A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.1169

c5.1169

MATSYA PURĀNA. This Purāna is so called from its contents having been narrated to Manu by Vishnu in the form of a fish (matsya). It consists of between 14,000 and 15,000 stanzas. This work “is a miscellaneous compilation, but includes in its contents the elements of a genuine Purāna. At the same time, it is of too mixed a character to be considered as a genuine work of the Paurānik class. Many of its chapters are the same as parts of the Vishnu and Padma Purānas. It has also drawn largely from the Mahā-bhārata. “Although a Saiva work, it is not exclusively so, and it has no such sectarial absurdities as the Kūrma and Linga.”