The Geography of the Puranas c13.s4.1

c13.s4.1

The Purāṇas are evidently based on the Vedas but they derive mostly from the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata—which represent the mytho-heroic stage of Hindū belief. Since the Purāṇas belong to a much later stage, they naturally present important modifications in the progress of opinion. They expand and systematise the theoretical cosmogony of the later epics. As the ultimate source is the same, it will be seen that their theories regarding cosmology, cosmogony and cosmography present striking similarities in fundamentals with those which prevailed in western Asia and the Mediterranean lands.