[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [The Purana Index](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dikshitar-1951) › v1.c3.s3.4 # The Purana Index v1.c3.s3.4 The Purāṇa Index v1.c3.s3.4 - **Language:** English ### [v1.c3.s3.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dikshitar-1951.v1.c3.s3.4) As we shall show presently, some portions of the Purāṇa can go back to the fifth century B.C. and earlier, while other portions must have been added or revised at the end of the third or fourth centuries of the Christian era. We are told in the Harṣacarita that Bāṇa attended the exposition of the Vāyu Purāṇa in his village. Bāṇa could not have lived later than 625 A.D and therefore the Purāṇa was very much earlier The epic Mahābhārata and its supplement Harivaṃśa definitely make mention of the Vāyu Purāṇa (III, 194, 15), and therefore it is reasonable to take that this Purāṇa is much anterior to the didactic epic. In its recommendation of particular modes of dancing accompanied by music to the ascetics as a means of attaining salvation, the Purāṇa is on a par with the Yājñavalkya Smṛti where similar descriptions are found (III, 1, 13) According to the late Ganapati Sastri, the Law-book of Yājñavalkya is much earlier than the Kauṭalya, for which the generally accepted date is the 4th century B.C. - [Previous: v1.c3.s3.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dikshitar-1951.v1.c3.s3.3) - [Next: v1.c3.s3.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dikshitar-1951.v1.c3.s3.5) - [Up: v1.c3.s3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dikshitar-1951.v1.c3.s3) ## Linked texts (6) - [Yājñavalkyasmṛti](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.dharma.yajnavalkya.3.1) — Yājñavalkya, Sanskrit - [Vāyupurāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.vayu) — Vyāsa, Sanskrit - [Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.artha.kautilya) — Kauṭilya, Sanskrit - [Harṣacarita](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.historical.harsacarita) — Bāṇabhaṭṭa, Sanskrit - [Mahābhārata](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa) — Vyāsa, Sanskrit - [Harivaṃśa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.harivamsa) — Vyāsa, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dikshitar-1951.v1.c3.s3.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dikshitar-1951.v1.c3.s3.4) · Pramāṇa