History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v1.c6.s20.1

v1.c6.s20.1

The Purāṇas as a class of literature existed from very ancient times. Tai. Ār. (II. 10) speaks of “Brāhmaṇas, Itihāsas, Purāṇas, and Nārāśaṁsī gāthās.” In the Chāndogya Upaniṣad (VII. 1. 2 and 4) “itihāsa-purāṇa” is spoken of as the fifth Veda and the Bṛha-dāraṇyaka (IV. 1. 2) speaks of “Itihāsa and Purāṇa.” The Gau-tama Dh. S. (8. 6 and 11. 19) refers to “itihāsa” and “Purāṇa.” It is not unlikely that there was originally a single work called Purāṇa. The words of the Matsya that in former ages there was a single Purāṇa probably embody a tradition that has a substratum of truth. The Mahābhāṣya of Patañjali (vol. I. page 9.) speaks of Purāṇa in the singular. The Āp. Dh. S. quotes the views of a Purāṇa, twice cites two verses from a Purāṇa, and summarizes the view of a Bhaviṣyat-purāṇa. The quotations show that the Purāṇa or Purāṇas contained verses and were composed in a somewhat archaic language. The extant Purāṇas are recasts made of the ancient Purāṇas during the first centuries of the Christian era, when there was a revival and restatement of the ancient Brahmanical religion, philosophy and literature after the onslaughts of Buddhism and Jainism had abated in their strength and fury. The Mahābhārata (Vana. 191. 16) speaks of the Purāṇa promulgated by Vāyu (i. e. the Vāyupurāṇa). Bāṇa in his Harṣacarita refers to the recitation of the Vāyupurāṇa. Kumārilabhaṭṭa in his Tantravārtika (vide J. B. B. R. A. S. for 1925, p. 122) refers to the subjects dealt with by many of the extant purāṇas and quotes passages that occur in the Viṣṇu and Mārkaṇḍeya purāṇas. Thus it is clear that at any rate some of the extant purāṇas, if not all, are much earlier than the 6th century A. D.