History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c91.5

v7.c91.5

The Purāṇas set about their task by saying that for the proper understanding of the Veda, knowledge of Itihāsa and Purāṇa was essential. A famous verse says¹⁴⁴⁹ 'one should strengthen the Veda by (the study and application of) Itihāsa and Purāṇa; the Veda is afraid of the person of little learning (with the thought) that he (the man of small learning) may harm it'. Manu states¹⁴⁵⁰ that those brāhmaṇas that have learnt according to the rules (of Veda study) the Veda together with the works that strengthen it are to be understood as *śiṣṭas* and are instrumental in making (the meaning of) the Veda clearly perceptible. The Vāyu¹⁴⁵¹ emphasizes in this connection that that brāhmaṇa who knows the four Vedas together with (the six) ancillary lores and the Upaniṣads would not be a wise man if he did not know Purāṇas. The Upaniṣads drop brief hints about the creation of *ākāśa* from the one *brahma* (in Tai. Up. II. 1), of *tejas* (Chān. Up. VI. 2 3), of waters (Chān. Up. VI. 2. 4). The Purāṇas explain at great length the creation and dissolution of the elements (in the order reverse of that of creation) e g. Vāyu 4. 17 ff, Brahma 1-3, Agni 17, Brahmāṇḍa II. 3 ff, Kūrma I. 2, 4, 7, 8 &c. The stories of Hariścandra and Naciketas that occur in the Ait. Br. and the Kaṭhopaniṣad are explained at length in Brahmapurāṇa (chap. 104 and 150 about Hariścandra), in Sabhāparva chap. 12 (for Hariścandra) and in Anuśāsana chap. 91 (for Naciketas). The famous dialogue of Yama and Yamī (Ṛg. X. 10) is expanded in the Narasiṁha-purāṇa (chap. 13. 6-36). The Viṣṇupurāṇa¹⁴⁵² (IV. 6. 34 ff) sets out the story of Purūravas and Urvaśī, refers to the hymn in the Ṛg. X 95 for that story and quotes the first verse of the hymn in a somewhat corrupt form.