The Purana Index v1.c3.s6.5

v1.c3.s6.5

A word might be said about reference to it in ancient Tamil literature. In the Tamil epic Maṇimekhalai, roughly of the second century after Christ, in the course of a discussion of the various religious activities in the Tamil land at a gathering at Vañji, the renowned capital of ancient Cheras, there is a significant phrase Kaḍal Vaṇan Purāṇam ōḍinan (Canto 27. 11·98-99). This means that the Purāṇa dedicated to Kaḍal Vaṇan which is simply an epithet of Viṣṇu, (the God who had the colour of the sea) is mentioned. Then it is reasonable to take the view that this reference in the Maṇimekhalai is distinctly to the Viṣṇu Purāṇa, and that the Viṣṇu Purāṇa was known to the author of the Maṇimekhalai. For a Purāṇa to be popularised and expounded, and that too in the Tamil land, it must have taken a considerable time after its composition was made. Therefore, this evidence of Tamil literature may possibly point to a much higher antiquity than the second century A.D. And we are inclined to put it down to a date much earlier than the fourth century B.C which has been even suggested to some Purāṇas by the late scholar V A. Smith. (V A. Smith. *Early History of India*, 4th Edn. pp. 22-24 , V. R. R. Dikshitar, IHQ, 1931, the Age of the Vishnu Purāṇa ; V. R. R. Dikshitar, the Age of the Vishnu Purāṇa being a paper read at the Indian History Congress, Cuttack, 1949) There are at least four or five Purāṇas which existed some centuries before the Christian era and we have no doubt that one such Purāṇa is the Vishnu Purāṇa.