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Studies in the Epics and Puranas c10: Chapter III: Vāyu Purāṇa versus Śiva Purāṇa

Studies in the Epics and Purāṇas c10

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Chapter III: Vāyu Purāṇa versus Śiva Purāṇa

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Mahāmahopādhyāya Dr. Haraprasāda Śāstri observes with regard to the list of eighteen Purāṇas given in almost all the Purāṇas that MSS being rare in ancient times, copyists collected all sorts of information in their copy, which was subsequently transferred from marginal notes to the body of the text.¹ This satisfactorily explains how individual Purāṇas which are obviously products of different times and climes came to contain the names of all the Purāṇas, especially of those which came into vogue later on. Now, there is a difference of opinion among the lists regarding the fourth place in the Purāṇas, some mentioning the Śiva, and others the Vāyu. To be exact, the Bhāgavata, Brahmavaivarta, Kūrma, Liṅga, Mārkaṇḍeya, Padma, Varāha and Viṣṇu cast their vote in favour of the Śiva, while the Matsya, Nārada and Devibhāgavata vote for the Vāyu.² It is proposed to investigate the claims of the Śiva and Vāyu to be ranked as Mahāpurāṇa.

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¹ Descriptive Catalogue of Sanskrit MSS . . . Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. V, p. lxxxv.

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² Bhāgavata, XII. 7. 23ff; Brahmavaivarta, III. 133. 14ff; Kūrma, I. 1. 13ff; Liṅga, I. 36. 61ff; Mārkaṇḍeya, 137. 8ff; Padma, I. 62. 2ff; IV. III. 50ff; &c.; Varāha, 112. 74ff; Viṣṇu, III. 6. 21ff; Agni, 272. 4ff; Matsya, 53. 18; Nārada, I. 95. Majority of votes, as aptly observed by Dr. Winternitz, does not matter much in such inquiries (CR, Dec. 1924, p. 330). From the above, it appears that the majority is in favour of the Śiva. Under the circumstances it is rather surprising to find that Prof. Dikshitar states that "the majority of the Purāṇas agree that the Vāyu Purāṇa is a Mahāpurāṇa" (Some Aspects of the Vāyu Purāṇa, Madras, 1933, p. 2).

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At present there are two distinct works going respectively under the names of Śiva Purāṇa and Vāyu Purāṇa. The former has been published by the Venkateswar Press, Bombay,³ and the latter in the Bibliotheca Indica and the Anandasrama Series, both editions being practically identical.⁴ The printed Śiva Purāṇa is divided into seven Saṃhitās, the Vāyavīya being the seventh, and contains about twenty-four thousand Ślokas. The Vāyavīya Saṃhitā claims to be proclaimed by Vāyu and covers only four thousand Ślokas;⁵ the Vāyu, on the other hand, contains four parts and has twelve thousand Ślokas. In view of these facts, identity of the two works is clearly out of question. It is to be noted, however, that some descriptive Ślokas about the Purāṇas in different works state that the Vāyu is known as the Śaiva as it supports devotion to Śiva,⁶ and some MSS of the Vāyu Purāṇa read समाप्तं चेदं वायुपुराणं शिवापराह्नयम् at their colophon.⁷ This explains to a certain extent the confusion arising about the Vāyu being the Śiva Purāṇa. But it is clear that there is no doubt as to the Vāyu, alternatively known as Śiva, being quite distinct from the Śiva Purāṇa. The only ground for the association of the Śiva Purāṇa with the Vāyu Purāṇa is the fact that its last Saṃhitā, the Vāyavīya Saṃhitā, is stated to have been declared by Vāyu at the occasion of the Śvetakalpa. Whatever the basis for the confusion, the fact stands that the Śiva Purāṇa and the Vāyu Purāṇa are two distinct Purāṇas.

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³ Saṃvat 1982, Śake 1847.

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⁴ Calcutta, 1880-1889; Poona, 1905.

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⁵ Cf. Śiva Purāṇa, 1, 2, 48-55; the Vāyavīya Saṃhitā itself of the Śiva Purāṇa speaks of a Śaiva Purāṇa with 12 Saṃhitās and 100,000 stanzas (1. 1. 45-65). But this Śaiva is not available and it cannot be included in the Mahāpurāṇas as it would considerably swell the total number of verses of the Purāṇas which is stated to be 400,000.

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⁶ Cf. Revāmāhātmya: शिवभक्तिसमायोगात् शैवं तच्चापराह्नयम् । Bālambhatta in his commentary on the Mitākṣarā, p. 7, identifies the Śiva with the Vāyu (Kale, Purāṇa-nirīkṣaṇa, p. 62).

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⁷ Cf. Nos. 3587, 3588, 3589, 3595 in Eggeling's Catalogue of Sanskrit MSS in the Library of the India Office, Part VI.

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The number of Mahāpurāṇas being restricted by tradition to eighteen, both Śiva and Vāyu cannot be included in the number. Dr. Farquhar, however, has raised the number to twenty by including not only both the Śiva and Vāyu but also the Harivaṃśa;⁸ but there is no support either from tradition or from any other source for such a view. The Kūrma incorporates both the Śiva and Vāyu in its list, but the list appears to be defective as it omits the Agni which has been unanimously included in the Mahāpurāṇas by all the lists.⁹ As both Vāyu and Śiva cannot find a place in the Mahāpurāṇas one of them will have to be ruled out.

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⁸ ORLI, p. 139.

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⁹ So, Chaudhury, JBORS, XV, pp. 183-184, and Dikshitar, op. cit., p. 2. The list given in the Venkatesvara Ed. of the Kūrma (I. 1. 14), however, includes the Agni; that list raises another major problem about the relation between the Vāyu and the Brahmāṇḍa which, being beyond the scope of the present paper, will be dealt with separately.

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We shall first gather whatever particulars about the fourth Mahāpurāṇa (Śiva or Vāyu) we get from the Anukramaṇis, and see how far they apply to either of the texts known to us. It may be observed at the outset that much reliance cannot be placed on these Anukramaṇis as they are products of a comparatively late period, not earlier than the eleventh century A.D. The Nāradīya Purāṇa states:¹⁰ “The Vāyu Purāṇa

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¹⁰ Veṅkaṭeśvara Ed., I. 95. 1-16:

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शृणु विप्र प्रवक्ष्यामि पुराणं वायवीय कम् ।
यस्मिन् श्रुते लभेद्धाम रुद्रस्य परमात्मनः ॥ १ ॥
चतुर्विंशतिसाहस्रं तत्पुराणं प्रकीर्तितम् ।
श्वेतकल्पप्रसंगेन धर्मान्व्राह मारुतः ॥ २ ॥
तद्वायवीयमुदितं भागद्वयसमाचितम् ।
सर्गादिलक्षणं यत्र प्रोक्तं विप्र सविस्तरम् ॥ ३ ॥
मन्वन्तरेषु वंशाश्च राज्ञां ये यत्र कीर्तिताः ।
गयासुरस्य हननं विस्तराद्यत्र कीर्तितम् ॥ ४ ॥
मासानां चैव माहात्म्यं माघस्योक्तं फलाधिकम् ।
दानधर्मा राजधर्मा विस्तरेणोदितास्तथा ॥ ५ ॥
भूप तालककुव्योमचारिणां यत्र निर्णयः ।
व्रतादीनां च पूर्वोऽयं विभागः समुदाहृतः ॥ ६ ॥

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contains twenty-four thousand Ślokas; it has been declared by Vāyu in connection with the Śvetakalpa; and it has two parts. The Pūrva Bhāga contains in detail the Sarga, Vamśa, Manvantara as also the story of Gayāsura, and Māsamāhātmya, Dānadharma, Rāja-dharma, Vratas, etc. The Uttarabhāga deals with Revā (Narmadā) Māhātmya and Śiva-Māhātmya." The Revāmāhātmya supplies the following particulars:11 "The Vāyu has twenty-four thousand Ślokas; it contains Śivamāhātmya in the first part and Revā-māhātmya in the second." The Matsya simply states that in it are proclaimed various religious practices by Vāyu in connection with the Śvetakalpa, it has twenty-four thousand Ślokas, and contains Rudra-māhātmya.12 Before proceeding to apply these characteristics to the two works under consideration, it is worth while comparing all these statements among themselves. The only points about which all these accounts are unanimous are that the Vāyu Purāṇa has twenty-four thousand stanzas, has two parts and was

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उत्तरे तस्य भागे तु नर्मदातीर्थवर्णनम् ।
शिवस्य संहितोक्ता वै विस्तरेण मुनीश्वर ॥ ७ ॥
संहितेयं महापुण्या शिवस्य परमात्मनः ।
नर्मदाचरितं यत्र वायुना परिकीर्तितम् ॥ १६ ॥

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11. Revāmāhātmya:

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पुराणं यन्मयोक्तं हि चतुर्थं वायुसंज्ञितम् ।
चतुर्विंशतिसाहस्रं शिवमाहात्म्यसंयुतम् ॥
महिमानं शिवस्याह पूर्वे पाराशरः पुरा ।
अपराद्धं तु रेवाया माहात्म्यमतुलं मुने ॥
पुराणेप्सत्तं प्राहुः पुराणं वायुनोदितम् ।
शिवभक्तिसमायोगात्नामद्वयविभूषितम् ॥

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12. Matsya, 53. 18:

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श्वेतकल्पप्रसङ्गेन धर्मान्वायुरिहाब्रवीत् ।
यत्र तद्वायवीयं स्याद्रुद्रमाहात्म्यसंयुतम् ॥
चतुर्विंशसहस्राणि पुराणं तदिहोच्यते ॥

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declared by Vāyu in connection with the Śvetakalpa. The description as given in the Revāmāhātmya does not support the Nāradīya Purāṇa in maintaining that the Vāyu Purāṇa contained Sarga, Manvantara, etc. (the five characteristics of the Purāṇas), the Gayāsura episode, etc; both, however, agree that Revāmāhātmya forms the second part. The probable explanation for such contradictions seems to be that the writers of the Anukramaṇīs had different texts, the Anukramaṇīs themselves being quite late, and none of the texts these writers had before them has survived in its entirety. So, much caution is required before pronouncing against the genuineness of any Purāṇa on the testimony of these Anukramaṇīs alone.

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Now, coming first to the Śiva Purāṇa, we find that it is the Vāyavīya Saṃhitā alone of the work that is proclaimed by Vāyu in connection with the Śvetakalpa, and has two parts.¹³ The whole Purāṇa is not proclaimed by Vāyu, and hence on this simple ground alone, the whole work cannot be docketed as Vāyavīya Purāṇa. It, no doubt, preaches the greatness of Śiva, and also has sections on Dānadharma, etc., as stated in the Nāradīya; but there is no Gayāsura episode, no Revāmāhātmya, nor are there to be found chapters dealing with Sarga, Manvantara, etc. MSS of Revāmāhātmya are never found included in the MSS of either the Śiva or the Vāyu; they are always separately available and the colophon reads: वायुपुराणांतर्गतरेवा-माहात्म्य.¹⁴

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¹³ Cf. Vāyavīya Saṃhitā, 1. 1. 22-23:

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¹⁴ Cf. Eggeling, op. cit., Nos. 3595, 3596.

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वक्ष्यामि परमं पुण्यं पुराणं वेदसम्मितम् ।
शिवज्ञानार्णवं साक्षाद्भुक्तिमुक्तिफलप्रदम् ॥
शब्दार्थन्यायसंयुक्तैरागमाथैर्विभूषितम् ।
श्वेतकल्पप्रसंगेन वायुना कथितं पुरा ॥

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Supporters of the claims of the *Śiva Purāṇa* to be ranked as a Mahāpurāṇa base their evidence not only on the statements of the Purāṇa itself¹⁵ but on the fact that a quotation given by Śrīdhara Svāmin in his commentary on the *Bhāgavata Purāṇa* as from Vāyavīya¹⁶ is found in the *Śiva Purāṇa*.¹⁷ Not much reliance can be placed on the self-laudations of the Purāṇa, nor on the preliminary stanzas about the creation of the worlds, etc., bearing resemblance to the *Vāyu Purāṇa*, appended to the Vāyavīya Saṃhitā; for they are quite out of place in the context in the *Śiva Purāṇa*. The Purāṇa, as we shall show later on, belongs to quite a late date showing profound sectarian bias, and the author has incorporated stanzas proving not only its antiquity but conformity with the descriptions in the Anukramaṇis. With reference to the quotation from Śrīdhara Svāmin, it can at best prove that in the thirteenth century A.D. the *Śiva Purāṇa* was known in the South as the Vāyavīya (Saṃhitā), and had the same text as we have now. Mr. Chaudhury suggests as a possible explanation the probability of the *Śiva* completely eclipsing the *Vāyu* in the thirteenth-fourteenth century,—the period of Śrīdhara Svāmin—and people taking the Vāyavīya Saṃhitā to mean the *Vāyu Purāṇa*.¹⁸ The evidence of Nibandha-writers, however, runs counter to this theory, as they always quote from the *Vāyu* in preference to the *Śiva*,¹⁹ and they pertain

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¹⁵ Cf. *Śiva Purāṇa*, I. 2; VII. 1; etc.

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¹⁶ Śrīdhara Svāmin on *Bhāgavata*, I. 1. 4:

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¹⁷ Vāyavīya Saṃhitā, 1, 2, 88.

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¹⁸ JBORS, XV, p. 189.

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¹⁹ Cf. Hazra, Puranic Records on Hindu Rites and Customs, p. 14.

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तथा च वायवीये,
एतन्मनोरमं चक्रं मया सृष्टं विसृज्यते ।
यत्रास्य शीर्यते नेमिः स देशस्तपसः शुभः ॥

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to the same period during which the Vāyu Purāṇa is supposed to have gone out of currency. It may also be noted in this connection that though the Vāyu Purāṇa does not contain the exact quotation as given by Śrīdhara, it has a stanza sufficiently indicating a variant text.²⁰ So it is more plausible to suppose that Śrīdhara Svāmin had before him another version of the present Vāyu text. Then again, the number of Ślokas of the traditional Śiva Mahāpurāṇa (viz. 100,000), which is not available, will make the total number of stanzas of the Purāṇas more than 400,000. The number of stanzas of the portion of the printed Śiva that can strictly be called Vāyavīya is only about 4,000 as against the 24,000 given by the Anukramaṇīs. Thus we see that the description is not applicable to the printed Śiva Purāṇa.

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²⁰ Vāyu Purāṇa (Anandasrama Ed.), 2, 8:

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To turn next to the Vāyu Purāṇa, the number of stanzas is only 12,000 in the printed text. There is clear MS evidence to support the division of the Purāṇa in two parts.²¹ It has all the five characteristics²² of the Purāṇa as required by the Nāradīya description; but, as observed earlier, Revāmāhātmya is not found as part of the Vāyu Purāṇa but is separately available, and Gayāmāhātmya is available in the second part not in the first as stated by the Nāradīya. It declares the greatness of Śiva no doubt. As regards the objection that the Vāyu is not connected with the Śvetakalpa but with the Varāha-

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²¹ Cf. Eggeling, op cit., No. 3587 (fol. 220a):

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²² Cf. Sarga and Pratisarga in chs. 1, 3, 4, 102; Vamśa and Vamśānucarita in chs. 29ff, 33, 66ff; and Manvantaras in chs. 21, 57, 68, 84ff, 99.

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भ्रमतो धर्मचक्रस्य यत्र नेमिरशीर्यत ।
कर्मणा तेन विख्यातं नैमिषं मुनिपूजितम् ॥

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इति श्रीवायप्रोक्ते प्रजापतिवंशानुकीर्तनं नाम प्रथमं खंड समाप्तं ।

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kalpa, Dr. Hazra tries to meet it on the ground that there are indirect references to the Śvetakalpa in the Vāyu Purāṇa.²³ With regard to the number of stanzas it seems plausible that in the days of the Anukramaṇīs the text of the Vāyu had the Revāmāhātmya and other Māhātmyas forming the latter half, totalling 24,000 stanzas in all. MS evidence also seems to favour the view that there were some texts of the Vāyu which included Revāmāhātmya in the Uttarārdha, as it declares the present text to be the first part containing 12,000²⁴ stanzas. Thus the printed text answers, to a certain extent, the particulars of the first part of the Vāyu Purāṇa as given by the Anukramaṇī writers. The only material difference concerns the number of stanzas, and the likely explanation seems to be that during quite late times, the Revāmāhātmya was separated from the Vāyu MSS and was designated as वायुपुराणांतर्गत.²⁵

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²³ Hazra, op. cit., p. 14, n. 15.

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²⁴ Cf. MS No. XLI. B. 18 from the Adyar Library, which I had taken on loan. The colophon reads: इति श्रीमहापुराण वायुप्रोक्ते द्वादशसाहस्र्यां संहितायां ब्रह्माण्डावतं समाप्तं । . . . समाप्तं वायुपुराणपूर्वार्धम् । अतःपरं रेवामाहात्म्यं भविष्यति । All MSS, however, are unanimous in calling the Vāyu Purāṇa as द्वादशसाहस्री संहिता. MS No. 3599 in Eggeling's Catalogue ends: इति श्रीवायुपुराणे लक्ष्मीसंहितायां आनन्दकाननमाहात्म्ये . . . It thus appears that there were some Saṃhitās of the Vāyu Purāṇa which are not found included in the MSS of the Vāyu Purāṇa.

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²⁵ Internal evidence records the earlier tradition about the Vāyu Purāṇa which states that it consisted of 12,000 stanzas (Vāyu Purāṇa, Anandasrama Ed., 32. 66: एवं द्वादशसाहस्रं पुराणं कवयो विदुः ।) thus ruling out the Revāmāhātmya and going against the Anukramaṇī descriptions altogether. Taking stand on the Anukramaṇīs, it can be said that during their period, the Vāyu text was a bulky volume covering 24,000 stanzas and included Revāmāhātmya and Rudramāhātmya.

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It is thus seen that none of the descriptive particulars applies in toto to either of our texts; but the Vāyu Purāṇa answers the description in major particulars and hence is eligible for being included in the list of the Mahāpurāṇas especially as it possesses the characteristics of a Mahāpurāṇa which are absent in the Śiva Purāṇa.²⁶

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²⁶ Though strictly speaking the title Vāyavīya is not applicable to the other parts of the Śiva, besides the Seventh Saṃhitā, we have considered here the whole text.

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Apart from these considerations there are independent grounds, both positive and negative, internal and external, to show the applicability of the characteristics of a Mahāpurāṇa in the case of the Vāyu and its antiquity, and lateness and non-Mahāpurāṇa character of the Śiva Purāṇa.²⁷ In the first place, the Śiva has been ranked by some texts as an Upapurāṇa; the Vāyu has never been so classed²⁸ showing thereby that the Mahāpurāṇa character of the Vāyu was never challenged. The Vāyu Purāṇa has been assigned the oldest date among the Purāṇas by all Purāṇic scholars beginning with Professor H. H. Wilson. Mr. Chaudhury brings in the evidence of the Mahābhārata to show the antiquity and genuineness of the Vāyu Purāṇa.²⁹ The passage states that the Vāyu Purāṇa deals with the past and future (अतीतानागत) i.e. genealogies. It is to be noted in this connection that the Vāyu Purāṇa, as printed in the Bibliotheca Indica or the Ananda-srama Series, contains not only chapters on genealogies, but the text of the Vāyu has been proclaimed to be the oldest with regard to genealogies

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²⁷ Cf. Hazra, op. cit., p. 15; Winternitz, HIL, I, p. 553, n. 2.

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²⁸ While revising the article, I came across a single reference stating Vāyu to be an Upapurāṇa—cf. Hazra, op. cit., p. 13, n. 12.

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²⁹ JBORS, XV, p. 191; cf. also Jackson, JBBRAS, Cent. Mem. Vol. 1905, p. 68; Winternitz, HIL, I, p. 520 also n. 2. Mahābhārata, III. 191. 16:

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एतत्ते सर्वमाख्यातमतীतानागतं मया ।
वायुप्रोक्तमनुस्मृत्य पुराणमृषिसंस्तुतम् ॥

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also; they are absent in the Śiva Purāṇa (Vāyaviya Saṃhitā). This shows the spuriousness of the present Śiva in that it cannot be called by the alternative title of Vāyu, there being no reference to past and future in it.

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Five characteristics associated with the Purāṇas are found, in some form or other, in old Purāṇas, and the Vāyu is no exception. There are chapters dealing with all topics of the Purāṇas in the Vāyu, whereas the Śiva (Vāyaviya Saṃhitā) does not deal with Vamśa, Manvantara and Vamśānucarita; and most of what it says about Sarga and Pratisarga has its prototype in the Vāyu. The presence in the Vāyu Purāṇa of a number of Anuvaṃśa Ślokas and Gāthās, remnants from ancient bardic poetry, declares its antiquity;³⁰ their absence in the Śiva points the other way regarding its date. Though praising Śiva, the Vāyu Purāṇa is not a professedly sectarian work, indicating its compilation at an early period when sectarian zeal was not in full swing. The Vāyu devotes some chapters to the glorification of Viṣṇu³¹ and proclaims the unity of Śiva and Viṣṇu. To this extent it is certainly non-sectarian. The Śiva Purāṇa, on the other hand, is an encyclopaedia of Śiva ritual, seeking every opportunity to glorify Śiva and promulgate the importance, value and greatness of his cult. The Śiva Purāṇa has long descriptions, sermons and dissertations on Śiva worship, Liṅga ritual, feasts and fasts connected with Śiva, one thousand names of Śiva, etc., which show it to be a very late work. One further characteristic indicating the antiquity of the Vāyu Purāṇa is its division into four parts which, as observed by Dr. Kirfel,³² is the remnant of a very ancient division found in the Vāyu Purāṇa alone. The Śiva Purāṇa has none of these ancient peculiarities. It can be called Purāṇa only by courtesy,—a bulky, disconnected and frivolous book. It presupposes the existence of 26 Purāṇas,³³ has exaggerated descriptions of the heaven and earth, and describes late Tantric cult. By no stretch of imagination can the Śiva Purāṇa be pushed back to the period of the ancient Purāṇas, nor can it be called a Mahāpurāṇa. The earliest reference to the Śiva Purāṇa seems to be that of Alberuni.³⁴ Attempts to raise the Śiva Purāṇa to the status of a Mahāpurāṇa were probably due to sectarian zeal³⁵ as the Śaivas wanted a Mahāpurāṇa for themselves pleading in every way for the greatness of Śiva, and the sober Vāyu Purāṇa did not satisfy their requirements.

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³⁰ Cf. JBORS, XV, p. 139.

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³¹ Cf. Chs. 24, 25, 96, 97, &c.

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³² Das Purāṇa Pañcalakṣaṇa, Intr.

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³³ Cf. Śiva, V. 14. 41: षड्विंशति पुराणानां .......।

c10.59

³⁴ Sachau, Alberuni's India, I, p. 130.

c10.60

³⁵ Cf. Hazra, op. cit., p. 15; Chaudhury, JBORS, XV, p. 188.

c10.61

In the present state of our knowledge it seems safe to conclude that the printed Vāyu Purāṇa is a genuine Mahāpurāṇa, and that the Śiva Purāṇa is a late work not fit to be called a Mahāpurāṇa, but is only an Upapurāṇa.

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