The Purana Index v1.c3.s3.1

v1.c3.s3.1

We know it as a matter of fact that every Purāṇa furnishes us with a list of the eighteen Mahāpurāṇas. But all such lists are not identical; they vary slightly from one another. The Vāyu Purāṇa, for example, is omitted in the lists of the Padma Purāṇa, the Vishṇu Purāṇa, the Bhāgavata Purāṇa and Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa. The lists in the other Purāṇas do not fail to include the Vāyu Purāṇa as a Mahāpurāṇa. Sometimes the Vāyu Purāṇa is identified with Śiva Purāṇa and sometimes with Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa. As many as six Purāṇas have the name of Śivapurāṇa in their lists. But a close examination of the contents of these two Purāṇas shows that Vāyu and Śiva are not identical.