The Purana Index v1.c3.s5: The Matsya Purana
The Purāṇa Index v1.c3.s5
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The Matsya Purana
v1.c3.s5.1
As in the case of the Vāyu Purāṇa the scene of this Purāṇa is laid in the sacred forest of Naimisha where many of the great sages of India assembled to witness the sacrifice of Adhisīmakrishna, the Paurava king of much celebrity. Here too the list of ‘future kings’ is continued till the last of the kings of Āndhra dynasty. The Guptas are not mentioned. And this gives the certain clue that the last redaction of the Matsya Purāṇa must have taken place not later than the commencement of the Gupta epoch and immediately after the dismemberment of the Āndhra empire. The latest date for the Purāṇa must be found somewhere towards the close of the third century as the Guptas commenced their rule from about 320 A.D. But this does not solve the problem. The real difficulty lies in fixing the upper limit of the Purāṇa. Though the Purāṇa definitely says that Adhisīmakrishna was the reigning king by the use of the expression, Sāmpratam we cannot assign such an early date to this Purāṇa. Perhaps some portions of the Purāṇa must have been in existence then. Subsequently additions were made from time to time until the beginning of the Gupta era.
v1.c3.s5.2
As it refers to the flood legends it must be posterior to the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, forming part of the Yajurveda and anterior to the Gṛhyasūtras. From the latter he differs in point of injunctions such as Ekoddiṣṭam, Āmaśrāddham, Piṇḍanirvapanam, etc. The Purāṇa mentions the names of Vyāghrapāda, Patañjali and Kātyāyana, and also refers to the Arthaśāstra and Bābhravya Pāñchāla. It also refers to the Nātyaśāstra of Bharata. From these references the Matsya Purāṇa must be undoubtedly post-Pāṇinīan.
v1.c3.s5.3
But in speaking of the style of architecture it refers to the śikhara style which undoubtedly originated with the Mauryas It is familiar with the twin epics the Mahābhārata and Rāmāyaṇa. In some places it seems to refer to the sections in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa. Perhaps the Bhāgavata Purāṇa supplemented what was actually wanting in that Purāṇa.
v1.c3.s5.4
There is also an interesting reference to Vaikhānasa. It presupposes an elaborate form of image worship and furnishes details as to the architecture of the temples. The Vaikhānasa sūtra is referred to by the Baudhāyana Dharma Śāstra. In the epoch of the Matsya Purāṇa and very much earlier, the Vaikhānasa school had come to stay and the Pāñcharātra was yet a thing of the future Further the Purāṇa mentions the worship of the moon as an independent deity It is only from the days of Varāhamihira that the worship of the moon came to be merged as it were in that of the sun. Though we have no temples extant solely dedicated to the moon, traces of ancient modes of worship of that deity still linger in the Tamil land, for instance, the Piraiṭoludal or seeing the moon on the third day after the New Moon. There is also an interesting reference to the use of betel leaves. We need not go into other references but we may safely say that the date of the Matsya Purāṇa is probably to be spread over a number of centuries commencing with the 4th century B.C. and ending with the 3rd century A.D.
v1.c3.s5.5
Though there are certain data which may bespeak of a higher antiquity, still the language and style of the Purāṇa preclude us from being guided by mere references, some of which might have been accidental. There are no archaic expressions and the Purāṇa indicates that it is far ahead of the Sūtra form of style employed by the authors of the Arthaśāstra and Kāmasūtras. The stanzas are couched in elegant literary style in conformity to the Pāṇinian standard. Though we cannot definitely fix a period for the upper limit of the age of this Purāṇa, still we would not be far wrong if we fix it at the 3rd century B.C. It is quite plausible that some of the Purāṇa texts are older; but we are actually concerned with the probable period during which the Matsya Purāṇa as we know to-day, took its shape.
v1.c3.s5.6
According to Pargiter "there is an apparent indication that a compilation was begun in the later part of the second century in the Āndhra king, Yajñaśrī's reign, for, five manuscripts of the Matsya Purāṇa speak of him as reigning in his ninth or tenth year". As against this theory two objections can be raised. One is that the reading in one manuscript militates against another. Even granting for the sake of argument, the reading is correct, what answer have we to give for the continuance of the list to the very end of the Āndhra dynasty? If we have to take as Pargiter would have it, the Purāṇic list must come to an end with Yajñaśrī; but it is not so. The kings who succeeded Yajñaśrī are correctly and precisely mentioned. It appears more logical and more reasonable that in that century the dynastic portion was brought up-to-date, for, other portions of the Purāṇa bear an air of antiquity about them. On this account we can very well assign to this Purāṇa a place among the oldest of the Purāṇas. If by the term 'oldest' is meant only second century A.D., we are not only prepared to grant it but also to go further back by three or four centuries (See, for details, the Matsya Purāṇa, a study, published by the University of Madras, 1935).