An Outline of the Religious Literature of India c10.t2.2

c10.t2.2

The *Garuda P.* is clearly a manual compiled for the use of Smārta priests; for it contains detailed instructions for the worship of the five gods, and gives information in many other subjects which a practising priest would want to have. The Agni is also a Smārta document; for it gives detailed instructions about the worship of the five gods;¹ but it may be meant for the use of Bhāgavata priests;² for it gives far more attention to Viṣṇu than to the other four, it contains a list of Pāñcharātra Saṃhitās,³ which is possible in a Bhāgavata, but not in a purely Smārta work, and it uses the Bhāgavata mantra at several points.⁴ Both Purāṇas show very distinctly the influence of the Śākta teaching given in the Āgamas, Tantras, and Saṃhitās. Of the original character of the Nārada, Varāha, Vāmana, and Brahmavaivarta Purāṇas it is hard to speak with certainty, but all seem to have contained Vaiṣṇava material.⁵ The Śiva, Liṅga, and Kūrma Purāṇas are all Śaiva in general character, and all three⁶ contain copies of certain parts of the Lakulīśa-Pāśupata material which seems to have appeared first in the Vāyu.⁷ The Skanda⁸ it is not possible to speak with certainty.