The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c24.21

v1.c24.21

At what period the eighteen Purāṇas assumed their distinctive titles is uncertain. It was no doubt long after they had ceased to be regarded as repositories of historical information, for they are grouped in the traditional lists entirely according to their religious character. It has sometimes been supposed that one of their number is the immediate source of all the others; but it seems more probable that they belong to several groups which represent different lines of tradition. Possibly the Purāṇas which are narrated by the Sūta may belong to one such group, and those which are narrated by Maitreya to another. One at least of the present titles may be traced back to an early period; for the Bhavishya or Bhavishyat Pur., the ninth in the list, is quoted in the Dharma Sūtra of Āpastamba (II, 9, 24, 6) which cannot be later than the second century B.C. and may possibly be still more ancient.¹ But as a rule early references to this traditional lore describe it generally as Purāṇa or Itihāsa-Purāṇa, a class of literature which, as we have seen, undoubtedly goes back at least to the time of the Atharvaveda.