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Studies in the Puranic Records on Hindu Rites and Customs c7.s8: 1. The Vāmana-Purāṇa

Studies in the Purāṇic Records on Hindu Rites and Customs c7.s8

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1. The Vāmana-Purāṇa

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¹ The Vaṅga. ed. is the same as the Veṅk. ed. Both consist of 95 chapters. The variations in readings in these two editions are so small in number that one seems to be a reprint of the other. The Ms of the Vāmana-purāṇa described by H. P. Shastri in his Cat. of Sans. Mss, ASB, Vol. V, pp. 645 ff. seems to differ much our printed editions.

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The extant Vāmana deals in chap. 11 with hells, in chap. 12 with Karma-vipāka, in chap. 14 with the duties of the castes and Āśramas, general customs, eatables and noneatables, purification and impurity, in chaps. 16 and 80 with Vratas, and in chap. 95 with Viṣṇu-worship. It lacks, however, almost all the five themes characteristic of the older Mahāpurāṇas. It is mainly given to the glorification of Kurukṣetra and the adjoining holy places, and in connection with this glorification, legends of gods and demons have been narrated. The contents of this Purāṇa do not agree with the information regarding the ‘Vāmana-purāṇa’ contained in the Matsya and the Skanda. These two Purāṇas describe the ‘Vāmana’ as follows:

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“That in which the four-faced god (Brahmā) taught the three objects of existence in connection with the greatness of Trivikrama, which treats, also, of the Kūrma-kalpa, and which consists of ten thousand verses, is called the Vāmana-purāṇa”².

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² trivikramasya māhātmyam adhikṛtya caturmukhah| trivargam abhyadhāt tac ca vāmanam parikīrtitam|| purāṇam daśa-sahasram kūrma-kalpānugam śivam| Mat 53, 44-45 and Sk VII, i, 2, 63-64.

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In the extant Vāmana-p., however, there is no mention of the Kūrma-kalpa, nor is the Purāṇa said to have been narrated by Brahmā. On the other hand, it is narrated by Pulastya to Nārada, and not even by Lomaharṣaṇa to the sages of the Naimiṣa forest, as is generally the case with the other Purāṇas. These facts prove that the extant Vāmana is not the same as noticed by the Matsya and the Skanda-p. It can safely be called an Upapurāṇa rather than a Mahāpurāṇa. The Kūrma (I, 1, 19) and the Garuḍa-p. (I, 227, 19) mention a Vāmana among the Upapurāṇas. It is not, however, possible to say definitely whether the extant Vāmana is the same as the Vāmana-upapurāṇa mentioned in these two Purāṇas.

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The Śaiva materials in the present Vāmana as contrasted with the title and contents given in the Matsya and Skanda, show that the Purāṇa in its earlier form was a Vaiṣṇava work, and that it was later recast by the Śiva-worshippers who changed the work with additions and alterations in such a way that very little of its earlier contents was retained. The appearance of Lomaharṣaṇa as an interlocutor in a few chapters from Vām 22, 47 seems to indicate that the Vāmana-p. in its earlier form probably began with the verses in chap. 23, the opening verse being Vām 22, 47 (of course, with some change in the third line). If we connect this supposed opening verse with chap. 23, we have

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*sarasvatī-dṛṣadvatyor antare kurujāṅgale|*
*munipravaraṃ āsīnam purāṇam lomaharṣaṇam|*
*apṛcchanta dvijavarāḥ prabhavam surasattamāḥ||*
*ṛṣaya ūcuḥ—*
*brūhi vāmana-māhātmyam utpattiṃ ca viśeṣataḥ|*
*yathā balir niyamito dattam rājyam śatakratoḥ||*
*lomaharṣaṇa uvāca—*
*śṛṇvantu munayaḥ prītā vāmanasya mahātmanaḥ|*
*utpattiṃ ca prabhāvam ca nivāsam kurujāṅgale||*
*&c &c &c*

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Such a beginning agrees considerably with the accounts contained in the Matsya, Skanda and Agni-purāṇa referred to above, and in this case Lomaharṣaṇa becomes the narrator of the Purāṇa. All the chapters ascribed to Lomaharṣaṇa in our present Vāmana cannot, however, be taken to have belonged to the Purāṇa in its

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Sk reads ‘tu’ for ‘ca’ in the second line. The Agni-p. (272, 18), on the other hand, says that the Vāmana-p. was declared in the Dhaumya-kalpa (*vāmanaṃ daśa-sahasram dhaumya-kalpe hareḥ kathām*).

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earlier form. Most of these are undoubtedly of comparatively late origin. Even chap. 23, which seems to contain verses from the earlier Vāmana, have others which were added at the time of recast-ing, because these latter verses presuppose the preceding chapters which are Śaiva in character. These facts show that inspite of the probable retention of verses from the earlier Vāmana, our present Purāṇa is practically a new work.

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As to the date of composition of the present Vāmana there are two divergent opinions, viz., those of Haraprasad Shastri and H. H. Wilson. Of these two scholars, the former says: "The Vāmana-purāṇa, so far as we find it, seems to be very old.

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(1) The incarnations of Viṣṇu are not limited to the number of ten. Hayaśīrṣa is prominently mentioned as the third incarnation. No Avatāra after Vāmana is mentioned. The word ‘avatāra’ is rarely used in connection with Viṣṇu, but the word ‘prādurbhāva’ in its stead has been used.

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(2) There is no sectarian spirit in this work,—Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva are equally respected.

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(3) Some of the islands of the Indian Ocean seem to be mentioned, viz., Indradvīpa, Nāgadvīpa, Kaṭāha, Siṃhala and Varuṇa.

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(4) The boundary of India as given in chap. 13, verses 11-12, cannot be later than the 2nd century A.D. The boundaries are: Kirātas to the east, Yavanas to the west, Āndhras to the south and Turks to the north. The geography as given in the Vāmana-purāṇa is older than that of Rājaśekhara’s Kāvya-mīmāṃsā (chap. 17) and that of the Bṛhat-saṃhitā of Varāhamihira. It can be placed in the 2nd century A.D. with great probability.

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(5) One of the reasons to consider this work old, is that Tulasī is never mentioned to be a sacred leaf in the worship of Viṣṇu. Tulasī has now come to universal use, and its origin from Vṛndā the wife of Jālandhara, is given in the Padma-purāṇa"³.

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³ Shastri, Cat. of Sans. Mss, ASB, Vol. V, Preface, pp. clxxxii-clxxxiii.

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None of the above arguments adduced by H. P. Shastri in support of his view seems to be very convincing for the following reasons. Firstly, in the Purāṇa there is no exhaustive and systematic list of incarnations of Viṣṇu. So the disordered, and often stray, mention of the names of incarnations cannot be relied upon to form an idea of the list of incarnations which was known to the author of the present Vāmana or to assign any particular name to any particular position in this list. Secondly, any list of Viṣṇu’s incarnations which contains more names than the famous ten, cannot be taken to point unmistakably to an early date, because long lists of incarnations are found to occur in the later works also⁴. Thirdly, in total contradiction to Shastri's statement, the word 'avatīrṇa' has been used as often as five times in connection with Viṣṇu⁵ and once in connection with Devī⁶, whereas the word 'prādurbhāva' has been used only once⁷. Fourthly, the absence of sectarian spirit is not characteristic of the early works only. The 'Pañcāyatana-pūjā' or Pañcopāsanā, i.e., the worship of the five deities—Viṣṇu, Śiva, Gaṇeśa, Sūrya and Durgā, which is certainly not of very early origin, testifies to the compromising spirit of the people of later ages. Further, we learn from Vidyākara Vājapeyin (1370-1500 A.D.), one of the noted Smṛti-writers of Orissa, that in his time there were people who equally revered Viṣṇu and Śiva⁸. Fifthly, the geographical portion of the Vāmana-p., in which Indradvīpa, Nāgadvīpa etc. are mentioned and the boundaries of India are given, is undoubtedly based on that of the Mārkaṇḍeya-p., for the greater part of this portion of the Vāmana agrees remarkably with the Mārkaṇḍeya-p. (chap. 57). Sixthly, in a verse (bilva-patraṃ śamī-patraṃ etc.) quoted in Raghunandana's Smṛti-tattva (vol. I, p. 411) from the 'Vāmana-p'., there is mention of 'Tulasi' and 'Kṛṣṇa-tulasi'. This verse, which is not found in our edition, has most probably been lost, for in several other cases also our edition contains traces of losses and corruptions. For instance, in Vām 95, 23-43, which enumerate the articles to be given away for the pleasure of Viṣṇu in the different months from Māgha, there is no mention of the month of Śrāvaṇa. That a verse on the gifts in Śrāvaṇa occurred between the verses 38 and 39 (on the gifts in Āṣāḍha and Bhādra) of Vām 95, is evidenced not only by its remarkable absence but also by the verses quoted in Aparārka's com. on Yāj. (pp. 364-365), Ballālasena's Dānasāgara (fol. 237a) and Hemādri's Caturvarga-cintāmaṇi, (I, pp. 885-886).

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⁴ See, Grierson, JRAS, 1909, pp. 607 f; and 1910, pp. 87 f.

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⁵ Cf. Vām 29, verses 19, 20 and 20; 30, 14; and 31, 4.

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⁶ Ibid., 56, 67.

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⁷ Ibid., 92, 65.

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⁸ Nityācārapaddhati, p. 155.

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All the above facts go seriously against the arguments put forth by H. P. Shastri in favour of an early date of the present Vāmana.

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Professor Wilson's view that the Vāmana-p. was probably compiled three or four centuries ago⁹ is equally untenable. Had the Purāṇa been so late, the verses quoted by the early commentators and Nibandha-writers from the 'Vāmana-purāṇa' would not have been found in our present text.

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⁹ Wilson, Viṣṇu-Purāṇa, Preface, p. lxxvi.

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The above two views being thus found untenable, we shall have to try in our own way to determine the date of the Purāṇa. The repeated mention of the Rāśis and the Nakṣatras from Aśvinī to Revatī shows that the Purāṇa cannot possibly be earlier than 200 A.D. The repeated mention of the ‘Śaivas’ and ‘Pāśupatas’ as two distinct sections of the Śiva-worshippers¹⁰ points to a still later date of the Purāṇa. From the Kūrma-p. we understand that these two distinctive epithets were unknown to the beginning of the 8th century A.D.¹¹ Therefore, the Vāmana-p. cannot be earlier than 700 A.D. Vidyākara Vājapeyin refers to chap. 85 (on ‘gajendra-mokṣaṇa’) of this Purāṇa in his Nityācārapaddhati, Gadādhara quotes verses from chap. 94 in his Kālasāra, Gopālabhaṭṭa from chaps. 94 and 95 in his Haribhaktivilāsa, Narasimha Vājapeyin from chaps. 14 and 95 in his Varṣakriyā-kaumudī, Śuddhikriyā-kaumudī and Śrāddhakriyā-kaumudī, Raghunandana from chaps. 14, 16, 94 and 95 in his Smṛti-tattva, Vācaspati-miśra from chaps. 79 and 83 in his Tīrtha-cintāmaṇi, Śūlapāṇi from chap. 95 in his Śrāddha-viveka, Śrīdatta Upādhyāya from chaps. 14 and 95 in his Kṛtyācāra, Caṇḍeśvara from chaps. 14 and 95 in his Kṛtya-ratnākara, Mādhavācārya from chap. 14 in his Bhāṣya on the Parāśara-smṛti, Hemādri from chaps. 14, 16, 17, 34, 92 and 95 in his Caturvarga-cintāmaṇi, Devaṇabhaṭṭa from chaps. 14 and 34 in his Smṛti-candrikā, Ballālasena from chap. 95 in his Dānasāgara, and Aparārka from chap. 95 in his com. on Yāj. (see App.). So, the date of the present Vāmana-p. can never be placed later than 1000 A.D., because the commentators and Nibandha-writers, who draw upon this Purāṇa, hail from different parts of India. Thus the date of the Purāṇa falls between 700 and 1000 A.D. Let us see if it is possible to place the date within narrower limits. For this purpose we shall have to determine the date of composition of chap. 14 dealing with Smṛti-matter. This chapter is included in the story of Sukeśin which constitutes Vām 11-15 and which is put into the Purāṇa on a chance allusion that serves as a clue to its narration. The outline of this story is as follows :

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¹⁰ Vām 6, 87; 53, 3; and 67, 10-11.

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¹¹ See under Kūrma-p. above.

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Sukeśin, the king of the Rākṣasas, worships Śiva and receives an aerial city of voluntary movement. Once he goes to the land of Magadha and meets many sages who, at his request, narrate to him the twelve kinds of Dharma meant for Devas, Daityas, Rākṣasas, Mānavas and others. Going to describe the Dharma of the Mānavas at the request of Sukeśin, the sages tell him of the division of the earth into islands (dvīpa), the areas, locations and inhabitants of these islands, and the hells to be found in the Puṣkara-dvīpa. The mention of hells rouses curiosity in Sukeśin to hear something of Karma-vipāka, and the sages satisfy him accordingly. Next, the sages name the divisions and sub-divisions of the Jambu-dvīpa, enumerate the rivers, mountains and races of the Kumāra-dvīpa, one of the sub-divisions of the Jambu-dvīpa, and describe the duties of the castes and Āśramas to be found there. Sukeśin then repairs to his city and orders the practice of the Dharma proclaimed by the sages. By virtue of its practice, the Rākṣasas attain heavenly effulgence, and as a result the Sun-god is enraged and causes the city to fall down on the pretext of the crime which the Rākṣasas have committed by forsaking their Svadharma and accepting Para-dharma. At this conduct of the Sun Śiva becomes angry and casts the Sun-god down to the earth. At last, being propitiated, he places the Sun-god and the city in their respective places.

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The above outline shows that the story consists of quite different parts put carelessly together. Here we shall not trouble ourselves so much with the question as to whether these parts were added to the main story at the time the latter was inserted into the Purāṇa or at a later age, as with that of the contemporaneity of composition of chaps. 12-14; for in the latter case we shall be in a position to make a nearer approach to the date of composition of chap. 14.

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At the beginning of chap. 15 Sukeśin orders his people to practise the thirteen characteristic branches of Dharma which he enumerates as follows:

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ahiṃsā satyam asteyaṃ śaucam indriya-saṃyamaḥ|
dānaṃ dayā ca kṣāntiś ca brahmacaryam amānitā||
śubhā satyā ca madhurā vāṇ nityaṃ satkriyā-ratiḥ|
sadācāra-niṣevitvaṃ paraloka-pradāyakāḥ||¹²

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¹² Vām 15, 2-3.

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As on the one hand this enumeration is necessary for giving the Rākṣasas an idea of the Dharma they are to practise and is, therefore, vitally connected with the chapter, on the other hand it presupposes the existence of chap. 14, for it is in this chapter that we can trace these characteristics. At the beginning of chap. 14 the sages enumerate the ten limbs of Dharma thus:

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ahiṃsā satyam asteyaṃ dānaṃ kṣāntir damaḥ śamaḥ|
akārpaṇyaṃ ca śaucaṃ ca tapaś ca rajanīcara||
daśāṅgo rākṣasa-śreṣṭha dharmo 'sau sārvavarṇikaḥ||¹³

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¹³ Vām 14, 1-2a.

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Some of the thirteen characteristics in Sukeśin's enumeration are found in that of the sages given here. Not only so, the beginnings in both the enumerations are similar. For those characteristics mentioned by Sukeśin which are not found in the enumeration of the sages, we can refer to the body of chap. 14. For example, the characteristics ‘brahmacarya’ and ‘amānitā’ mentioned by Sukeśin are found in verse 114 of chap. 14 (sarva-saṅga-parityāgo brahmacaryam amānitā); for ‘sadācāra-niṣevitva’ we may refer to verses 14-17 wherein the sages glorify the practice of Sadācāra; ‘satyā madhurā ca vāk’ has its parallel in verse 39 (na niṣṭhuram nāgamaśāstrahīnam vākyam vadet); and so on. The characteristics of Mānava-dharma, mentioned by the sages while describing the twelve kinds of Dharma in chap. 11 (verses 15-28), are as follows :

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svādhyāyo brahmacaryam ca dānam yajanam eva ca|
akārpaṇyam anāyāso dayāhiṃsā-kṣamādayaḥ||
jitendriyatvam śaucam ca maṅgalyam bhaktir ucyate|
saṃkare bhāskare devyāṃ dharmo ’yaṃ mānavaḥ smṛtaḥ||¹⁴

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¹⁴ Vām 11, 23-24.

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This enumeration shows that it contributes much less to Sukeśin’s enumeration than chap. 14 does. Another point is to be noted here. At the end of chap. 14 the sages refer to the good of practising one’s Svadharma and says that the acceptance of Para-dharma incurs the rage of the Sun-god who always tries to do harm to the sinner. This seems to be an indirect warning to Sukeśin, but he does not seem to take it as such, for we see in chap. 15 that the practice of Varṇāśramadharma (or rather Mānava-dharma) instead of Rākṣasa-dharma incurs the rage of the Sun-god who causes Sukeśin’s city to fall down from the sky. All these taken together tend to show that chap. 14 was added to the main story at the time the latter was fabricated.

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In chap. 11, we have seen, the sages describe the twelve kinds of Dharma including Rākṣasa-dharma¹⁵. But Sukeśin is not satisfied with his own Rākṣasa-dharma, and eagerly wants to hear something about Mānava-dharma—a Dharma which is practised even by sages. Such eagerness on the part of Sukeśin is necessary for the development of the story. To satisfy Sukeśin the sages begin with the geography of the earth to give him some idea about the location of the Kumāra-dvīpa before they proceed to describe the customs and usages to be found there, because, they say, men live in all the seven Dvīpas¹⁶, and the laws and customs differ in the different Dvīpas¹⁷. Towards the end of chap. 11 the sages say that the Puṣkara-dvīpa contains innumerable hells, some of which they mention. This mention of hells prepares the way to the insertion of chap. 12 which deals with Karma-vipāka. It should also be noted here that chaps. 12-14 have their prototypes in the Mārkaṇḍeya-p.; viz., Vām 12 is the reproduction, with various additions and alterations, of Mārk 14 (verses 44 ff.), Vām 13 of Mārk 57, and Vām 14 of Mārk 28 (verses 11-19 and 23 ff.) and 34 (verses 6 ff.). The source of these three chapters being common, it is more probable that they were appropriated at the same time and put into the Vāmana-p. with a view to bringing it on a par with the other Purāṇas of the time, the story of Sukeśin only serving as a means of introducing them.

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¹⁵ paradārāvamarsitvam pārakyārthe ca lolupāḥ| svādhyāyas tryambake bhaktir dharmo ’yaṃ rākṣasaḥ smṛtaḥ|| Vām 11, 26.

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¹⁶ Vām 11, 30.

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¹⁷ Vām 11, 43a.

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From the above discussion it appears that chaps. 11-15 of the Vāmana-p. were inserted into it at the same time.

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We are now in a position to discuss the date of the addition of Vām 14. In Vām 14, 49b-50a the weekdays Ravi, Maṅgala, Budha, Śukra and Śani are mentioned in such a way as to convince one of the fact that these were familiar at the time of composition of chap. 14. We know that the earliest epigraphic mention of a weekday is found in the Eran inscription of 484 A.D.¹⁸ From the evidence given by Varāhamihira we understand that the weekdays were well-known in his time. In Vām 13, 12 the Turuṣkas are mentioned (āndhrā dakṣiṇato vīra turuṣkās tvapi cottare). The Turuṣkas, who are quite different from the Tuṣāras or Tukhāras also mentioned in Vām 13, 41, came to India about the 9th century A.D.¹⁹ So this chapter of the Vāmana-p. is possibly not to be dated earlier than the ninth century A.D. In Vām 12, 48 the Matsya-p. is said to be the chief of all the Purāṇas (mukhyam purāṇeṣu yathaiva mātsyam). This is significant. In almost all the lists of the eighteen Purāṇas given in the Mahāpurāṇas the Brahma-p. is regarded as the original one (ādya) and assigned the first place. It is only in the Vāyu (chap. 104) that we find the Matsya-p. occupying the first place and the Brahma-p. being placed much lower in the list. As none of the lists, in which the Brahma-p. is placed first, can reasonably be dated earlier than the fourth century A.D. and as Mat 53 (containing such a list) is to be placed between 550 and 650 A.D., it should be admitted that the custom of regarding the Brahma-p. as the first and foremost of all held ground at least down to the end of the sixth century. It might only be after this time that the Matsya-p. could have begun to be assigned the first place at least by a section of people, if not by all. But when did this happen?

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¹⁸ Fleet, Gupta Inscriptions, pp. 88-89.

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¹⁹ It is to be noted that the word turuṣka occurs only in those Purāṇas, or parts thereof, which are of comparatively late dates.

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The predominance of the Matsya-p., as evidenced by Vām 12, 48 and Vā 104 referred to above, is apparently connected with the high position which the Fish incarnation came to occupy in course of time among the incarnations of Viṣṇu. But when did this incarnation come to occupy such an elevated position? Let us compare the lists of incarnations and the accounts thereof to see if we can arrive at any solution. In the Mahābhārata the group of the ten principal Prādurbhāvas or Avatāras of later ages seems to be quite unknown. The verse

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matsyah kūrmo varāhaś ca narasimho 'tha vāmanaḥ|
rāmo rāmaś ca rāmaś ca buddhaḥ kalkīti te daśa||,

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which is found in the Kumbhakoṇam edition of the Mahābhārata (XII, 348, 2), is not traceable in the ASB, Bombay and Vanga. editions, although it is nearly the same verse as given in a Pallava inscription from which the verse is quoted below. The verses

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tataḥ kaliyugasyādau dvijarāja-tarum śritaḥ|
bhīṣayā māgadhenaiva dharmarāja-gṛhe vasan||
kaṣāya-vastra-saṃvito muṇḍitaḥ śukladantavān||
śuddhodana-suto buddho mohayiṣyāmi mānavān||

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also, found in the Mokṣa-dharma of the Kumbhakoṇam edition, are not met with in the other editions. So the spurious character and the late origin of these verses are obvious. In the Nārāyaṇīya section of the Śānti-parvan of the Mahābhārata (XII, 339), the manifestations (prādurbhāva) of Nārāyaṇa are enumerated as the Hamsa, the Tortoise, the Fish, the Boar, the Man-lion, the Dwarf, (Paraśu) Rāma, Rāma Dāśarathi, Sāttvata and Kalki. The lines, which contain this enumeration, seem to have been interpolated later for the following reasons. In Mbh XII, 339, 77 ff. Nārāyaṇa says to Nārada that in future he will take the forms of the Boar, the Man-lion, the twelfth Āditya (i.e., the Dwarf), Rāma of the Bhṛgu family, Rāma Dāśarathi and Sāttvata, and perform various exploits which also he relates to Nārada, adding at the end:

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‘kariṣye pralayam ghoram ātma-jñānābhiṣamvṛtam|
karmānyaparimeyāni caturmūrtidharo hyaham||
kṛtvā lokān gamiṣyāmi svān ahaṃ brahma-satkṛtam||’

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After this is given quite irrelevantly the list of manifestations referred to above, containing the Hamsa, the Tortoise, the Fish and Kalki, which are not mentioned or even hinted at anywhere in the whole chapter. On the other hand, the Boar, the Man-lion and the Dwarf seem to be regarded, in the majority of cases, as the principal incarnations or manifestations of Viṣṇu. We should also note in this connection that at least the ASB and Vaṅga editions of the Mahābhārata there is no such evidence as may indicate that the Buddha came to be regarded as an incarnation before 200 A.D. In Mārk 4 Nārāyaṇa, both as ‘saguṇa’ and ‘nirguṇa’, is said to exist in four forms (mūrti) corresponding to the four well-known Vyūhas, viz., (1) Vāsudeva, which is indescribable (anirdeśya), ever-existent, etc., (2) Śeṣa, which supports the world and possesses the quality of darkness (tamo-guṇa), (3) a third form called Pradyumna, which is full of the quality of goodness (sattvodrikta), preserves the world and establishes religion, and (4) a fourth form (apparently Aniruddha) which lies on the serpent-bed, has the quality of passion and creates beings. The third form of Nārāyaṇa, the Mārkaṇḍeya-p. further adds, became incarnated as Varāha, Nṛsiṃha, Vāmana and ‘innumerable others’, and has now become Māthura, i.e., Kṛṣṇa. According to Hv.1, 41 the manifestations are the Pauṣaraka the Boar, the Man-lion, the Dwarf, Dattātreya, Jāmadagnya, Rāma, Kṛṣṇa, Veda-vyāsa and Kalki, the last, as stated in the text, being called the tenth. Regarding the Kalki incarnation the Harivaṃśa has :

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kalkī viṣṇuyaśā nāma śambhale nāmake dvijaḥ|
sarvaloka-hitārthāya bhūyaś cotpatsyate prabhuḥ||
daśamo bhāvya-sampanno yājñavalkya-puraḥsaraḥ|
kṣapayitvā ca tān sarvān bhāvinārthena coditān||
gaṅgā-yamunayor madhye niṣṭhāṃ prāpsyati sānugaḥ||
(Hv I, 41, 164-166a

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Here the Kalki incarnation of Viṣṇu is described as future, the purpose of the incarnation being the good of all beings. In Kūr I, 50, Viṣṇu is said to have been born of Ākūti in the Svāyambhuva Manvantara, of Tuṣitā in the Svārociṣa, of Satyā (as Satya) in the Auttama, of Haryā (as Hari) in the Tāmasa, of Saṃkalpā in the Raivata, of Vikuṇṭhā (as Vaikuṇṭha) in the Cākṣuṣa, and of Aditi as Vāmana in the Vaivasvata. Nārāyaṇa, though Nirguṇa, is further said to have been manifested in four (somewhat modified Vyūha) forms due to Guṇa; viz., (1) Vāsudeva, which is indivisible, beyond the Guṇas, etc., (2) Śiva, also called Kāla, which carries on destruction, (3) Pradyumna, which is full of the quality of goodness (sattvodrikta) and preserves the world, and (4) Aniruddha, also called Brahmā, which creates the world when Nārāyaṇa sleeps with Pradyumna after destruction. Viṣṇu-Nārāyaṇa is also said to be born as Vyāsa to divide the Ohe, i.e., the Veda, into four parts. It should be noted that in its description of the four forms of Nārāyaṇa, the Kūrma-p. has not only been influenced by the Mārkaṇḍeya-p. but has many lines borrowed from the latter.

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Brahma-p., chap. 180, which is the reproduction, with some additions, of Mārk 4, 36 ff., describes the four forms of Viṣṇu, the third being said to have become the Boar, the Man-lion, the Dwarf, Jāmadagnya, Dattātreya, Rāma Dāśarathi and ‘innumerable others’, and the ‘present’ Māthura. Br 213, which betrays the influence of the Harivaṃśa, enumerates the manifestations as the Boar, the Man-lion, the Dwarf, Dattātreya, Jāmadagnya, Rāma, Māthura, Kalki Viṣṇuyaśas and many others (ete cānye ca bahavaḥ). Regarding Kalki the Brahma-p. says:

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‘kalkī viṣṇuyaśā nāma śambhala-grāma-sambhavaḥ|
sarvaloka-hitārthāya bhūyo devo mahāyaśāḥ||’

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This verse is a reproduction, with some changes, of Hv I, 41, 164 quoted above. According to the Ahirbudhnya-saṃhitā (5, 50) the principal Vibhavas are thirty-nine in number, in which the Tortoise (called Kamaṭheśvara) occupies the fifteenth, the Boar the sixteenth, the Man-lion the seventeenth, the Fish (ekaśṛṅgatanu²⁰) the twenty-eighth, the Dwarf (vāmana-deha) the twenty-ninth, Kṛṣṇa the thirty-fourth, Paraśurāma the thirty-fifth, Rāma Dhanurdhara the thirty-sixth, and Kalki the thirty-eighth place, there being no mention of the Buddha. Regarding Kalki the Saṃhitā says:

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²⁰ In Ag 2, 15 the Fish is called ‘ekaśṛṅgadhara’.

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‘yo mardayati kalkyākhyo dasyūṃs tiṣya-yugāntajān|
sūryopari-sthitenaiva mardanena sa gīyate||’

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In Bhāg I,3; II, 7; VI, 8 and XI, 4 there are four lists of Avatāras varying in length as well as order. All these lists include the Fish, the Buddha and Kalki. In the third list the Fish occupies the first place, but that is clearly due to chance. The popular idea as to the purposes of the Buddha and Kalki incarnations has not changed in any appreciable degree. Regarding the Buddha incarnation Bhāg I, 3, 24 says:

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‘tataḥ kalau sampravṛtte sammohāya suradviṣām|
buddho nāmnāñjana-sutaḥ kīkaṭeṣu bhaviṣyati||’;

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Bhāg II, 7, 37 has

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‘devadviṣāṃ nigama-vartmani niṣṭhitānām
pūrbhir mayena vihitābhir adṛśyaturbhiḥ|
lokān ghnatām mati-vimoham atipralobham
veṣam vidhāya bahu bhāṣyata aupadharmam||’;

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and Bhāg VI, 8, 19 has

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* * * * buddhas tu pāṣaṇḍagaṇa-pramādāt . . . prapātu.’

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With respect to the Kalki incarnation Bhāg I, 3, 25 says :

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*athāsau yuga-saṃdhyāyāṃ dasyu-prāyeṣu rājasu|*
*janitā viṣṇuyaśaso nāmnā kalkir jagatpatiḥ||’;*

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Bhāg II, 7, 38 has

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*yarhy ālayeṣu api satāṃ na kathā hareḥ syuḥ*
*pāṣaṇḍino dvija-janā vṛṣalā nṛdevāḥ|*
*svāhā svadhā vaṣaḍ iti sma giro na yatra*
*śāstā bhaviṣyati kaler bhagavān yugānte||’;*

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and Bhāg VI, 8, 19 has

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*kalkiḥ kaleḥ kāla-malāt prapātu|’*

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In Mat 259 and 260 Rāma, the Boar, the Man-lion, the Dwarf, the Fish and the Tortoise are mentioned in connection with the construction of images. These chapters being influenced by and based on Bṛhat-saṃhitā, chap. 58 (pratimā-lakṣaṇam nāma), their date cannot be earlier than the sixth century A.D. Mat 54 describes the Nakṣatrapuruṣa-vrata in which the different limbs of Viṣṇu are worshipped with the mention of the names of his different incarnations including the famous ten. The same Vrata is also given in Bṛhat-saṃhitā, chap. 105. A comparison between these two chapters shows that the chapter in the Matsya has not only that in the Bṛhat-saṃhitā as its prototype but makes a distinct advance over the former by introducing the names of the ten Avatāras. The verse containing the name of the Buddha in Mat 47 must be dated much later, for the Vāyu, from which the Matsya has borrowed the chapter, does not contain it. The Pādma Tantra, which is dated earlier than 800 A.D. by Schrader,²¹ says (I, 2, 31) that of the ten Avatāras the Fish, the Tortoise and the Boar have sprung from Vāsudeva; the Man-lion, Dwarf, Śrīrāma and Paraśurāma from Saṃkarṣaṇa; Balarāma from Pradyumna; and Kṛṣṇa and Kalki from Aniruddha; and it indicates that the other Avatāras (viz., Puruṣa, Satya, Acyuta, Buddha, etc.) are to be distributed in a similar way.²² The Viṣvaksena-saṃhitā includes the Buddha and Paraśurāma among the secondary Avatāras²³. A Pallava inscription, dated about the latter half of the seventh century A.D., contains the verse

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²¹ Schrader, Introduction to the Pāñcarātra and the Ahirbudhnya-saṃhitā, p. 20.

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²² Ibid., p. 48.

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²³ Ibid., pp. 47-48.

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matsyah kūrmo varāhaś ca nārasimho 'tha vāmanaḥ|
rāmo rāmaś ca rāmaś ca buddhaḥ kalkī ca te duśa||²⁴

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²⁴ H. Krishna Shastri, The Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India, Vol. 26, p. 5.

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Nammalvar, alias Saint Śaṭagopa, who belonged to the ninth century A.D., gives a hymn which contains ‘the conception of the Buddha as an incarnation of Viṣṇu come to delude the Asuras’²⁵. According to Gḍ I, 202 (viṣṇudharmākhya-vidyā-varṇanam nāma) the different Mūrtis of Viṣṇu are the Matsya, Trivikrama, Vāmana, Narasiṃha, Rāma, Varāha, Nārāyaṇa, Kapila, Datta, Hayagrīva, Makara-dhvaja, Nārada, Kūrma, Dhanvantari, Śeṣa, Yajña, Vyāsa, Buddha and Kalki, the last two being invoked for protection from the Pāṣaṇḍas and the sins (of the Kali age) respectively (buddhaḥ pāṣaṇḍa-saṃghātāt kalkir avatu kalmaṣāt). The nature of the contents of the chapter tends to betray its comparatively late origin²⁶.

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²⁵ ABORI, Vol. XIV, 1932-33, pp. 200-201.

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²⁶ See under Garuḍa-purāṇa below.

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The lists given above are perhaps sufficient to show that popular views regarding the names and numbers of the principal incarnations varied hopelessly before 800 A.D.; that though the group of the ten principal Avatāras with the Fish at the head originated much early, the names of the Avatāras constituting the group often varied; and that the group does not seem to have attained the position of general acceptance before 800 A.D. It also appears from the lists that the mission of the Buddha incarnation was to that time supposed to be the delusion of the Asuras, i.e., Jains and Buddhists, and that of Kalki the extermination of the Pāṣaṇḍins and Dasyus, the removal of ‘the dirt of the Kali age’, or the good of the people.

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Let us now examine some other lists of incarnations and the accounts thereof. The Agni-p. describes, in chaps. 2-16²⁷, the ten Avatāras of Viṣṇu, viz., Matsya, Kūrma, Varāha, Narasiṃha, Vāmana, Paraśurāma, Rāma, Kṛṣṇa, Buddha and Kalki. Though the Agni-p. believes in the innumerable incarnations of Viṣṇu (avatārā asaṃkhyātā atītānāgatādayaḥ), it lays special stress on the group of ten²⁸. About the Buddha incarnation it says that being defeated by the Daityas the gods sought the protection of Viṣṇu who, consequently, was born as Māyāmoha to Śuddhodana and deluded the Daityas with the result that the latter gave up the Veda-dharma and became Bauddhas. Viṣṇu, in the form of Māyāmoha, next became Ārhata and turned the remaining Daityas into Ārhatas. Thus the Pāṣaṇḍins came into existence. The Agni-p. further adds that at the end of the Kali age there will be an intermixture of castes, the Dasyus will prevail, and the Mlecchas will become kings and eat up the people²⁹. Then Kalki, son of Viṣṇuyaśas, will have Yājñavalkya as his priest, exterminate the Mlecchas and re-establish the distinctions of the four castes. The mention of the Bauddhas and the Ārhatas as Pāṣaṇḍins and, then, of the Mlecchas as kings, shows that by the word ‘mleccha’ the Agni means the outlandish dynasties which established kingdoms in India after the death of the Kushan king Vāsudeva. It may also be that by this word the Purāṇa means the Muhammadans who came to India about the 9th century A.D. In Ag 49 the characteristics of the images of the ten incarnations of Viṣṇu have been described. This chapter exhibits a distinct advance over Mat 259 and 260 referred to above in that it adds four incarnations more, viz., Paraśurāma, Balarāma, Buddha and Kalki, to those of the Matsya-p. to make up ten and arranges them in order. Moreover, it replaces Kṛṣṇa by Balarāma. Hence the date of composition of this chapter must be much later than that of Mat 259 and 260. It is highly probable that the date should be placed later than the ninth century A.D.³⁰ It is to be noted that here also Kalki is described as ‘the exterminator of the Mlecchas’ (mlecchotsādakara). The Kashmirian polymath Kṣemendra, who flourished in the eleventh century A.D., wrote in 1066 A.D. his Daśāvatāra-carita in which Kṛṣṇa is said to be an incarnation of Viṣṇu³¹ and the condition of the earth on the eve of the Kalki incarnation is described as follows :

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²⁷ These chapters are to be assigned to the ninth century A.D. See under Agni-purāṇa.

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²⁸ Cf. Ag 16, 12b-13a.

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²⁹ mānuṣān bhakṣayiṣyanti mlecchāḥ pārthiva-rūpiṇaḥ|

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³⁰ See also under Agni-purāṇa below.

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³¹ Daśāvatāra-carita, I, 2; I, 10; and VIII, 1 ff.

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darat-turuṣkābh(ph)agāna-śaka-nandanaiḥ
saṃkocam eṣyati mahī kuṣṭhair iva visarpibhiḥ|
mlecchācchādita-sarvāśā kṛpaṇākrandanānādinī
medaḥ-kardaminī kledam raktair yāsyati medinī||

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It is clear that the term ‘Mleccha’ is used by Kṣemendra to mean especially the Muhammadans who disturbed the peace of India by attacks and massacres. In Var 39-48 ten kinds of Dvādaśī-vrata, named after the ten Avatāras, are described. The very connection of the Vratas with the ‘ten incarnations’ of Viṣṇu proves their late origin which is further confirmed by the direction ‘rūpakāmo yajed buddhaṃ śatrughātāya kalkinam’³² pointing to a time when the idea of the people towards the delusive nature of the Buddha incarnation underwent such a change that the Buddha was looked upon as a god conferring beauty. The Padma-p. (Uttara-kh.) describes the first eight of the ten Avatāras in chaps. 258 ff. These chapters bear stamps of very late age. For instance, the Tulasī plant is said to be the wife of Hari. Jayadeva, in his Gitagovinda, mentions the ten Avatāras of Kṛṣṇa and looks upon Kalki as the exterminator of the Mlecchas.

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³² Var 48, 22a.

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From what has been said above it appears that the group of the ten incarnations of Viṣṇu with the Fish at the head began to attain the state of general acceptance not very much earlier than 800 A.D. And when this group attained such a position, the Fish incarnation also was consolidated in its own place in the group. The Fish thus occupying the first place, at least some people must have looked upon the Purāṇa declared by the Fish (i.e., the Matsya-p.) with the same importance, so much so that in Vām 12 it is called the chief of all Purāṇas. Hence it is highly probable that the Matsya-p. attained such importance not earlier than about the beginning of the ninth century A.D.

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Chap. 104 of the Vāyu-p. appears to confirm the above view by including the Bhāgavata and the Ādika-purāṇa in the list of Purāṇas and by naming six systems of philosophy of which the Śākta system is one³³. The mention of the Bhāgavata-p. shows that the date of composition of the section containing the list, if not of the whole chapter, cannot be earlier than that of the Bhāgavata. The inclusion of the Ādika-p. in the list tends to point to a still later date. That the title ‘Ādika’ is not used here to mean the Brahma-p., which also is sometimes termed ‘Ādi-purāṇa’ from the preference it enjoys over other Purāṇas, is clear from the fact that the Brahma-p. also is mentioned in the list. The Ādika-p. mentioned by the Vāyu must, therefore, be identical with the Ādi-upapurāṇa, which alone, besides the Brahma-p., goes by the name ‘Ādi-purāṇa’. Alberūnī (about 1030 A.D.) gives two lists of Purāṇas, one of which was dictated to him and the other he copied from the Viṣṇu-p.³⁴. The list that was dictated to him consists partly of Mahāpurāṇas and partly of Upapurāṇas such as the Ādi, Narasimha, Nanda (Nandi ?), Āditya etc., the first place

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³³ Mādhavācārya, in his Bhāṣya on the Parāśara-smṛti (I, i, 305), quotes from the Purāṇa-sāra a verse which names the ‘six systems of philosophy’ of the Bhakti-mārga’ as Śaiva, Vaiṣṇava, Śākta, Saura, Vaināyaka and Skānda.

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³⁴ Sachau, Alberuni’s India, I, pp. 130-131.

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*brāhmam śaivam vaiṣṇavam ca sauram śāktam tathārhatam |* *ṣaḍ darśanāni coktāni svabhāva-niyatāni ca ||* Vā 104, 10.

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being assigned to the Ādi-purāṇa, and the Matsya and Brahma occupying the second and seventeenth places respectively. This list shows that by Alberūnī’s time the Upapurāṇa, called Ādi-purāṇa, not only attained the position of being included in the list of the ‘eighteen Purāṇas’ but became prominent enough to be named first of all. Not only so, the other Upapurāṇas also were regarded so highly that the people did not hesitate to mingle the names of the Upapurāṇas with those of the Mahāpurāṇas to make up the traditional ‘eighteen’. But in Vā 104 the Upapurāṇas do not seem to have attained so much prominence as in Alberūnī’s days. Of the numerous Upapurāṇas the Ādika only is included in the list but is not assigned the first place. This position of the Ādika-p. seems to point to a time earlier than that of Alberūnī. The mention of Śākta philosophy also tends to assign a similar date to Vā 104. From the fact that the Śākta systems began to appear from a time not very much earlier than about the sixth century A.D.³⁵, and from the dates of the Śākta Upaniṣads which began to appear not much earlier than the tenth century A.D.³⁶, it seems that Śākta philosophy attained recognition not earlier than the ninth century A.D. From all this it may be assumed that Vā 104, which places the Matsya-p. first in the list, was written not earlier than the ninth century and not later than the time of Alberūnī. To show that the first place assigned to the Matsya-p. in Vā 104 is not due to mere chance, the Devibhāgavata (I, 3) may be cited as an example. This latter Purāṇa also allows the same preference to the Matsya.

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³⁵ Cf. Farquhar, Outline, pp. 167 ff.

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³⁶ Ibid, pp. 266-267.

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From all the arguments adduced above it may be concluded that Vām 14 was not inserted earlier than the ninth century A.D. As this chapter is drawn upon by Govindānanda in his Varṣakriyā-kaumudī and Śuddhikriyā-kaumudī, by Raghunandana in his Smṛti-tattva, by Narasimha Vājapeyin in his Nityācārapradīpa, by Śrīdatta Upādhyāya in his Kṛtyācāra, by Caṇḍeśvara in his Kṛtya-ratnākara, by Mādhavācārya in his Bhāṣya on the Parāśara-smṛti, by Hemādri in his Caturvarga-cintāmaṇi and by Devaṇabhaṭṭa in his Smṛti-candrikā (see App.), its date cannot be placed later than the beginning of the eleventh century A.D. Hence the date falls either in the ninth or in the tenth century A.D., and most probably in the former.

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The story of Sukeśin, of which chap. 14 forms a vital part, is so closely connected with the other parts of the Purāṇa that the above date can be taken to be that of composition of almost the entire Purāṇa by the Śiva-worshippers.

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The present Vāmana, though a comparatively late work, does not seem to have come down to us quite unadulterated. The repetition of the story of the origin of Liṅga-worship in two forms in chaps. 6 and 43 and of the story of the birth and exploits of the Dwarf in chaps. 27-31 and 76-95 shows that some of these chapters must be later additions. But it is very difficult to disconnect them. Whatever of these chapters may have been interpolated, it is sure that the interpolations were made earlier than 1050 A.D., as the quotations from these and other allied chapters show.

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The Nāradiya-p., which gives the contents of the Vāmana-p. in chap. 105 of its Pūrva-bhāga, speaks of the two parts of the Purāṇa. The contents of the first part tally fully with those of our printed text. The second part, which is called Bṛhad-vāmana, is said to have consisted of four Saṃhitās,—Māheśvarī, Bhāgavatī, Saurī and Gāṇeśvarī,—each containing 1000 Ślokas. The first of these Saṃhitās was given to Kṛṣṇa and his worshippers, the second to Devī and her incarnations, the third to the Sun-god, and the fourth to Gaṇeśa. The Nāradiya-p. further gives a tradition of succession of the Vāmana-p. According to this tradition the Purāṇa was first imparted by Pulastya to Nārada, who then narrated it to Vyāsa. Lomaharṣaṇa received it from Vyāsa and narrated it to the sages of the Naimiṣa forest.

Cites (37)