Ancient Indian Historical Tradition c7.93

c7.93

After the original Purana was composed, by Vyāsa as is said, his disciple Romaharṣaṇa taught it to his son Ugraśravas,⁴ and Ugraśravas the sauti appears as the reciter in some of the present Puranas;⁵ and the sūtas still retained the right to recite it for their livelihood.⁶ But, as stated above, Romaharṣaṇa taught it to his six disciples, at least five of whom were brahmans. It thus passed into the hands of brahmans, and their appropriation and development of it increased in the course of time, as the Purana grew into many Puranas, as Sanskrit learning became peculiarly the province of the brahmans,⁷ and as new and frankly sectarian Puranas were composed. How they dealt with these subjects is explained thus—‘Wise men, extracting valuable matters everywhere from the multitude of ancient stories (or the Puranas), have described things in many ways in various Puranas.’⁸ This also acknowledges that the Puranas grew up in various localities.