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Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s3.t12: Puranas

Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.s3.t12

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English

Puranas

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Puranas refer to ancient Hindu texts that narrate the history of the universe and appeared after the Vedas, Brahmanas, Upanishads and the two Hindu epics. They are also known as *Pancalaksaṇa*, referring to five subjects recorded in these books: 1. The creation of the universe; 2. Recreations after the destruction of the universe; 3. Genealogy of the gods and sages;

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'Bhavisya Purāna', front cover of the English edition

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4. The epoch of the Manu’s rule; 5. The histories of the patriarchs of various dynasties. After the 7ᵗʰ century CE, the *Puranas* kept being enlarged, and someone proposed 10 subjects. However, the basic contents of the *Puranas* are myths and legends, and there are a great number of Puranic texts, mainly including major 18 Puranas and minor 18 Puranas, and the former are more important and widely disseminated, and include the following:

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**1. Brahma Purana**, contains about 10,000 verses, first, narrates the origin of the name of the book, the creation of the universe, various epochs under the rule of Manu, genealogy of patriarchs of solar and lunar dynasties, upper world, lower world, stars and the like, then describes the holy places of Hinduism in detail and narrates the legends of Krishna, and lastly, then describes sacrifice rituals, responsibilities of the gods, the stages of the life,

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'Samudra manthan (The Churning of Ocean)', a Basohli painting, 1700 CE

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Vishnu worship, division of the epochs, and also mentions the Yoga school and Samkhya, which are among the six ancient Hindu schools of philosophy.

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**2. Padma Purana** has about 55,000 verses, and is as long as half of the *Mahabharata* and is the longest Puranic texts. It can be divided into five sections (or seven sections in some editions). (1) *The section of Creation* described the origin of its name, and says Brahma was born from a lotus and created the world, then describes the division of time, epochs and various periods under the Manu’s rule, genealogy of dynasties, and birth and responsibilities of castes; it also contains names and tales of some holy places, such as devas and asuras churning the Ocean of Milk, Vishnu killing the demon Madhu and turning into a boar to kill the demon Hiranyaksha. It also describes the stories of Shiva, Parvati and Skanda. At last, it mentions the worship of the Ganges and Sun, exhorts on women’s fidelity and the poor man’s lack of greed. (2) *The section of Earth*, firstly tells that Kashyapa’s two wives gave birth to a number of devas and asuras, and then explains, that through the mouth Kashyapa, came reality and non-reality of the world, soul, life and death as well as other philosophical concepts, and then explains the nature of dharma through Vasishtha. In the end it tells a variety of stories about observing and not observing dharma, including Yayati in the *Mahabharata*. (3) *The section of Heaven* begins with a description of Vishnu worship, and then proceeds to narrate the creation of the world, the formation of five elements, India’s major mountains, rivers, ancient kingdoms and four epochs, and responsibilities of four castes and four stages of human life and then teaches how to worship Vishnu to purify evils. (4) *The section of Netherworld* mainly offers quite a complete story about Rama but a considerable part is devoted to his father Dasharatha and his two sons; (5) *The final section* is in the form of a dialogue between Shiva and Parvati. It narrates the meaning and effect of Vishnu Worship and then describes the essential knowledge of religion, it goes on to talk about the God of Saturn and Dashratha, the 12 months and relevant rituals and ceremonies, and tells in details the benefits of listening to the *Bhagavad Gita* and eight avatars of Vishnu, and at last, it mentions Vishnu worship and four epochs.

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An image from 'Bhagavata Purana'

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3. **Vishnu Purana**, has about 23,000 verses, consisting of six parts. The first part begins with the origin of the universe, the formation of the Heaven and Earth, genealogy of devas, division of the epochs, as well as the questions about Dharma, sages and the *Vedas*, then answers them one-by-one and narrates a number of myths and legends. The second part starts with descendants of Manu and their rule in seven states, and then gives a special introduction of one of these states, Jambudvipa and Mount Neru located in its centre, mentions ancient Indian states, mountains, rivers, other states as well as the Sun, Moon, stars, seasons, months and the like and ends with tales about Bharata. The third part commences with seven epochs of Manu, gives a forecast for them and then introduces the four *Vedas* and *Puranas* and other texts, responsibilities of four castes, four stages of human life, while interweaving with some stories. The fourth part centres on genealogy of solar and lunar dynasties and interwoven with some tales of the kings, such as Rama, Vikramorvasi, Krishna, Yayati and Shantanu. The fifth part offers a thorough story about Krishna. The sixth part begins with the division of four epochs with focus on struggles in the fourth epoch, and then teaches morality, karma, reincarnation, beneficence, religious practice etc. The supremacy of Vishnu is highlighted in the entire book.

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4. **Shiva Purana** (or Vayu Purana) has about 24,000 verses, consists of seven sections, which focusses on extraordinary deeds of Shiva, his wives and two sons. It narrates that Shiva is the origin of the universe and from his left Vishnu is born and from his right Brahma is born. He commands Brahma to create the world, and from Brahma, devas and sages come. Shiva is reincarnated as Sati, who gives birth to the daughter of Daksha Prajapati. Sati marries Shiva and burns herself because her father does not invite her husband Shiva to a sacrificial ceremony. Sati is reincarnated as Parvati, the daughter of the king of Himalayas. Kama attempts to make Shiva fall in love with Parvati and thus shot an arrow at Shiva, but gets burned into ashes by the third eye of Shiva. Parvati marries Shiva. It also tells the stories of Skanda and Ganesa as well as explains the meaning of Linga cult and several holy places of Linga.

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5. **Bhagavata Purana** (also known as Sukhasagara), has about 18,000 verses and is the most widespread Puranic text in India, consisting of 12 sections, which are subdivided into chapters. The first section begins with an account of merits and virtues of Vishnu, mentions 24 avatars of Vishnu, and then describes the situation after the great battle as told in the *Mahabharata*. The second section describes the creation of the world and avatars of Vishnu. The third section praises Krishna, and tells in details the creation of the world and two avatars of Vishnu. The fourth section describes the genealogy of the first Manu, tales of Shiva, and legends of pole star and stories of some pious Vishnu prominent place in this text and many tales are closely related to the *Mahabharata*, including the tale of Goddess Durga killing the demon, which is included in the book at later times. Like other Puranic texts, it also describes seven states, Manu periods, castes, life and death, heaven, hell, morality and rites.

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'Bhagavata Purana-Royal Tour of Krishna', first half of 16th century CE

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Painting showing Krishna lifting the Govardhan Mountain

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8. **Agni Purana** has about 15,000 verses and starts with the stories of Shiva’s 10 incarnations and then the Linga (Shiva) and Durga worship, and the rest covers a variety of subjects, including politics, warfare, law, Vedas, Puranas, medicine, verses, grammar, astrology, rituals, astronomy, geography etc. It has certain association with esoteric Buddhism and gives a prominent place to rules concerning how to draw mandala, to pray, to build a temple and to place various statues in the temple.

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9. **Bhavishya Purana** has about 14,500 verses, and its name suggests, it is a book forecasting the future, but actually it is quite disorderly, and might not be the original text. It has three sections. The section of *Brahma* begins with the description of the creation of the world, perhaps being derived from the *Manu Smrti*, and then discusses epochs, castes and duties of women. The section of *Pratisarga* focusses on kings and their deeds, covering kingdoms and kings in India and even in China, and at the last part of this section, several Muslim rulers are mentioned, including Timur, Humayun and Akbar. This indicates that it was compiled at a much later time, no earlier than the 16^th century, since Akbar died in 1605. The section of *Uttara* describes various sins and the horror of the hell as well as sacrificial rituals, offerings, prayers ad incantations, teaching people how to attain liberation and ascend to the heaven.

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worshippers. The fifth section begins with the relations between family life and spiritual liberation as well as stories of several kings, and then describes seven lakes on the earth, the Sun, the Moon and stars in the sky, realms under the earth and hells. The sixth section describes the achievements of some Vishnu worshippers. The seventh section focusses on the lion-man incarnation of Vishnu. The eighth section narrates that a king is cursed and turns into an elephant, but ascends to the heaven for worshipping Vishnu, and also narrates tales of Vishnu turning into turtle, dwarf and fish. The ninth section describes the genealogy of the seventh Manu, whose descendents are divided into two parts, with his son founding the Solar Dynasty and his daughter in Lunar Dynasty, and stories of several kings of these two dynasties are also told. The 10^th section is the longest, and offers an elaborate account on the life of Krishna. In the 11^th section, Krishna accomplishes his mission and ascends to the heaven. The 12^th section describes the genealogy of the kings in the struggle after Krishna dies, various social evils and the destruction of the world, and tells people to listen to the deeds of Vishnu and to meditate on Vishnu so as to be liberated ultimately.

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6. **Narada Purana** has about 25,000 verses and is a handbook about the Vishnu sect. It consists of two parts. The first part describes the origin of the world. Narayana (ie Vishnu) is the origin and from his right Brahma was born. From the middle Rudra and from the left Vishnu were born. He created the world in the form of Brahma, protects it in the form of Vishnu and destroys it in the form of Shiva. It then goes to explain karma, Vishnu worship, ethics and rites, knowledge and religious cultivation, and is interwoven with many legends and myths. The second part begins with rites, taboos, education, mathematics, grammar, astronomy, phonology and ends with how to worship Vishnu and his incarnations.

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7. **Markandeya Purana** has about 9,000 verses. It may be the oldest Puranic text, though it contains something of later times as well. Indra, Agni and Surya, rather than Vishnu and Shiva, have a

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[Figure: Mount Sumeru, regarded as the centre of the universe by Hindus and Buddhists]

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**10. Brahmavaivarta Purana** has about 18,000 verses, consisting of four parts ie *Brahma*, *Prakriti*, *Ganesha* and *Krsna Janma*, separately describing the creation of the world and tales of five goddesses, Ganesa (son of Shiva and Parvati) and Krishna, with the focus on the tales of Krishna.

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**11. Linga Purana** has about 11,000 verses, consisting of two parts. The first part describes the creation of the universe, attributing its origin and supreme master to Shiva and also narrates Shiva's 28 avatars as well as Linga worship, astronomy, geography, genealogy of the kings etc. The second part contains tales about Linga and introduces yoga as a method for a unity between individual soul (atman) and ultimate soul (Shiva).

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**12. Varaha Purana** contains about 24,000 verses, focusses on prayers, rituals, practices, daily behaviours of the Vishnu sect and is interwoven with a number of myths. It also describes the holy places of the Vishnu sect and tales of Shiva and Durga.

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**13. Skanda Purana** is alleged to have about 81,000 verses, but the original text is lost and existing copies are quite chaotic. Generally, it is considered to include six books and 50 sections, but this is not conclusive. One edition is divided into six parts: (1)*Mahesvara* narrates how Shiva wreaks havoc at the sacrifice held by Daksha Prajapati and defeating all devas, including Vishnu, Brahma and Indra, then tells the tales of Rama, Ravana and the churning of the Ocean of Milk, and at last, Shiva worship is discussed. (2) *Vishnu* begins with Vishnu turning into a boar, then describes the effect of pilgrimage and bath in the sacred river. It then goes to discuss the study of the *Puranas* and different effects of worshipping Vishnu in different months. It also mentions Ramanuja, a Vishnu philosopher in the Medieval Ages who died in 12ᵗʰ century CE. So, this part might be compiled quite late and was forcefully included by the Vishnu sect. (3) *Brahma* mainly introduces some holy places and describes how to be liberated by experiencing Vishnu. This is connected with the Hindu piety movement in the Middle Ages, so, it might be compiled late as well. (4) *Kasi*, also known as Benares (present-day Varanasi), may be an original part of this *Purana*. It lists holy Hindu places and benefits of pilgrimage to these holy places, and then focusses on introducing Kasi and Shiva sites in Kasi. (5) *Avantya*, mainly introduces sacred sites in Avantya, an ancient city and centre of culture (present-day north of the Narmada River and Ujjain in central India), and uses some stories to demonstrate the benefits of pilgrimage to these places. (6) *Rewa*, is the name of a sacred river, which is also known as Narmada River and located in the south of Vindhyas, flows from east to west into the Arabian Sea. It mainly

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*Worship of Linga and Yoni, an Indian painting*

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focusses on miracles, myths and legends related to this sacred river.

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**14. Vamana Purana** has about 10,000 verses, describes avatars stories of Vishnu and focusses on Shiva sites, Linga worship and tales of Shiva, Parvati, Skanda and Ganesa.

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**15. Kurma Purana** has about 17,000 verses, focusses on praising Shiva, narrating avatars stories of Shiva, introducing Shiva sites and telling people how to know Shiva through meditation and to acquire the supreme knowledge through pious rituals.

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**16. Matsya Purana** has about 14,000 verses and is deemed as a very old text that also contains later additions. Many of its stories, such as Pururavas, Vikramorvasi, Yayati, described the battles between devas and demons, the churning of the Ocean of Milk and Savitri, are consistent with the *Mahabharata*. Like other *Puranas*, it also describes the major 18 *Puranas*, nine celestial bodies, seven states, four epochs, avatars of Vishnu, Vishnu killing the demon, birth of Mars, genealogy of dynasties, responsibilities of the kings, family rituals, ceremonies, religious festivals, astrology, dream interpretation, law, morality and the like.

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**17. Garuda Purana** has about 19,000 verses, consists of three parts: (1) *Karma* introduces medicine, worship, law, astronomy and geography; (2) *Dhamm* describes life and death, karma, liberation and funeral rites; (3) Brahmam tells the supremacy and sacred places of Vishnu. But, some editions directly divide the book into 18 chapters. Chapters 1-4 describe horrors of hell and evils leading to hell. Chapter 5 explains the supremacy of Vishnu and the meaning of following the dharma.

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Chapters 6-7 deal with karma, samsara, 10 avatars of Vishnu, and means of being liberated from samsara. Chapters 8-11 introduces sacrificial rituals for the dead. Chapter 12 describes the size of the hell. Chapter 13 discusses human pulses and veins and ways of meditation. Chapter 14 tells how to be eternally freed from sufferings in this world. Chapter 15 introduces some knowledge about medicine and healthcare. Chapter 16-17 introduce the meaning and ways of Vishnu worship, and Chapter 18 describes the creation of the universe, devas and demons.

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**18. Brahmanda Purana** now exists with about 12,000 verses as the original text has already been lost. It contains hymns and legends, covering the creation of the world, genealogy of the sages, history of kings, the Manu periods, deeds of outstanding figures, continents in the world, seven holy mountains, celestial bodies, constellation, avatars of Vishnu and fights between devas and demons etc.

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Some contents of the Puranas were introduced into China along with Buddhist texts, among which, for instance, Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma appear as guardians, and after 7^th century, under esoteric Buddhism, even their spouses and carriers are given a place in the temple as well as in the mandala. Some of their avatars became very influential in China. For example, Mahakala, who evolves from Shiva, had a great influence on China in the 13^th and 14^th centuries, and up to now, is still worshipped among Tibetans, Mongolians, Bai people and other ethnic groups. In modern times, a brief introduction was offered by some Chinese scholars, for example, by Xu Dishan in *Indian Literature* (1930) by Jin Kemu in *A History of Sanskrit Literature* (1964), by Huang Baosheng in *The Literature of Ancient India* (1988) and by Ji Xianlin (chief editor) in the *Ancient Indian Literature* (1991) and Wang Xiaodan translated some myths and legends, which were included the 4^th Volume of the *Oriental Myths and Legends* edited by Xue Keqiao (1999).

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(Xue Keqiao)

Linked texts (26)