[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.mani-1975) › c8.2766 # Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c8.2766 Purāṇic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Purāṇic Literature c8.2766 - **Language:** English ### [c8.2766](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.mani-1975.c8.2766) From the above it can be gathered that it was Vyāsa who composed all the Purāṇas. Bāṇa who lived in the seventh century A.D. speaks about Vāyu Purāṇa. Kumārila Bhaṭṭa who lived in the eighth century and Śaṅkarācārya who lived in the ninth century speak about the Purāṇas. Purāṇas must have therefore taken their present forms before the sixth or seventh century A.D. There are eighteen major Purāṇas and another eighteen minor ones. The major Purāṇas contain over four lakhs of Ślokas. All the Purāṇas are in verses like Mahābhārata. But none of them is as good as Mahābhārata as a piece of literature. Still the Purāṇas splendidly reflect the culture of Bhārata. The Purāṇas are the basis of the bulk of Indian thinking on matters social, cultural, religious and political. Even the Indian art has taken form from the Purāṇas. The Purāṇas are classified into three, those pertaining to Brahmā, those pertaining to Viṣṇu and those to Śiva. - [Previous: c8.2765](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.mani-1975.c8.2765) - [Next: c8.2767](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.mani-1975.c8.2767) - [Up: c8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.mani-1975.c8) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.mani-1975.c8.2766](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.mani-1975.c8.2766) · Pramāṇa