Puranas: Difference between revisions

'''Purana''' ({{IPAc-en|p|ʊ|ˈ|r|ɑː|n|ə}}; {{lang-sa|{{lang|sa|पुराण}}}}, ''{{IAST|purāṇa}}''; literally meaning "ancient, old"<ref name=merriam>Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, {{ISBN|0-877790426}}, page 915</ref>) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends and other traditional lore.{{sfn|Bailey|2001|pp=437-439}} The Puranas are known for the intricate layers of symbolism depicted within their stories. Composed primarily in [[Sanskrit]] and [[Tamil language|Tamil]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Verma|first=Rajeev|title=Faith & Philosophy of Hinduism |date=2009|publisher=Gyan Publishing House |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S7eo6vsvkEkC |isbn=978-81-7835-718-8}}</ref> but also in [[Languages of India|other]] Indian languages,{{sfn|Bailey|2003|p=139}}<ref name=johncort185>John Cort (1993), Purana Perennis: Reciprocity and Transformation in Hindu and Jaina Texts (Editor: Wendy Doniger), State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|978-0791413821}}, pages 185-204</ref> several of these texts are named after major [[Hindu]] deities such as Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma and Shakti.{{sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=16, 12-21}}<ref name="Nair 2008 266">{{cite book|last=Nair|first=Shantha N.|title=Echoes of Ancient Indian Wisdom: The Universal Hindu Vision and Its Edifice|year=2008 |publisher=Hindology Books|isbn=978-81-223-1020-7|page=266 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ekehXVP3W8wC&pg=PA266}}</ref> The Puranic genre of literature is found in both [[Hinduism]] and [[Jainism]].<ref name=johncort185/>

| [[Shaiva|Śaiva]]:{{sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=59-61}} || [[Shiva Purana]], [[Linga Purana]], [[Skanda Purana]], [[Varaha Purana]],{{refn|group=note|name=v1}}{{refn|group=note|name=v2}} [[Vamana Purana|Vāmana Purana]],{{refn|group=note|name=v1|This text is named after a Vishnu avatar, but extant manuscripts praise all gods and goddesses equally with some versions focusing more on Shiva.{{sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=35, 185, 199, 239-242}}}} [[Kurma Purana|Kūrma Purana]],{{refn|group=note|name=v1}} [[Mārkandeya Purana]],{{refn|group=note|This text includes the famous Devi-Mahatmya, one of the most important Goddess-related text of the [[Shaktism]] tradition in Hinduism.{{sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=191-192}}}} [[Brahmānda Purana]]

| [[Vaishnava|Vaiṣṇava]]:{{sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=59-61}} || [[Vishnu Purana]], [[Bhagavata Purana]], [[Nāradeya Purana]], [[Garuda Purana]], [[Vayu Purana]], [[Varaha Purana]]{{refn|group=note|name=v2|Hazra includes this in Vaishnava category.{{sfn|Hazra|1987|pp=96-97}}}}[[Matsya Purana]], [[Bhavishya Purana]]{{refn|group=note|name=v1}}

The Skanda Purana has received renewed scholarly interest ever since the late 20th-century discovery of a [[Nepal]]ese 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.<ref name="R Andriaensen 1994 pages 325-331">R Andriaensen et al (1994), Towards a critical edition of the Skandapurana, Indo-Iranian Journal, Vol. 37, pages 325-331</ref>

The Puranas, states [[Kees W. Bolle|Kees Bolle]], are best seen as "vast, often encyclopedic" works from ancient and medieval India.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Kee |last=Bolle |date=Winter 1963 |jstor=1062068 |title=Reflections on a Puranic Passage |journal=History of Religions |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=286-291}}</ref> 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){{Sfn|Glucklich|2008|p=146, Quote: The earliest promotional works aimed at tourists from that era were called ''mahatmyas''}} to cosmetics, from festivals to astronomy.{{sfn|Bailey|2003|p=139}}<ref>{{harvnb|Rocher|1986|pp=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.</ref> Like encyclopedias, they were updated to remain current with their times, by a process called ''Upabrimhana''.{{sfn|Inden|2000|pp=94-95}} However, some of the 36 major and minor Puranas are more focused handbooks, such as the Skanda Purana, Padma Purana and Bhavishya Purana which deal primarily with ''Tirtha Mahatmyas'' (pilgrimage travel guides),{{Sfn|Glucklich|2008|p=146, Quote: The earliest promotional works aimed at tourists from that era were called ''mahatmyas''}} while Vayu Purana and Brahmanda Purana focus more on history, mythology and legends.{{sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=78-79}}