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VQ'V/tP^
^^-V^'O
JAN
8019^:5
#^UmM
BLI13S
V.
i
THE
VISHNU PURANA.A SYSTEMOF
HINDU MYTHOLOGY AND TRADITION.TRANSLATED
FROM THE ORIGINAL SANSKRIT,AND
ILLUSTRATED BY NOTESDERIVED CHIEFLY FROM OTHER PURAN^AS,BY THE LATE
H.
H.WILSON,IN
M.A.,F.R,S.,THE DNIVERSITT OF OXFORD,
BODEN PROFESSOR OF SANSKRIT
ETC., ETC.
EDITED BY
FITZEDWARD HALL,M.A., l),C.L.
OXON.
VOL.
1.
LONDON:TRtJBNER &CO., GO,
PATERNOSTER ROW.
1864.
TO
THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS, AND SCHOLARSOF
THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD,THISIS
WORK
RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED BY
H. H.
WILSON,VENERATION FOR
IN TESTIMONY OF HIS
THE UNIVERSITY,ANDIN
GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE DISTINCTION
CONFERRED UPON HIM
BY
HIS ADMISSION AS
A MEMBER,
AND HIS ELECTIONTO THB
BODEN PROFESSORSHIP OF THE SANSKRIT LANGUAGE.
Oxford,Feb. 10, 1840.
/
PREFACE.1for
HE literature of the Hindus lias now been cultivated,manyits
years, with singular diligence, and, in
many
of
branches, with eminent success. There are some
departments, however, which are yet but partially andimperfectly investigated; andin possession of that
we are far from being knowledge which the authentic
writings of the Hindus alone can give us of their religion,
mythology, and historical traditions.the materials to whichit
Fromaccess,
we have
hitherto had
seems probable that there have been three principal forms in which the religion of the Hindushas existed, at as
many
different periods.
The duration
of those periods, the circumstances of their succession,
and the preciseit is
state of the national faith at each season,
not possible to trace with any approach to accu-
The premises have been too imperfectly determined to authorize other than conclusions of a general and somewhat vague description; and those remain to be hereafter confirmed, or corrected, by more extensiveracy.
and
satisfactory research.earliestis
Theappears
form under which the Hindu religion
that taught in the Vedas.
The
style of the
language, and the purport of the composition, of thoseI.
a
nworks, as far as
PREFACE.
we
are acquainted with them, indicate
a date long anterior to that of any other class of SansIt is yet, however, scarcely safe to advance an opinion of the precise belief, or philosophy, which they inculcate. To enable us to judge of their
krit writings.
we have only a general sketch of their arrangement and contents, with a few extracts, by Mr.tendency,
Colebrooke, in the Asiatic Researches;* a few incidentalthe same miscellany;^ and book of the Samhitd, or collection of the prayers of the Rig-veda, by Dr. Rosen;' and some of the Upanishads or speculative treatises,Ellis, infirst
observations by Mr.
a translation of the
,
attached to, rather than part of, the Vedas, by
Ram-
mohun
Roy."**
Of the
religion taught in the Vedas,will
Mr. Colebrooke's opinionthat whichis
probably be received as
best entitled to deference; as, certainly,
the onginal works.
no Sanskrit scholar has been equally conversant with "The real doctrine of the whole111>
Indian scripture''"".
I !.
is
the unity of the deity, in..II-
whomI
the-i
...^
.,_... !-
I...
I.
Ml.
i-
' *
Vol. VIII., p. 369. t Vol. XIV., p. 37. Published by the Oriental Translation Fund Coramittee.-^
A
translationtitle
of the principal Upanishads was published,
under the
of Oupnekhat, or Theologia Indica,it
by Anquetil
du Perron; butandis
was made through
the
medium
of the Persian,
very incorrect and obscure.
A
translation of a very difin course of preparation
ferent character* has been
some time
by M. Poley.
* To insert here a list of the numerous publications bearing on the Vedas, that have appeared since the date of this preface, 1840, would be beside the purpose of my notes.
f*
The kindness
Reprinted in Colebrooke's Miscellaneous Essays, Vol.1., pp. 9-113. of Professor Wilson here mistook a hope for a reality.
PREFACE.
Ill
universe is comprehended; and the seeniing polytheism which it exhibits offers the elements, and the stars and planets, as gods. The three principal manifestivtions of the divinity, with other personitied attributes
and energies, and most of the other gods of Hindu mythology, are, indeed, mentioned, or, at least, indicated, in the Vedas. But the worship of deified heroesis
deities suggested in
no part of that system; nor are the incarnations of any other portion of the text which
I have yet seen: though such are sometimes hinted at by the commentators."^ Some of these statements may,
perhaps, require modification; for, without a careful
examination of
all the prayers of the Vedas, it would be hazardous to assert that they contain no indication whatever of hero-worship; and, certainly, they do ap-
pear to allude, occasionally, to the Avataras, or incarnations, of Vishnu.Still,
however,ritijal
it is
true that theis
prevailing character of the
of the Vedas
the
worship of the personified elements; of Agni or fire; Indra, the firmament; Vayu, the air; Varuna, the water;of Aditya, the sun;
Soma, the moon; and otheris.
ele-
mentary and
planetar}^ personages.
It is also true that
the worship of the Vedas
for the
most part^ domestic
worship, consisting of prayers and oblations offeredin their
own
houses, not in temples
by
individuals,
for individual good,
and addressed
to unreal presences,
not to visible types.
In a word, th^ religion of the
Vedas was not
idolatry.
'
As. Res., Vol.VlIL,
p. 474.*
Or Miscellaneous Essays, Vol.1., pp.110 and 111.
IVIt is
PREFACE.not possible to conjecture
when
this
more simple
and primitive form of adoration was succeeded by the worsliip of images and types, representing Brahma,Vishnu, Siva, and other imaginary beings, constitutinga mythological pantheon of most ample extent; or
when Rama and Krishna, who appearoriginally, real
to
and
historical characters,
have been, were elevatedis
to the dignity of divinities.
Image-worshipsubsist
alluded
to by
Manu,
in several passages,^ but with an intima-
tion that thosein
Brahmans who
by ministeringclass.
temples are an inferior and degraaed
The
story of the
Ramavana and Mahabharata
turns wholly
upon the doctrine of incarnations; all the chief dramatis poems being impersonations of gods, and demigods, and celestial spirits. The ritual appears to be that of the Vedas: and it may be doubted if any allusion to image-worship occurs. But the doctrine of propitiation by penance and praise prevails throughout; and Vishnu and Siva are the especial objects of panegyric and invocation. In these two works, then, we trace unequivocal indications of a departure from thepersonfe of the
elemental worship of the Vedas, and the origin or elaboration of legends which
form the gTeat body of the
mythologicai religion of the Hindus..
How
far
they
only improved upon the cosmogony and chronologyof then* predecessors, or in
what degree the
traditions
of families and dynastioHt|uestions that
may
originate with them, are
and the two worksth oi'O ughly
can only be determined when the Vedas in question shall ha\e been more
ex a,min e diU,B. IV., 214.
'
B.
III.,
Ij2,
PREFACF,.
V
Theas the
different
works known bv the name of Purunas
are evidently derived from the same religious system
heroic stage of Hindu belief.pecujiarities
Ramayana and Mahahharata, or from the mythcThey present, however,which designatetheir belonging to a later
period, and to an importani; modification' in the pro-
They repeat the theoretical cosmogony of the two great poems; they expand and systematize the chronological computations; and they give a more definite and connected representation of the mythological fictions and the historical traditions. But, besides these and other particulars, which may be derivable from an old, if not from a primitive, era, they offer characteristic peculiarities of a more modern description, in the paramount importance which theygress of opinion.assign to individual divinities, in the variety and purof* the rites and observances addressed to them, and in the invention of new legends illustrative oi' the power and graciousness of those deities, and of the
port
efficacy of implicit devotion to them,
Siva and Vishnu,
under one or other form, are almost the sole objects that claim the homage of the Hindus, in the Puraiias;departing fi'om the domestic and elemental ritual ofthe Vedas, and exhibiting a sectarial fervour and exclusiveness not traceable in theto a qualified extent in the Mahabharata.
Ramayana, and only They are no
longer authorities for Hindu belief, as a whole: they are special guides for separate and, sometimes, con-
branches of it; compiled for the evident purpose of promoting the preferential, or, in some cases, the sole, worship of Vishnu, or of Siva.^flicting
'
Besides the three periods marked
by the Vedas, Heroic
VI
TRKFACE.
given of them
That the Puraiias always bore the character here may admit of reasonable doubt: that it
correctly applies to
them
as they
now
are
met
with,It
the following pages will irrefragably substantiate.is
possible,
however, that there may have been an
earlier class of Purai'ias, of
which those we now have
are but the partial and adulterated representatives.
The
identity of the legends in
many
of them, and,
still
more, the identity of the wordslong passages areliterally
for, in
several of them,is
the same
a sufticient
proof
that, in all
such cases, they must be copied either
from some other similar work, or from aprior original.statedIt is
common and
not unusual, also, for a fact to be
cited accordingly;
upon the authority of an 'old stanza', which is showing the existence of an earlier
source of information: and, in very
manyelse.
instances,
legends are alluded
to,
not told; ev^lncing acquaintance
with their prior narration somewhereitself,
The namethe object
Puraha, which implies
'old', indicates
of the compilation to be the preservation of ancienttraditions; a purpose, in the present condition of the
Puranas, very imperfectly
fullilled.
may
be attached to these considerations, thereeffect^
disputing evidence to the like
Whatever weight is no afforded by other
The description given, by Mr. Colebrooke,^ of the contents of a Purana isand unquestionable authority.Foeras, aud Furanas, a fourthexercised by the Tantras upon
may bo
dated from the inftuence
Hindu
practice
and
belief: but
we
are yet too
little
acquainted with those works, or their origin, to
speculate safely upon their consequences.'
As. Res., Vol. VII., p. 202.*
Or Miscellaneous Essays, Vol.
II.,
pp.
4 and
5,
foot-note.
PREFACE.taken from Sanskrit writers.
VU
The Lexicon of Amara
Simha gives,
as a
synonym
of Parana, Pancha-Itikshana,
'that which has five characteristic topics'; and there is no difference of opinion, amongst the schohasts, as to what these are. They are, as Mr. Colebrooke mentionsI.
Primary
creation, or
cosmogony;III.
II.
Secondary cre-
ation,
or the destruction and renovation of worlds,
inchiding
chronology;
Genealogy of gods and
patriarchs; IV. Reigns of the Manus, or periods called
Manwantaras; and, V. History, or such particulars as have been preserved of the princes of the solar and lunar races, and of their descendants to modeni times. *Such, at any rate, were the constituent and characteristic
portions of a Purana, in the days of Amara Simha,*
fifty-six
years before the Christian era;f and,
if
the
Theit is
following definition of a
Purana
is
constantly quoted:
found in the Vishnu, Matsya, Vayu, and other Puiaiias:
A
variation of reading in the beginning of the second line
ia
noticed by
Ramasrama,
the scholiast on
Amara, WSnf^pETWr'f:
'Destruction of the earth and the rest, or final dissolution;' in
which case the genealogies of heroes and princes are comprisedin those of the patriarchs.
?
t That Amarasiiiiha lived at that time, though proved. Professor Wilson Sanskrit Dictionary,
possible, has notlirst
been
edition,
Preface,
p. V.
asserts
tha^;
"all
traditionin
concurs in enutoerating him amongstof the Hindus,
the learnedare
men who,
the metaphorical phraseology
denominated the 'nine gems' of the court of Vikramaditya. Authorities which assert the contemporary existence of Amara and Vikramaditya might be indefinitely multiplied; and those are equally nu-
merous
which
class
him amongst
the
'nine gems'."'
In the se(;ond
Vnr
PREFACE.
Piiranas had undergone no change since his time, such
we
should expect to find thera
still.
Do
they confonn
word the Professor explains "The nine men of letters at the court of Vikrautaditya, or, Dhanwantari, Kshapauaka, Amarasimha, l^ankn, Vetalabhatia, Ghafakarpara Kalidasa, Varahamihira, and Vararuchi." The traditionedition of his Dictionary, under the
the "nine
gams"
to be:
,
about these ornaments he thinksp. V.
Megkadtila,
second edition, Preface,is
to
be one of those regarding which "there
no reason to dispute
the truth."
The "authorities" spoken offallen yet in the
in the first of the preceding extracts are
and they are not known to have any one else. Those authorities apart, he adduces a stanza about the "nine gems ', of which he says, that it "appears in a great measure traditionary only; as I have not been able to trace it to any authentic source, although it is in the mouth of every Pandit, ^en interrogated on the subject."
not specified by Professor Wilson;
way
of
The stanzaclusion, where
in question occurs in the Jyoiirviddbharana , near its con-
we
find the following verses:
^5fNrRlaces
have no dates attachedauthorities are
to them, yet circumstances are
sometimes mentioned, or alluded
made, or legends are narrated, or
are particularized, of which the comparatively recent dateis
indisputable,
and which enforce a correspondingsam.e time, they
reduction of the antiquity of the work in which theyare discovered.
At the
may be
ac-
quitted of subservience to any but sectarial imposture.
They were piousthetire
frauds for temporary purposes: they
never emanated from any impossible combination of
Brahmans to fabricate for the antiquity of the enHindu system any claims which it cannot fully
support.
A very great portion
of the contents of many,all, is
some portion of the contents of
genuine andis
old.
Thethe
sectarial interpolation, or embellishment,
always
sufficiently palpable to
be set aside without injury topi'imitive material;
more authentic and
and the
Puranas, although they belong especially to that stage
Xn
PREFACE.
of the Hindis religion in which faith invinity
some one
di-
was
the prevailing principle, are, also, a valuable
record of the form of Hindu belief which came nextin
order to that of the Vedas; which grafted hero-
ritual of the latter; and which had been adopted, and was extensively, perhaps universally, established in India, at the time of the Greek
worship upon the simpler
invasion.
The Hercules of the Greek
writers was, in-
Balarama of the Hindus; and their notices of Mathura on the Jumna, and of the kingdom of the Suraseni and the Pands&an country, evidence the prior currency of the traditions which constitutedubitably, the
the argument of the Mahabharata, and which are constantly repeated in the Puranas, relating to the
Pah-
dava and Yadava races, to Krishna and his contemporary heroes, and to the dynasties of the solar andlunar kings
The theogony and cosmogony of the Puranas may, probably, be traced to the Vedas. They are not, asfar asis
but they are frequently alludedless mystical
yet known, described in detail in those works; to, in a strain more or
and obscure, which indicates accjuaintance
with their existence, and which seems to have suppliedthe Puranas with the
groundwork of
their systems.
The scheme
of primary or elementary creation theyis,
borrow from the Sankliya philosophy, which
pro-
bably, one of the oldest fonns of speculation on man and nature, amongst the Hindus. Agreeably, however,to that part of the Pauranik character
which there
is
reason to j^uspect of later origin,
theii'
inculcation of
the worship of a favourite deity, they combine the interposition of a creator with the independent evolu-
PREFACE.tion of matter, in atelligible style.
Xmaccounts
somewhat contradictory and unin-
It is evident, too, that their
of secondary creation, or the development of the exist-
ing forms of things, and the disposition of the universe,are derived from several and different sources; andit
appears very likely that they are to be accused of someof the incongruities and absurdities by which the narrativeis
disfigured, in
consequence of having attemptedhowever, amidst the
to assign reality
and significancy to what was merelyis,
met^aphor or mysticism. There
unnecessary complexity of the description, a general
agreement, amongst them, as to the origin of things
and
their final distribution: and, inis
many
of the circum-
stances, there
a striking concurrence with the ideas
which seem to have pen'aded the whole of the ancient world, and which we may, therefore, believe to be faithfully represented in the
Puranas.is
The pantheism
of the Puranas
one of their
in-
variable characteristics; although the particular divinity
whoto
is all
things,all
from
whom
all
things proceed, and
whom
things return, be diversified according to
their individual sectarial bias.
Thev seem
to
have de-
rived the notion from the Vedas; but, in theyn, the
one universal Being
is
of a higher order than a per-
sonification of attributes or elements,
and, howeverisis
imperfectly conceived, or unworthily described,
God.sup-
In the Puranas, the one only
Supreme Being
posed to be manifesteither in the
in
the person of Siva, or Vishnu,
way
of illusion, or in sport; and one oris,
other of these divinitiesall
therefore, also the cause of
that
is,
is,
himself, all that exists.is
God and
nature
not a
new
notion:
it
The identity of was very genei'al
XIV
PBEFACE.it
in the speculations of antiquity; bat
assumed a new
vigour in the early ages of Christianity, and was carriedto
an equal pitch of extravagance by the Platonic
Christians as
by the Saiva or Vaishnava Hindus.
It
seems not impossible that there was some communication between them. We know that there was anactive communication between India
and the Red Sea,and that doc-
in the earlv ages of the Christian era,trlnes, as well as articles of
merchandise, were brought
to
Alexandria from the former. Epiphanius^ and Eu-
sebius^ accuse Scythianus of having importedIndia, in the second century,retical notions
fromat
books on magic, and heit
leading to Manichseism; and
was
the same period thatsect of theliis
Ammonius
Saccas instituted the
new
Platonists at Alexandria.
The
basis of
heresy was, that true philosophy derived
its
origin
from the eastern nations. His doctrme of the identity of God and the universe is that of the Vedas and Puranas; and the practices he enjoined, as well as theirobject,
Puranas, under the
were precisely those described in several of the name of Yoga. His disciples werespirit;
taught to extenuate, by mortiiication and contemplation,
the bodily restraints upon the immortallife,
so that, in this
they might enjoy communion withafter death, to the
the
Supreme Being, and ascend,
universal Parent.^
That these are Hindu tenets, the
following pages* will testify; and, by the admission oftheir Alexandrian teacher, they onginated in India.
The importation'
was, perhaps, not wholly unrequited:
Adv. Manichieos.
^
Hist,
Evaog.
See Mosbeio),
I.,
II.,
i.
See Book VI., Chap. Vll.
PREFACE.the loan
XVunpaid.It is
may
not have been
left
not im-
possible that the
Hindu doctrines received fresh animation from their adoption by the successors of Ammonius, and, especially, by the mystics, who may haveprompted, as well as employed, the expressions of thePuranas. Anquetll du Perron has given, ^ in the introduction to his translation of the 'Oupnekhat', several
hymns byfifth
Synesius, a bishop of the beginning of the
the
may serve as parallels to many of hymns and prayers addressed to Vishnu in thecentury, whichascription, to individual
Vishnu Purana.
But the
and personal
deities,
of the attributes of the one universal and spiritual Su-
preme Being,
is
an indication of a later date than thealso,
Vedas, certainly, and, apparently,
than the
Rama-
yana, where Rama, although an incarnation of Vivshnu,
commonly appearsis
in his
humanin the
character alone. There
something of the kindKrishna;as the
Mahabharata, in respectIn other places, the didecidedly affirmed;in
to
especially in the philosophical episode
knownsome,
Bhagavad
Gita.is less
vine nature of Krishnait is
disputed, or denied; and, in most of the
situations in
which he
is
exhibited in action,
it is
as a
prince and warrior,
riot as
a divinity.
He
exercises no
superhuman
faculties in the defence of himself or his
friends, or in the defeat
and destruction ofis,
his foes.
The Mahabharata, however,carefullyity
evidently, a
work of
various periods, and requires to be read throughout,
and
critically,
before
its
weight as an author-
can be accurately appreciated.
As
it
is
now
in
'
Theologia
et
PhilosopLia Indica, Dissert.,
p. xxvi.
XVI
PREFACE.to the public spirit of the Asiatic Soof Bengal, and their secretary, Mi-. J. Prinsep,
type/ thanksciet}'it
wiil
not be long before the Sanskrit scholars of theits
continent will accurately appreciate
value.
works of evidently different ages, and have been compiled under different circumare, also,
The Puranas
stances, the precise nature of
which we can but imand fromreligious opinion in
perfectly conjecture fi-om internal evidence
what we know of the history ofIndia. It
is highly probable that, of the present popular forms of the Hindu religion, none assumed their actual
state earlier than the time of
Sankara Acharva, theall
great Saiva reformer,in
who
flourished, in
likelihood,
the eighth or ninth century.
Of
the Vaishnava
teachers,
Ramanuja
dates in the twelfth century;
Ma-
dhwacharya, in the thirteenth; and Vallabha, in the sixteenth;^ and thePura/ias seem to have accompanied,or followed, their innovations; being obviously intendedto advocate the doctrines they taught.
This
is
to astrue;
sign to
some of them a very
modem
date,
it is
but
cannot think that a higher can, with justice, be ascribed to them. This, however, applies to some onlyI
out of the number, asspecify.
I shall
presently proceed to
Another evidence of a comparatively modern date'
Three volumes have been printed: the fourth andAs. Res., Vols.
last is
understood to be nearly completed.*'
XVI. and XVII.
Account of Hindu
Sects,
f
'
it
was couipleted ia 1839:
at,
least, it bears that date,
t This "Sketch of the Religious Sects of the Hindus", by Professor Wilson, will be found in the first volume of his collected works.
PREFACE.
XVn
must be admittednasties
in
those chapters of the Puranasforetell
which, assuming a prophetic tone,chapters,
of kings will reign in the Kali age.it is
what dyThesePurathe date
true, are found but in four of the
nas; but they are conclusive in bringing
down
of those four to a period considerably subsequent toChristianity.Itis,
also, to
be remarked that the Vayu,other re-
Vishiin,
Bhagavata, and Matsya Puranas, in whichall
these particulars arc foretold, have, in^
spects, the character of as great antiquity as
any works
of their class.
The
invariable
form of the Puraiias
is
that of a dia-
logue, in which
some person
relates its contents, ia
reply to the inquiries of another.
This dialogue
is
interwoven with others, which are repeated as having
been held, on other occasions, between different
indi-
viduals, in consequence of similar questions having
been asked. The immediate narrator is, commonly, though not constantly, Lomaharshana or Komaharshana, the disciple of Vyasa,
who
is
supposed to comsage.is
municate what was imparted to him by his preceptor,as hewill
had heardin
it
from some other
Vyasa, astitle,
be seen
ihe body of the work, ^
a generic
meaning an
'arranger' or 'compiler'.
It is, in this age,
applied to Krishna Dwaipayana, the son of Parasara,
'
On
the history of the compositiou of the Piirarias, as theyI
now
appear,
have hazarded some specuhations in
my
Analysis
of the1S32.*^
Vayu Puraua: Journ.III.,
Asiatic Society of Bengal, December,
BookSee Vol.
Chapter
III.
*
III. of
our author's collected writings.
I.
XVIII
PREFACE.is
who
said to
have taught the Vedas and Puranas to
various disciples, but
who appears
to
have been the
head of alearned
college,
or school, under
whom
various
men gave
to the sacred literature of theit
Hindusler,
the form in which
now
presents
itself.
In this task,
the disciples, as they are termed, of Vyasa were, rathis colleagues
and coadjutors; for they were already conversant with what he is fabled to have taught them ;* and, amongst them, Lomaharshana represents the class of persons who were especially charged with the record of political and temporal events.Siita, as ifit
He
is
called
was a proper name: but it is, more correctly, a title; and Lomaharshana w^as 'a Siita', that is, a bard, or panegyrist, who was created, according toourtext,^ to celebrate the exploits of princes,
and who,
according to the
Vayu and Padma Puranas, has a rightsto narrate the Puranas, in preIt is
by birth and profession,therefore, that
ference even to the Brahmans.^
not unlikely,his being re-
we
are to understand,
by
presented as the disciple of Vyasa, the institution of
to collect,
some attempt, made under the direction of the latter, from the heralds and annalists of his day,
the scattered traditions which they had imperfectly
preserved: and hence the consequent appropriation ofthe Puranas, in a great measure, to the genealogies ofregal dynasties
and descriptions of the universe. How-
ever this
may
be, the machinery has been but looselyChapter
See Book
III.,
III.
Book
I.,
Chapter XIII.
'
Journ. Royal As. Soc, Vol. V., p. 281.*
*
The
article referred to is
from the pen of Professor Wilson, and has
been leprinted.
PREFACE.
X[X
adhered to; and many of the Puranas, like the Vishnu, are referred to a different narrator.is given, in the following work/ of a of Pauranik compilations of which, in their present form, no vestige appears. Lomaharshana is
An
account
series
said to have as
had
six disciples, three of
whom composed
many fundamental piled a fourth. By a
Samhitas, whilst he himself comSarnhita,is
generally understood
a 'collection' or 'compilation'.
The Samhitas of
the
Vedas are collections of hymns and prayers belonging to them, aiTJinged according to the judgment of someindividual sage,
who is, therefore, looked upon as the originator and teacher of each. -The Samhitas of theat-
Puranas, then, should be analogous compilations,tabrana, and Romaharshana: no such Pauranikhitas are
tributed, respectively, to Mitrayu, Sanisapayana, Aki'-i-
Samisis,
now known. The
substance of the four
said to be collected in the Vishnu Purana,also, in
which
another place, ^
itself called-as
a Sarnhita. But suchinquiry has yet pro-
compilations have not, as far
ceeded, been discovered. The specification may be accepted as an indication of the Puranas' having existedin
some other form,it
in
which they are no longer mettheir
with; although
does not appear that the arrangementexistenceis
was incompatible with
as
separate
works; for the Vishnu Purana, whichmeration of the several Puranas.
our authority
for the four Sarhhitas, gives us, also, the usual enu-
Thereto in the
is
another classification of the Puranas, alludedspecified
Matsya Purana, andIII.,
by the PadmaChapterI.
'
Book
Chapter
III,
*
Book
I.,
XXParana, but moretice, as it
PREFACE.fully.It is
not undeserving of no-
expresses the opinion which native writers
entertain of the scope of the Puranas,
and ofit is
their re-
cognizing the subservience of these works to the dis-
semination of sectarian principles.the Uttara
Thus,
said, in
Khanda
of the
Padma,*
that the Puranas,
as well as other works, are divided into three classes,
according to the qualities which prevail in them. Thus,
Padma, and Varaha Puranas are Sattwika or pure, from the predominance,ranas.in
the Vishnu, Naradiya, Bhagavata, Garuda,
them, of the Sattwaare, in
quality, or that of
goodness and purity. They
factv,
Vaishnava Pu-
and Agni Puranas are Tamasa, or Puranas of darkness, from the prevalence of the quality of Tamas, 'igno-.Siva, Skanda,ranee', 'gloom'.
The Matsya, Kurma, Linga,
They
are, indisputably,
Saiva Puranas.
Brahmahda, Brahma Vaivarta, Markandeya, Bhavishya, Vamana, and Brahma Puranas, are designated as Rajasa, 'passionate', from Rajas, the property of passion, which they are supposed to represent. The Matsya does not specify which are the Puranas that come under these designations, but remarks f that those in which the Mahatmyathird series, comprising the*
The
Chapter XLII.:
wm ^r^ ^m tt t^ wn^ 7T%^ ^
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i
"^ ^^tfrfsT
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t^vcr
ii
^r^rwt Chapter LII.:
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II
PREPACK.
XXI
of Hari or Vishnu prevails are Sattwika; those in whichthe legends of Agni or Siva predominate are Taniasa;
and those which dwell most on the
stories of
Brahma
are Rdjasa. I have elsewhere stated^ that I considered
the Rajasa Puranas to lean to the Sakta division of the
Hindus, the worshippers of Sakti or the female principle;
founding this opinion on the character of the
legends which some of them contain, such as the Durga
Mahatmya, or celebrated legend on which the worship of Durga or Kali is especially founded, which is a principal episode of the Markandeya. The BrahmaVaivarta also devotes the greatest portion ofters to the celebration ofits
chap-
Radha, the mistress of Krishna,Colonel Vans Kennedy,
and other female
divinities.
however, objects to the application of the term Sakta to this last division of the Puranas; the worship ofSakti
bemg
the especial object of a different class of
works, theTantras; and no such form of worship beingparticularly inculcated in thelast
Brahma Purana.^ This
argument
is
of weight in regard to the particular
instance specified; and the designation of Sakti
may
not be correctly applicable to the wholeit is
class,
although
to
some of the
series: for there is
no incompati-
bility in
the advocacy of a Tantrika modification ofp. 10.*
As. Res., Vol. XVI.,
'
Asiatic Journal, March, 1837, p. 241.
d^g^^ ?nfirw ^^55 iTT^m:Vol.I.,
frRT%g
t
irw ^f^TT^^
i
f^ryait "^
ii
p. 12, foot-note, of the author's collective publications.
XXn
PREFACE.it
the Hindu religion by any Parana; andtionably,
has, unques-
works known asUpapuranas. The proper appropriation of the third class of the Puranas, according to the Padma Purana, appears to bebeen practisedin
to the worship of Krishna, not in the character in which
he
is
nas,
represented in the Vishnu and Bhagavata Purain which the incidents of his boyhood are onlyin
a portion of his biography, and
which the human
character largely participates, at least in his riper years, but as the infant Krishna, Govinda, Bala Gopala, the
sojourner in Vfindavana, the companion of the cowherds and milkmaids, the lover of Radha, or as the juvenile mast-er of the universe, Jagannatha. The termRajasa, implying the animation of passion and enjoy-
ment of sensual
delights,
is
applicable not only to the
character of the youthful divinity, but to those with
whom
his adoration
in
these forms seems to have
originated, the Gosains of
Gokul and Bengal, the
fol^
lowers and descendants of Vallabha and Chaitanya, the priests and proprietors of Jagannath and Srin4thdwar,
who
lead a
life
of affluence and indulgence, and vin-
dicate, both by precept and practice, the reasonableness of the Rajasa property, and the congruity of tem-
poral enjoyment with the duties of religion.^
The Puranasnumber.
are uniformly stated to be eighteen in
It is said that there are also
eighteen Upa-
purahas or minor Puranas: but the names of only a
few of these are specified
in the least exceptionable
'
As. Res., Vol. XVI., p. 85.
CoUectiTe Works of Pxofessoi Wilson, Vol.
I.,
p. 119.
PREFACE.authorities;
XXIII
not procurable.thereis
and the greater number of the works is With regard to the eighteen Purai'ias,is
a pecuUarity in their specification, which
proof of an interference with the integrity of thein
text,
some of them,
at least; for each of
them
specifies
the names of the whole eighteen.
not have been complete whilst
Now, tlie list could the work that gives itit.
was
unfinished; and in one only, therefore, the last of
the series, havethere are
we
a right to look for
As, however,
more last words than one, it is evident that the names must have been inserted in all except one, after the whole were completed. Which of the eighteenis
the exception, and truly the
last,is,
there
is
no clue
to
discover; and the specificationpolation, in most^if
probably, an inter-
not in aU.
The namesshnava,
that are specified are1.
same, and are as follows:4. Saiva, 5.8.
Brahma,6.
Bhagavata,9.
commonly the Pddma, 3. VaiNaradiya, 7. Mar2.
kandeya,15.
Agneya,
Bhavishya, 10. Brahma Vai-
varta, 11. Lainga, 12. Varaha, 13. Skanda, 14.16. Matsya, 17. Garuda, 18.
Vamana,
Thisis
Kaurma^ is from the twelfth book of the Bhagavata, and the same as occurs in the Vishnu.^ In other authoriThe namesare put attributively; the noun substantive, Pu-
Brahmanda.^
*
rana, being understood.
Thus, Vaishnavam Puraiiam means the
Puraiia of Vishnu; Saivam Puranam, the Puraiia of Siva; Brahmam Puranam, the Puraiia of Brahma. It is equally correct, and
more common,
to use
the two substantives
in apposition,
as
Vishnu Puraria, 6iva Puraria, &c.
In the original Sanskrit the
noims are compounded, as Vishnu-purana, &c.: but it has not been customary to combine them, in their European shape.'
Book
III.,
Chapter VI.
XXIV
PREFACE.
ties there are a few variations. The list of the Ki'irma Parana omits the Agni Parana, and substitutes the Vayu.* The Agni leaves out the Siva, and inserts the Vayu. The Varaha omits the Garuda and Brahmanda^ and inserts the Vayu and Narasiihha: in this last, it is singular. The Markandeya agi-ees with the Vishnu and Bhagavata, in omitting the Vayu. The Matsya, hke
the Agni, leaves out- the Siva.
Some
of the Puranas, as the Agni, Matsya,f Bhaga-
vata, t and
Padma,
also particularize th
number ofIn one
stanzas which each of the eighteen contains.
or two instances they disagree; but, in general, theyconcur.
The aggregatelines.
is
stated at 400,000 slokas, or
1,600,000
These are fabled to be but an abridg-
ment: the whole* I
amount being a krore or ten*t
millions
Professor Wilson's MS. has
[4
tion of very heterogen