Component-I (A) – Personal Details
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Component-I (A) – Personal details: Prof. P. Bhaskar Reddy Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. Prof. V. Venkata Ramana Reddy Director, O.R.I., S. V.University, Tirupati. Prof. V. Venkata Ramana Reddy Director, O.R.I., S. V.University, Tirupati. Prof. V. Kannan University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad. Component-I (B) – Description of module: Subject Name Indian Culture Paper Name Vedic, Epic and Puranic culture of India Module Name/Title Origin, Development and General Survey of Puranas Module Id I C / VEPC / 31 Pre requisites Knowledge in later Vedic literature and importance of Puranas To know about the origin, development, content Objectives Classification and Overview of important Puranas Keywords Purana / Vedavyasa E-text (Quadrant-I): 1. Introduction Purana, (Sanskrit: “Ancient”) in the sacred literature of Hinduism, any of a number of popular encyclopaedic collections of myth, legend, and genealogy, varying greatly as to date and origin. The holy Puranas are a vast treasure of literary and spiritual knowledge that throw light on past, present and future. It is said that the Puranas are the richest collection of mythological information in this world. In totality, the Eighteen Puranas contain information about ancient myths and folklores that pertain to some form of spiritual knowledge. Each of these Puranas is a book of hymns, stories, knowledge and instructions regarding sacred rituals and the way life should be led. It contains cosmic knowledge and how the universe affects our living. Traditionally, there are supposed to be 18 major Puranas. Puranas were written almost entirely in narrative couplets, in much the same easy flowing style as the two great Sanskrit epic poems, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. The early Puranas were probably compiled by upper-caste authors who appropriated popular beliefs and ideas from people of various castes. Later Puranas reveal evidence of vernacular influences and the infusion of local religious traditions. These religious scriptures discuss varied topics like devotion to God in his various aspects, traditional sciences like Ayurveda, Jyotish, cosmology, and concepts like dharma, karma, reincarnation and many other Sages. The Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography. Puranas usually give prominence to a particular deity, usually written in the form of stories related by one person to another. Brahmin scholars read from them and tell their stories, usually in Katha sessions (in which a traveling Brahmin settles for a few weeks in a temple and narrates parts of a Purana). Time period of Puranas Most of them attained their final form around 500 A.D. but they were passed on as an oral tradition since the time of Krishna (c. 1500 B.C.). In reference to the Origin of Indian Puranas, an early reference is found in the Chandogya Upanishad 500 BCE. Author of Puranas Sage Vedavyasa The Puranas are part of Hindu Smriti. Sage Vyasa is credited with compilation of Puranas from age Yuga to age, and for the current age, he has been identified and named Krishna Dvaipayana, the son of sage Parashara. According to tradition they were written by Vyasa at the end of Dvapara Yuga, while modern scholarship dates them to the latter half of the first millennium AD. Vyasa is credited with compilation of Puranas from age Yuga to age, and for the current age, he has been identified and named Krishna Dvaipayana, the son of sage Parashara. According to tradition they were written by Vyasa at the end of Dvapara Yuga, while modern scholarship dates them to the latter half of the first millennium AD. One of the main objectives of the Puranas was to make available the essence of the Vedas to the common man, and the Vedas were basically meant not for the scholars but for the ordinary man. They bring forth the Vedic knowledge and teachings by way of myths; parables, allegories and stories; legends; life stories of kings and other prominent persons; and chronologies of historical events. The Puranas unfolds the principles of Hinduism in a very simple way. In all these Puranas the goddess Lakshmi is given a laudable place without any sectarian dispute. In the Vaishnavite Puranas, Shiva starts telling the efficacy of Vishnu to the Goddess Parvati. While Shaiva mythology places goddess Parvati, the consort of Shiva, as one half of His body (ardha naareeshvara tattva), Vaishnavites place the Goddess Lakshmi in the heart of Vishnu itself, as if it were a lotus (hridaya kamala). This is to depict the inseparable union of Universal purusha and prakriti, seed and field, or male and female. Puranas (aka Puranams) usually refer to the Mahapuranas. There are also smaller Puranas known as Upapurananas. It is 2. Contents of Puranas The Puranas are the basis for getting knowledge about history, culture and heritage of the bygone eras. Most of the puranas provide details of the lineages and the role they provided in the upliftment of the society. The Puranas are the richest collection of mythology in the world. With the Origin of Indian Puranas, the civilization was introduced to various cosmic concepts. The mass can learn about the Sarga; the creation of the universe, the Pratisarga; Secondary creations, mostly recreations after dissolution, the Vamsa; Genealogy of gods and sages, the Manvantara; The creation of the human race and the first human beings. The epoch of the Manus' rule, seventy one celestial Yugas or 308,448,000 years and the Vamsanucaritam: Dynastic histories. The Brhadaranyaka Upanishad refers to Purana as the "fifth Veda" and reflects the early religious importance of these myths. The term also appears in the Atharvaveda. According to Pargiter, it is believed that, the original Purana were written during the final redaction of the Vedas. In addition to that, Gavin Flood also connects the commencement of the written Purana. According to historical chronicles, the Puranas are related to each other. However, each of them presents a view of ordering of the world from a particular perspective. Since the Origin of Indian Puranas, these texts are given due importance and they were compiled by particular groups of Brahmins to propagate a particular vision. The texts narrate tale and legends of several deities such as Vishnu, Shiva or Goddess Durga. The Puranas come in various vernacular translations and are spread by Brahmin scholars. These texts are disseminated from one generation to another orally. 3. Classification of Puranas There are eighteen major Puranas and a few minor ones. Each is a long book consisting of various stories of the Gods and Goddesses, hymns, an outline of ancient history, cosmology, rules of life, rituals, and instructions on spiritual knowledge. Hence the Puranas are like encyclopedias of religion and culture and contain material of different levels and degrees of difficulty. Veda Vyasas scripted Eighteen Main Puranas besides several Upa-Puranas. The Main Puranas are Brahma Purana, Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Brahmanda Purana, Bhagavata Purana, Vishnu Purana, Matsya Purana, Kurma Purana, Varaha Purana, Vamana Purana, Shiva Purana, Linga Purana, Skanda Purana, Markandeya Purana, Agni Purana, Narada Purana, Padma Purana, Bhavishya and Garuda Purana. Some of the prominent Upa Puranas include Devi Bhagavata, Narasimha, Vayu, Sthala and Nilamata Puranas. 3.1 . Major Puranas 18 Puranas, which can be understood from the following three heading: 3.1.1. Sattvic puranas – glorifying lord Vishnu (1) Vishnu Purana (2) Naradiya Purana (3) Srimad Bhagavata Purana (4) Garuda (Suparna) Purana (5) Padma Purana (6) Varaha Purana 3.1.2. Rajasic puranas – glorifying lord Brahma (7) Brahma Purana (8) Brahmanda Purana (9) Brahma Vaivarta Purana (10) Markandeya Purana (11) Bhavishya Purana (12) Vamana Purana 3.1.3. Tamasic puranas – glorifying lord Shiva (13) Matsya Purana (14) Kurma Purana (15) Linga Purana (16) Siva Purana (17) Skanda Puarana (18) Agni Purana 3.2 Minor Puranas (Upa- Puranas) Apart from 18 Puranas there are 18 Upa-Puranas which are ancillary texts. They include: Sanat-kumara, Narasimha, Brihan-naradiya, Siva-rahasya, Durvasa, Kapila, Vamana, Bhargava, Varuna, Kalika, Samba, Nandi, Surya, Parasara, Vasishtha, Devi- Bhagavata, Ganesha, Mudgala, and Hamsa. The Ganesha and Mudgala Puranas are devoted to Ganesha. The Devi-Bhagavata Purana, which extols the goddess Durga, has become (along with the Devi Mahatmya of the Markandeya Purana) a basic text for Devi worshiper 18 Upa-Puranas which are as under:- (1) Sanatkumara (2) Narasimha (3) Brihannaradiya (4) Sivarahasya (5) Durvasa (6) Kapila (7) Vamana (8) Bhargava (9) Varuna (10) Kalika (11) Samba (12) Nandi (13) Surya (14) Parasara (15) Vasishtha (16) Devi-Bhagavata (17) Ganesha (18) Hamsa 4. Overview of Important Puranas 4.1. Bhagavata (18,000 verses) The most celebrated and popular of the Puranas, telling of Vishnu’s ten Avatars. Its tenth and longest canto narrates the deeds of Krishna, introducing his childhood exploits : It is said that after Vyasadeva finished writing Puranas, he still felt like something was missing. At this moment, Narada Muni suggested Vyasadeva to start writing Srimad Bhagvatam. This was vyasadevas most important work as it contains the in-depth description of Lord Vishnus various incarnations and also entails a description of Lord Krishna’s life. It has 12 chapters in it with about 18,000 verses. After the completion of this purana, Vyasa taught this knowledge to his son Suka Bramha Rishi. After learning about Bhagvata purana, 4.2. Bhavishya: It is the 11th purana and contains a detailed narrative of the genesis, stories of different gods and their reincarnations, special description of Lord Vishnu, Shiva and Surya. It is in the Bhavishya purana that an exact prediction on Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohammad, Adam and Eve, the extinction of Sanskrit, Buddha, Asoka, Krishna Chaitnya, etc.