A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.987

c5.987

LINGA PURĀNA. “Where Maheswara (Siva), present in the Agni Linga, explained (the objects of life), virtue, wealth, pleasure, and final liberation, at the end of the Agni Kalpa, that Purāna, consisting of 11,000 stanzas, was called the Linga by Brahmā himself.” The work conforms accurately enough to this description. “Although the Linga holds a prominent place in this Purāṇa, the spirit of the worship is as little influenced by the character of the type as can well be imagined. There is nothing like the phallic orgies of antiquity: it is all mystical and spiritual. The work has preserved, apparently, some Saiva legends of an early date, but the greater part is ritual and mysticism of comparatively recent introduction.”—Wilson. It is not likely that this Purāṇa is earlier than the eighth or ninth century. This Purāṇa has been lithographed in Bombay.