Puranas (Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on "Puranas", , page 915) are a vast genre of Hindu Literature that include a wide range of topics, especially legends and other traditional lore. The Puranas are known for the intricate layers of symbolism depicted within their stories. Composed originally in Sanskrit and other Indian languages,John Cort (1993), "An Overview of the Jaina Puranas" in Purana Perennis: Reciprocity and Transformation in Hindu and Jaina Texts, (Editor: Wendy Doniger), State University of New York Press, , pages 185-204 several of these texts are named after major Hindu deities such as Devi, Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma. The Puranic 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, queens, heroes, heroines, sages, rituals, other gods, other goddesses, folktales, pilgrimages, temples, medicine, astronomy, grammar, mineralogy, humor, love stories, 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 Mahapuranas are traditionally attributed to Vyasa, but many scholars consider them 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 (Major Puranas) and 18 Upapuranas (Minor Puranas), with over 400,000 verses. The first versions of various Puranas were likely to have been composed between 3rd and 10th century CE. While the Puranas do not have the authority of a scripture in Hinduism and are considered Smritis, they shaped Hinduism more than the Vedas, providing a "culture synthesis" in weaving and integrating the diverse beliefs of a great number of local traditions into the Vedic-Brahmanic fold. The Puranas praise many gods and goddesses and the religious practices included in them are considered Vaidika (congruent with Vedic literature).Dominic Goodall (1996), Hindu Scriptures, University of California Press, , page xxxix 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.BN Krishnamurti Sharma (2008), A History of the Dvaita School of Vedānta and Its Literature, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 128-131
Etymology Douglas Harper, creator of the Online Etymology Dictionary, states that the etymological origins of Puranas are from Sanskrit purāṇah, 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-."Douglas Harper (2015), Purana , Etymology Dictionary
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, the Atharva Veda mentions purana (in the singular) in XI.7.24 and XV.6.10-11:
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 a 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 Dharmashastras, Apastamba Dharmasutra and Gautama Dharmasutra, which mention Puranas that resemble the extant Puranas.
Another early mention of the term itihasapurana 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".Thomas Colburn (2002), Devī-māhātmya: The Crystallization of the Goddess Tradition, Motilal Banarsidass, , page 24-25 The Brhadaranyaka Upanishad also refers to Purana as the "fifth Veda".Brhadaranyaka Upanisad 2.4.10, 4.1.2, 4.5.11. Satapatha Brahmana (SBE, Vol. 44, pp. 98, 369).
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 beings, the other as a human sage named Vyasa as the arranger of already existing material into eighteen Puranas. In early references, states Coburn, the term purana occurs in the singular, unlike the later era which refers to a plural form presumably because they had assumed their "multifarious form".
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 come 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 CE under the rule of the Gupta kings and queens", 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 7th century BCE or even earlier.
Dating 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 the Bhagavata Purana and Vishnu Purana, 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 the Markandeya Purana to (with one portion dated to c. 550 CE), the Matsya Purana to c. 250–500 CE, the Vayu Purana to c. 350 CE, the Harivamsa and the Vishnu Purana to c. 450 CE, the Brahmanda Purana to c. 350–950 CE, the Vamana Purana to c. 450–900 CE, the Kurma Purana to c. 550–850 CE, and the Linga Purana to c. 600–1000 CE.
Texts
Mahapuranas Of the many texts designated 'Puranas' the most important are the s 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 list of Mahapuranas is mentioned in the Vishnu Purana, part 3, chapter 6, verses 21–24. The number of verses in each Mahapurana is mentioned in the Bhagavata Purana, part 12, chapter 13, verses 4–9.
S.No. Maha Purana Verses number Description 1 Brahma 10,000 verses Sometimes also called Adi Purana, because many Mahapuranas lists put it first of 18. The text has 245 chapters, shares many passages with Vishnu, Vayu, Markendeya Puranas, and with the Mahabharata. Includes mythology, theory of war, art work in temples, and other cultural topics. Describes holy places in Odisha, and weaves themes of Vishnu and Shiva, but hardly any mention of deity Brahma despite the title. 2 Padma 55,000 verses A large compilation of diverse topics, it describes cosmology, the world and nature of life from the perspective of Vishnu. It also discusses festivals, numerous legends, geography of rivers and regions from northwest India to Bengal to the kingdom of Tripura, major sages of India, various Avatars of Vishnu and his cooperation with Shiva, a story of Rama-Sita that is different from the Hindu epic Ramayana. The north Indian manuscripts of Padma Purana are very different from south Indian versions, and the various recensions in both groups in different languages (Devanagari and Bengali, for example) show major inconsistencies. Like the Skanda Purana, it is a detailed treatise on travel and pilgrimage centers in India. 3 Vishnu 23,000 verses One of the most studied and circulated Puranas, it also contains genealogical details of various dynasties. Better preserved after the 17th century, but exists in inconsistent versions, more ancient pre-15th century versions are very different from modern versions, with some versions discussing Buddhism and Jainism. Some chapters likely composed in Kashmir and Punjab region of South Asia. A Vaishnavism text, focused on Vishnu. 4 Shiva 24,000 verses The Shiva Purana is one of eighteen Purana genre of Sanskrit texts in Hinduism, and part of the Shaivism literature corpus. It primarily centers around the Hindu god Shiva and goddess Parvati, but references and reveres all gods.