Studies in the Epics and Puranas c10.5

c10.5

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.