Purana[note 4]

Shiva Purana, Linga Purana, Skanda Purana, Varaha Purana,[note 5][note 6] Vāmana
Śaiva:[47] Purana,[note 5] Kūrma Purana,[note 5] Mat sya Purana,[note 5] Mārkandeya Purana,[note 7]
Bhavishya Purana, Brahmānda Purana

Vishnu Purana, Bhagavat a Purana, Nāradeya Purana, Garuda Purana, Vayu Purana,
Vaiṣṇava:[47]
Varaha Purana[note 6]

The Padma Purana, Uttara Khanda

(236.18-21),[57] classifies the Puranas in
accordance with the three gunas or
qualities; truth, passion, and ignorance.
Sat t va Shiva Purana, Linga Purana, Vishnu Purana, Bhagavat a Purana, Naradeya
("t rut h")[note 8] Purana, Garuda Purana, Padma Purana, Varaha Purana

Rajas Brahmanda Purana, Brahma Vaivart a Purana, Markandeya Purana, Bhavishya

("passion")[note 8] Purana, Vamana Purana, Brahma Purana

Tamas
Mat sya Purana, Kurma purana, Skanda Purana, Agni Purana
("ignorance")[note 8]

All major Puranas contain sections on Devi

(goddesses) and Tantra; the six most
significant of these are: Markandeya
Purana, Shiva Purana, Linga Purana,
Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Agni Purana and
Padma Purana.[58]

Upapuranas
The Goddess Durga Leading the Eight Matrikas in

Battle Against the Demon Raktabija, Folio from Devi

Mahatmyam, Markandeya Purana.

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".[59] 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."[60]

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.[61][62]

The Ganesha and Mudgala Puranas are

devoted to Ganesha.[63][64] The Devi-
Bhagavata Purana, which extols the
goddess Durga, has become (along with
the Devi Mahatmya( from Markandey
Purana) and Mahabhagavata Purana/also
called Devi Purana) a basic text for Devi
worshipers.[65]

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.[66]

Skanda Purana
The Skanda Purana is the largest Purana
with 81,000 verses,[67] named after deity
Skanda, the son of Shiva and Uma, and
brother of deity Ganesha.[68] The
mythological part of the text weaves the
stories of Shiva and Vishnu, along with
Parvati, Rama, Krishna and other major
gods in the Hindu pantheon.[67] In Chapter
1.8, it declares,

Vishnu is nobody but Shiva, and

he who is called Shiva is but
identical with Vishnu.
 — Skanda Purana, 1.8.20-
21[69][70]

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 from versions of Skanda
Purana that have been circulating in South
Asia since the colonial era.[71]
Content

The Puranas include cosmos creation myths such

as the Samudra Manthan (churning of the ocean). It
is represented in the Angkor Wat temple complex of
Cambodia, and at Bangkok airport, Thailand (above).

Several Puranas, such as the Matsya

Purana,[72] list "five characteristics" or "five
signs" of a Purana.[2] These are called the
Pancha Lakshana ( pañcalakṣaṇa), and
are topics covered by a Purana:[2][73][74]

1. Sarga: cosmogony
2. Pratisarga: cosmogony and
cosmology[75]
3. Vamśa: genealogy of the gods, sages
and kings[76]
4. Manvañtara: cosmic cycles,[77]
history of the world during the time of
one patriarch
5. 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:[78]

6. Utaya: karmic links between the

deities, sages, kings and the various
living beings
7. Ishanukatha: tales about a god
8. Nirodha: finale, cessation
9. Mukti: moksha, spiritual liberation
10. Ashraya: refuge

These five or ten sections weave in

biographies, myths, geography, medicine,
astronomy, Hindu temples, pilgrimage to
distant real places, rites of passage,
charity, ethics,[79] duties, rights, dharma,
divine intervention in cosmic and human
affairs, love stories,[80] festivals,
theosophy and philosophy.[2][4][5] The
Puranas link gods to men, both generally
and in religious bhakti context.[78] 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.[78]

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.[81] 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.[82] 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.[83]

The texts are in Sanskrit as well as

regional languages,[3][4] and almost entirely
in narrative metric couplets.[1]

Symbolism and layers of meaning

The texts use ideas, concepts and even
names that are symbolic.[83] The words
can interpreted literally, and at an
axiological level.[84] 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 Tushtí
(inner comfort), Santosha
(contentment); by Pushtí
(opulence), the progeny was
Lobha (cupidity, greed); by
Medhá (wisdom, experience),
Sruta (sacred tradition); by
Kriyá (hard work, labour), the
progeny were Dańda,́ 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.

— Vishnu Purana, Chapter 7,

Translated by Horace
Hayman Wilson[85]

Puranas as a complement to the

Vedas
The mythology in the Puranas has inspired many
reliefs and sculptures found in Hindu temples.[86]
The legend behind the Krishna and Gopis relief
above is described in the Bhagavata Purana.[87]

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.[88] 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.[89] In contrast,
Purana literature is evidently intended to
serve as a complement to the Vedas,
states Vans Kennedy.[5]

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.[89] Scholars such as Viman Chandra
Bhattacharya and PV Kane state that the
Puranas are a continuation and
development of the Vedas.[90] Sudhakar
Malaviya and VG Rahurkar state the
connection is closer in that the Puranas
are companion texts to help understand
and interpret the Vedas.[90][91] 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".[92]

Barbara Holdrege questions the fifth Veda

status of Itihasas (the Hindu epics) and
Puranas.[93][note 9] The Puranas, states V.S.
Agrawala, intend to "explicate, interpret,
adapt" the metaphysical truths in the
Vedas.[18] 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.[90] 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.[90]

Puranas as encyclopedias
The Puranas, states Kees Bolle, are best
seen as "vast, often encyclopedic" works
from ancient and medieval India.[95] 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)[96] to cosmetics, from festivals to
astronomy.[4][97] Like encyclopedias, they
were updated to remain current with their
times, by a process called
Upabrimhana.[98] 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),[96]
while Vayu Purana and Brahmanda Purana
focus more on history, mythology and
legends.[99]

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.[100] 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".[101]
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".[101]

Modern scholarship doubts this 19th-

century premise.[102] 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.
 — Ludo Rocher, The
Puranas[100]

The study of Puranas as a religious text

remains a controversial subject.[103] Some
Indologists, in colonial tradition of
scholarship, treat the Puranic texts as
scriptures or useful source of religious
contents.[104] 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".[105]

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.[3] They are best
described, states John Cort, as post-
scripture literary corpus based upon
themes found in Jain scriptures.[3]

Sectarian, pluralistic or monotheistic

theme

Scholars have debated whether the

Puranas should be categorized as
sectarian, or non-partisan, or monotheistic
religious texts.[11][106] Different Puranas
describe a number of stories where
Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva compete for
supremacy.[106] 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.[11] 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.[107][108] 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".[106]

[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.

— Edwin Bryant, Krishna:

The Beautiful Legend of God:
 Srimad Bhagavata
Purana[106]

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".[109]

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.[33] 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.[33] 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.[33]

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.[33] 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".[110][111]

Manuscripts

An 11th-century Nepalese palm-leaf manuscript in

Sanskrit of Devimahatmya (Markandeya Purana)
Sanskrit of Devimahatmya (Markandeya Purana).

The study of Puranas manuscripts has

been challenging because they are highly
inconsistent.[112][113] This is true for all
Mahapuranas and Upapuranas.[112] 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.[112]
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.[112]

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.

— Ludo Rocher, The

Puranas[59][114]

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 from those that existed before
11th century, or 16th century.[115]

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 from versions of Skanda
Purana that have been circulating in South
Asia since the colonial era.[71][115] 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.[116] The different versions of
manuscripts of Skanda Purana suggest
that "minor" redactions, interpolations and
corruption of the ideas in the text over
time.[116]
Rocher states that the date of the
composition of each Purana remains a
contested issue.[117][118] 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:[119]

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.

— Cornelia Dimmitt and

J.A.B. van Buitenen, Classical
Hindu Mythology: A Reader
in the Sanskrit Puranas[119]

Forgeries
Many of the extant manuscripts were
written on palm leaf or copied during the
British India colonial era, some in the 19th
century.[120][121] 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.[120][121]

Translations
Horace Hayman Wilson published one of
the earliest English translations of one
version of the Vishnu Purana in 1840.[122]
The same manuscript, and Wilson's
translation, was reinterpreted by
Manmatha Nath Dutt, and published in
1896.[123] The All India Kashiraj Trust has
published editions of the Puranas.[124]

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.[125] A copy of Poullé
translation is preserved in Bibliothèque
nationale de France, Paris.

Influence

The Puranas have had a large cultural impact on

Hi d f f i l di Bh
Hindus, from festivals to diverse arts. Bharata
natyam (above) is inspired in part by Bhagavata
Purana.[126]

The most significant influence of the

Puranas genre of Indian literature have
been, state scholars and particularly Indian
scholars,[127] 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.[128] 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.[127]

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".[129] They helped influence
cultural pluralism in India, and are a literary
record thereof.[129]

Om Prakash states the Puranas served as

efficient medium for cultural exchange and
popular education in ancient and medieval
India.[130] 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.[130]
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".[130]

Indian Arts

The cultural influence of the Puranas

extended to Indian classical arts, such as
songs, dance culture such as Bharata
Natyam in south India[126] and Rasa Lila in
northeast India,[131] plays and
recitations.[132]

Festivals

The myths, lunar calendar schedule, rituals

and celebrations of major Hindu cultural
festivities such as Holi, Diwali and Durga
Puja are in the Puranic literature.[133][134]

Notes
1. Six disciples: Sumati, Agnivarchaha,
Mitrayu, Shamshapyana, Akritaverna
 and Savarni
2. The early Buddhist text (Sutta Nipata
3.7 describes the meeting between
the Buddha and Sela. It has been
translated by Mills and Sujato as, "(...)
the brahmin Sela was visiting Āpaṇa.
He was an expert in the three Vedas,
with the etymologies, the rituals, the
phonology and word analysis, and
fifthly the legendary histories".[24]
3. This text underwent a near complete
rewrite in or after 15th/16th century
CE, and almost all extant
 manuscripts are Vaishnava (Krishna)
bhakti oriented.[53]
4. Like all Puranas, this text underwent
extensive revisions and rewrite in its
history; the extant manuscripts are
predominantly an encyclopedia, and
so secular in its discussions of gods
and goddesses that scholars have
classified as Smartism, Shaktism,
Vaishnavism and Shaivism
Purana.[54]
5. This text is named after a Vishnu
avatar, but extant manuscripts praise
all gods and goddesses equally with
 some versions focusing more on
Shiva.[55]
6. Hazra includes this in Vaishnava
category.[50]
7. This text includes the famous Devi-
Mahatmya, one of the most
important Goddess-related text of the
Shaktism tradition in Hinduism.[56]
8. Scholars consider the Sattva-Rajas-
Tamas classification as "entirely
fanciful" and there is nothing in each
text that actually justifies this
classification.[47]
 9. There are only four Vedas in
Hinduism. Several texts have been
claimed to have the status of the
Fifth Veda in the Hindu tradition. For
example, the Natya Shastra, a
Sanskrit text on the performing arts,
is also so claimed.[94]

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62. Verbal Narratives: Performance and
Gender of the Padma Purana, by T.N.
Sankaranarayana in Kaushal 2001,
pp. 225–234
63. Thapan 1997, p. 304
64. "Purana at Gurjari" .
65. Mackenzie 1990
66. Shulman 1980
67. Stephen Knapp (2005), The Heart of
Hinduism, ISBN 978-0595350759,
pages 44-45
68. Yves Bonnefoy and Wendy Doniger
(1993), Asian Mythologies, University
of Chicago Press, ISBN 978-
0226064567, pages 92-95
69. Gregor Maehle (2009), Ashtanga
Yoga, New World, ISBN 978-
1577316695, page 17
70. Skanda Purana Shankara Samhita
Part 1, Verses 1.8.20-21 (Sanskrit)
71. R Andriaensen et al (1994), Towards
a critical edition of the Skandapurana,
Indo-Iranian Journal, Vol. 37, pages
325-331
72. Matsya Purana 53.65
73. Rao 1993, pp. 85–100
74. Johnson 2009, p. 248
75. Jonathan Edelmann (2013), The
Bhagavata Purana: Sacred Text and
Living Tradition (Editors: Ravi Gupta
and Kenneth Valpey), Columbia
University Press, ISBN 978-
0231149983, pages 48-62
76. Vayu Purana 1. 31-2.
77. RC Hazra (1987), Studies in the
Puranic Records on Hindu Rites and
Customs, Motilal Banarsidass,
ISBN 978-8120804227, page 4
78. Greg Bailey (2001), Encyclopedia of
Asian Philosophy (Editor: Oliver
Leaman), Routledge, ISBN 978-
0415172813, pages 440-443
79. Gopal Gupta (2013), The Bhagavata
Purana: Sacred Text and Living
Tradition (Editors: Ravi Gupta and
Kenneth Valpey), Columbia University
Press, ISBN 978-0231149983, pages
63-75
80. Graham Schweig (2013), The
Bhagavata Purana: Sacred Text and
Living Tradition (Editors: Ravi Gupta
and Kenneth Valpey), Columbia
University Press, ISBN 978-
0231149983, pages 117-132
81. Flood 1996, pp. 104-110.
82. Flood 1996, pp. 109–112
83. Yves Bonnefoy and Wendy Doniger
(1993), Asian Mythologies, University
of Chicago Press, ISBN 978-
0226064567, pages 38-39
84. Ravi Gupta and Kenneth Valpey
(2013), The Bhagavata Purana:
Sacred Text and Living Tradition,
Columbia University Press, ISBN 978-
0231149983, pages 130-132
85. Vishnu Purana Chapter 7
86. Sara Schastok (1997), The Śāmalājī
Sculptures and 6th Century Art in
Western India, BRILL, ISBN 978-
9004069411, pages 77-79, 88
87. Edwin Bryant (2007), Krishna : A
Sourcebook: A Sourcebook, Oxford
University Press, ISBN 978-
0195148923, pages 111-119
88. Patton, Laurie L.(1994), Authority,
Anxiety, and Canon: Essays in Vedic
Interpretation SUNY Series in Hindu
Studies, State University of New York
Press, ISBN 978-0585044675, p. 98
89. Ludo Rocher (1986), The Puranas,
Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN 978-
3447025225, pages 13-16
90. Rocher 1986, pp. 14-15 with
footnotes.
91. Barbara Holdrege (1995), Veda and
Torah: Transcending the Textuality of
Scripture, State University of New
York Press, ISBN 978-0791416402,
pages 95-97
92. Rocher 1986, pp. 15 with footnotes.
93. Barbara Holdrege (2012). Hananya
Goodman (ed.). Between Jerusalem
and Benares: Comparative Studies in
Judaism and Hinduism . State
University of New York Press. p. 110.
ISBN 978-1-4384-0437-0.
94. D. Lawrence Kincaid (2013).
Communication Theory: Eastern and
Western Perspectives . Elsevier.
p. 165. ISBN 978-1-4832-8875-8.
95. Kee Bolle (1963), Reflections on a
Puranic Passage , History of
Religions, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Winter, 1963),
pages 286-291
96. Ariel Glucklich 2008, p. 146, Quote:
The earliest promotional works
aimed at tourists from that era were
called mahatmyas.
97. Ludo Rocher (1986), The Puranas,
Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN 978-
3447025225, pages 1-5, 12-21, 79-80,
96-98; Quote: These are the true
encyclopedic Puranas. in which
detached chapters or sections,
dealing with any imaginable subject,
follow one another, without
connection or transition. Three
Puranas especially belong to this
category: Matsya, Garuda and above
all Agni.
 98. Ronald Inden (2000), Querying the
Medieval : Texts and the History of
Practices in South Asia, Oxford
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0195124309, pages 94-95
99. Ludo Rocher (1986), The Puranas,
Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN 978-
3447025225, pages 78-79
100. Ludo Rocher (1986), The Puranas,
Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN 978-
3447025225, pages 104-106 with
footnotes
101. Urs App (2010), The Birth of
Orientalism, University of
Pennsylvania Press, ISBN 978-
0812242614, pages 331, 323-334
102. Jan Gonda (1975), Selected Studies:
Indo-European linguistics, BRILL,
ISBN 978-9004042285, pages 51-86
103. Ronald Inden (2000), Querying the
Medieval : Texts and the History of
Practices in South Asia, Oxford
University Press, ISBN 978-
0195124309, pages 87-98
104. Ludo Rocher (1986), The Puranas,
Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN 978-
3447025225, pages 19-20
105. Ronald Inden (2000), Querying the
Medieval : Texts and the History of
Practices in South Asia, Oxford
University Press, ISBN 978-
0195124309, pages 95-96
106. Edwin Bryant (2003), Krishna: The
Beautiful Legend of God: Srimad
Bhagavata Purana, Penguin,
ISBN 978-0141913377, pages 10-12
107. EO James (1997), The Tree of Life,
BRILL Academic, ISBN 978-
9004016125, pages 150-153
108. Barbara Holdrege (2015), Bhakti and
Embodiment, Routledge, ISBN 978-
0415670708, pages 113-114
109. Ludo Rocher (1986), The Puranas,
Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN 978-
3447025225, page 23 with footnote
35
110. Ludo Rocher (1986), The Puranas,
Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN 978-
3447025225, pages 121-127 with
footnotes
111. L Srinivasan (2000), Historicity of the
Indian mythology : Some
observations , Man in India, Vol. 80,
No. 1-2, pages 89-106
112. Ludo Rocher (1986), The Puranas,
Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN 978-
3447025225, pages 59-67
113. Gregory Bailey (2003), The Study of
Hinduism (Editor: Arvind Sharma),
The University of South Carolina
Press, ISBN 978-1570034497, pages
141-142
114. Rajendra Hazra (1956), Discovery of
the genuine Agneya-purana, Journal
of the Oriental Institute Baroda, Vol.
4-5, pages 411-416
115. Dominic Goodall (2009),
Parākhyatantram, Vol 98,
Publications de l'Institut Français
d'Indologie, ISBN 978-2855396422,
pages xvi-xvii
116. Kengo Harimoto (2004), in Origin and
Growth of the Purāṇic Text Corpus
(Editor: Hans Bakker), Motilal
Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120820494,
pages 41-64
117. Rocher 1986, p. 249.
118. Gregory Bailey 2003, pp. 139-141,
154-156.
119. Dimmitt & van Buitenen 2012, p. 5.
120. Rocher 1986, pp. 49-53.
121. Avril Ann Powell (2010). Scottish
Orientalists and India: The Muir
Brothers, Religion, Education and
Empire . Boydell & Brewer. pp. 130,
128–134, 87–90. ISBN 978-1-84383-
579-0.
122. HH Wilson (1840), Vishnu Purana
Trubner and Co., Reprinted in 1864
123. MN Dutt (1896), Vishnupurana
Eylsium Press, Calcutta
124. Mittal 2004, p. 657
125. Jean Filliozat (1968), Tamil Studies in
French Indology, in Tamil Studies
Abroad, Xavier S Thani Nayagam,
pages 1-14
126. Katherine Zubko (2013), The
Bhagavata Purana: Sacred Text and
Living Tradition (Editors: Ravi Gupta
and Kenneth Valpey), Columbia
University Press, ISBN 978-
0231149983, pages 181-201
127. Greg Bailey (2001), Encyclopedia of
Asian Philosophy (Editor: Oliver
Leaman), Routledge, ISBN 978-
0415172813, pages 442-443
128. Gregory Bailey (2003), The Study of
Hinduism (Editor: Arvind Sharma),
The University of South Carolina
Press, ISBN 978-1570034497, pages
162-167
129. R Champakalakshmi (2012), Cultural
History of Medieval India (Editor: M
Khanna), Berghahn, ISBN 978-
8187358305, pages 48-50
130. Om Prakash (2004), Cultural History
of India, New Age, ISBN 978-
8122415872, pages 33-34
131. Guy Beck (2013), The Bhagavata
Purana: Sacred Text and Living
Tradition (Editors: Ravi Gupta and
Kenneth Valpey), Columbia University
Press, ISBN 978-0231149983, pages
181-201
132. Ilona Wilczewska (2013), The
Bhagavata Purana: Sacred Text and
Living Tradition (Editors: Ravi Gupta
and Kenneth Valpey), Columbia
University Press, ISBN 978-
0231149983, pages 202-220
133. A Whitney Sanford (2006), Alternative
Krishnas: Regional and Vernacular
Variations on a Hindu Deity (Editor:
Guy Beck), State University of New
York Press, ISBN 978-0791464168,
pages 91-94
134. Tracy Pintchman (2005), Guests at
God's Wedding: Celebrating Kartik
among the Women of Benares, State
University of New York Press,
ISBN 978-0791465950, pages 60-63,
with notes on 210-211

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 External links

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Puranas

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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

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