The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c16.s1.26

c16.s1.26

Purāṇa on the prince's curricula of study. Purāṇas are frequently mentioned in literature and in the Smritis. It was, however, roughly between the fifth and tenth centuries A.D. that after constant editing, re-editing, additions and subtractions, the Puranic tradition assumed something like its present shape in eighteen books, divided into three schools after Brahman, Śiva and Viṣṇu. Interpolations, however, continued to be made for long afterwards and influences as late as the 16th century A.D. are clearly visible. According to tradition, the Purāṇas comprised altogether 4,00,000 couplets ranging from the 81,000 of the Skanda to 9,000 of the Mārkaṇḍeya but the actual number in each Purāṇa does not always agree with the orthodox computation.¹