[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.s6 # The Purana Index v1.c3.s6: The Vishnu Purana The Purāṇa Index v1.c3.s6 - **Language:** English ### The Vishnu Purana ### [v1.c3.s6.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dikshitar-1951.v1.c3.s6.1) This Purāṇa has been credited with a certain amount of antiquity, as being the best conserved of all. According to tradition, it is narrated by sage Parāśara in the reign of Parikshit, king of the Kurus. From Parikshit to Adhisīma-Kṛṣṇa, there may be an intervening period of four generations. If tradition can be believed then we have to take it that the Vishnu Purāṇa was composed four or five generations before the other Purāṇas came into existence. Pargiter would assign to this Purāṇa a period not earlier than the 5th century A.D. The version in this Purāṇa and the Harivamśa bears correspondence and similarity in some cases, and it has been said that the Vishnu Purāṇa must be indebted to the Harivamśa giving a late date arbitrarily to the latter. Whatever be the similarity between the Harivamśa and the Vishnu Purāṇa, it need not deter us from determining the date of the Vishnu Purāṇa. The remarkable fact about this Purāṇa is that it is the work of a single hand, for it presents a single whole with a well prepared plan. In its historical portion the account of the Gupta dynasty is given, but this does not mean that the Purāṇa was composed then, but more material was added at that time ### [v1.c3.s6.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dikshitar-1951.v1.c3.s6.2) Though the various Purāṇas existed, the late H. H. Wilson selected the Vishnu Purāṇa for translation into English as it treats of the five specific topics or pañcalakṣṇa, and as it was not sectarian in character The Purāṇa itself is divided into six books, the first devoted to the primary and secondary creation, the second to the legend of Bharata, the third to a description of the leading institutions of the Hindus, the fourth to the kings of lunar and solar dynasties of India, the fifth to the life of Krishna, and the sixth to the dissolution of the world in both its major and minor cataclysms We have been rather at length upon the material contained in each book of this Purāṇa to disillusion a section of the people who regard it as a Vaishnava Purāṇa and consequently sectarian in character. But the fact is otherwise. Its teachings were not intended solely for the Vaishnavas but appeal to all classes of people who regard the work as a sacred one expounding Vedic literature and Philosophy. ### [v1.c3.s6.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dikshitar-1951.v1.c3.s6.3) Another factor of much importance is that a student of this Purāṇa fails to notice the fasts and feasts, the ceremonials and ceremonies, festivities and sacrifices, all connected with the deity called Vishnu. From the absence of these rituals one may infer that this Purāṇa was not intended for the propagation of only the Vaishnava religion. What is more remarkable is even the sacred places, the places of pilgrimage dedicated to Viṣṇu, and his worship are not mentioned. From this we have to conclude that these special rituals had not yet come into existence at the time when the Purāṇa was reduced to writing. This fact compels us to rank it among ancient Purāṇas, perhaps as the oldest among them. ### [v1.c3.s6.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dikshitar-1951.v1.c3.s6.4) In this connection we can once again point out that a sort of homogeneity pervades the whole of this Purāṇa and it hardly indulges in Māhatmyas and the like which are found in the other literature of this class. These facts force us to conclude that this Purāṇa perhaps belonged to the age of the Upanishads when there was wide speculation about the philosophy of religion, and when there was no glorification of this god or that, and when there was faith only in one God who pervaded the whole universe and manifested himself in different ways for specific purposes. If we take these things into consideration, the Viṣṇu Purāṇa must be contemporaneous with the Atharva Veda Samhitā but it can be safely placed in the 6th or 5th century B.C. Though orthodox tradition would assign a much higher antiquity to this Purāṇa, a critical student of history would place its composition in the epoch of the Upanishads which may be roughly said to extend from the seventh to the fourth century B.C. ### [v1.c3.s6.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dikshitar-1951.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. ## Linked texts (4) - [Maṇimēkalai](https://indike.org/pramana/in.sangam.five_great_epics.manimekalai) — Cīttalaic Cāttaṉār, Tamil - [Harivaṃśa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.harivamsa) — Vyāsa, Sanskrit - [Viṣṇupurāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.visnu) — Vyāsa, Sanskrit - [Atharvavedasaṃhitā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.veda.samhita.atharva) — Atharvan & Aṅgiras, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dikshitar-1951.v1.c3.s6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dikshitar-1951.v1.c3.s6) · Pramāṇa