A Purana is a holy text among Hindus (and Buddhists and Jains). The word purana means "of ancient times". Puranas are old works, a group of religious texts. There are many puranas. What most of them have in common, is a build-up that tells of creation, genealogies of the kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and describes Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography. In other words, a Purana is a collection of myth, legend, and genealogy, and gives versions of how the world was made.
Puranas are usually written in the form of stories told by one person to someone else. Purana texts might have been written all over India, although Vyasa is traditionally considered the compiler of them. Common ideas are found throughout the various Puranas. The age and origin of Puranas vary greatly, and they have been added to in the course of time as well.
In Puranic texts sectarianism has crept into ancient mythology, usually with one god extolled above others. Puranas are structured similarly, but are devoted to or they extol different gods, even though various Puranas contain the same stories or quite similar stories.
About eighteen of the many texts called 'Puranas' are called Mahapuranas, great puranas. Dimmitt and van Buitenen have listed twenty - the numbers in brackets are verses each contains):
- Agni (15,400 verses)
- Bhagavata (18,000 - the most celebrated and popular of the Puranas)
- Bhavishya (14,500)
- Brahma (24,000)
- Brahmanda (12,000)
- Brahmavaivarta (18,000)
- Garuda (19,000)
- Harivamsa (16,000)
- Kurma (17,000)
- Linga (11,000)
- Markandeya (9,000 - including Devi Mahatmyam)
- Matsya (14,000)
- Narada (25,000)
- Padma (55,000)
- Shiva (24,000)
- Skanda (81,100)
- Vamana (10,000)
- Varaha (10,000)
- Vayu (24,000)
- Vishnu (23,000).
There are also at least twenty Puranas more to be found.
The Garuda Purana is in the Atharva-Veda and is classified as one of the Vishnu Puranas.
More on Puranas
"I will preach the Brahman-science. It was taught to pupuls who desired to
preserve their life. It is the science which achieves good.
May we hear with our ears what is auspicious;
May we see with our eyes what is auspicious!
May we enjoy the term of life allotted . . .
May the all-knowing Sun bless us!
- Garuda Purana.
The Puranas constitute a class of literature that deals with
legends of gods, asuras (demons), sages and kings of old, and contans abstracts of works in
arts, sciences, medicine, grammar, dramaturgy, music, astrology and other subjects, affords
insight into different phases and aspects of Hinduism - its mythology, idol-worship, theism,
pantheims, love of God, philosophy, superstition, festivals and ceremonies. Puranas are
"folk encyclopedies" of ancient and medieval Hinduism. [From a definition - Gpu xvi]
Puranas also tell of duties among men, and they are written in an easy, flowing
style. About eighteen surviving Puranas are called more important than other Puranas. The
Garuda Purana is among the main ones, who - to repeat - deal with quite similar
material. This means Puranas is an eclective genre.
The speaker of the Garuda Purana is Garud(a), who narrates it to Kasyapa, who tells it
to Vyasa, to in turn narrates it to Shiva. The work has three parts (kandas). They are Acara
kanda (also called karma kanda) of 240 chapters, which deals with karma; preta kanda (dharma
kanda), which deals with dharma (law, justice, etc.); and Brahma kanda (moksha kanda), which
speaks of liberation, freedom (moksha) [Gpu ix-xx]
The Garuda Purana was produced through several stages, and was subjected to
revisions and redactions. And therefore it is difficult to fix the date of the Purana as a
whole, writes J. H. Shastri. Further, as a Purana devoted to Vishnu, the Garuda Purana gives
prominent place to him, before Shiva, Brahma, and other ancient, Vedic gods. Although the
work describes Vishnu as the Supreme Being, that does not exclude attention to or honour of
other deities. The supreme deity can be realized by knowledge and not worship (kriya), it is
held (Gpu III 12:59), and the Purana holds that the individual self and the Supreme Self are
identical. To realize this is liberation, explains Shastri, and tells the Lord is eternal
and formless (etc.). [Gpu xxvii-xxxv].
The content of this Purana reflects a sad fact: that in the Puranic literature of AD
500 to 1000, sectarianism creeps into mythology, and one god is extolled above the others.
The tendecy to theism in the Puranic universe exalts several supreme gods who are
not prominent in the Vedic pantheon (the ancient assembly of gods and goddesses).
Of prime interest are cosmology, myths, and ascetics who sometimes eclipse the old gods
through their tapas (penance).
In the Puranic world-picture the mountain Meru stands at the centre. Some interpret
Mt. Meru symbolically to mean the spine. There are seven layers of heaven, and the summit of
heaven is the world (loka, level) of God the Creator.
Puranic myths develop around the notion of four yugas (world ages): (1) The Satya or
Krita Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga, and Kali-Yuga. In the order given, they show
increasing deterioration of moral and features and social conditions. "The more Kali-Yuga,
the more predicaments". Each yuga has its "dawn" and "dusk" (skandas).
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The most unfortunate women sinned against their husbands
GOD the Creator and others can see Srinivasa
as of eternal form of lustrous body. [3.24.8-11]
Blue cloth is not forbidden as a bedsheet. [1.222.49]
A woman who commits sins against her husband alive or dead shall never get a husband in
her rebirth. [2.26.59]
A soft-hearted, truthful, pure, and kind-natured brahmin went to a forest to practice
penance. He used to perform homas and great sacrifices. He was afraid of the other world. He
strictly followed the instruction of his preceptor. He was delighted in serving guests. He
observed yogic practices. He spent years in the secluded forest. Then the idea of visiting
holy centres entered his mind. [2.22.22-27]
He who transcribes Itihasas (epics) or Puranas or makes a gift of them, attains merit. [1.98.16-17]
There is nothing that the preceptor will not disclose to his
disciple. [3.21.33]
The wise declare . . . where there is no exegesis or commentary on the supreme songs . .
. where there are no people who understand the substance thereof, one should not live. [3.20.26]
Prana (vital airs) is called ahamkara; it is a part of Garutmat [Garuda]. It is inferior
to Kama and Indra. [3.28.36]
People who are slayers of preceptors, who die of cholera, who hang themselves to death, who are drowned - listen to their hell-plight. [2.40.4-12]
The [Wind, Vayu] is called the devotee of God. [3.16.28]
They study the Vedas and discuss. But they do not realize the Ultimate Reality just as a
spoon does not know the taste of food. [2.49.78]
One should enjoy the essence of the Bhagavata Purana - a rare thing in this mortal world. [3.20.43]
The ghost torments his family [too, if] while he was in human body he was affectionate to
his people - and now that he is dead he becomes hostile to them. [2.20.15]
Bodies are perishable, riches are transitory, death is ever present. Hence,
virtue should be accumulated. [2.47.24]
The seekers of eternal wisdom should know that the material objects consist of
infinitesimal particles. [3.3.39-40]
When their expiatory and deterrent tortures in
hell cease, the living beings are born again in human (or animal) form with the characteristic traits of their sins. [2.46.9-10] (2)
One should worship Primeval Being with all eight organs of the body [astanga-pranama].
[cf. 3.24.40]
The amount of sleep, fears,
and riches is not evenly distributed among people. City folks tend to suffer most.
A person who has mastered all the systems of Vedanta [philosophy] can be better than thousands of who perform sacrifice reciting mantras. A devotee of the Primeval Being may be better than ten millions of such Vedantins. [1.227.12] (3)
He who does not keep a cow at home, is unaware of the art of milking it or is averse to nourishing it, passes his life in vain. [3.29.45]
By means of japas, homas and danas one should sanctify his body. If this is performed, . . . obstacles and hindrances are dispelled. [2.21.23] (4)
Certain men of sinful actions become ghosts after death [2.22.3.]
After eating garlic and onion one could [try to] perform Candrayana. [cf. 1.96.72]
People praise a rich man with great respect wishing for some monetary profit.
[1.230.50]
If the woman is in a mood to receive the husband on any night he should satisfy her,
remembering that lust in women is terrible. [1.95.24-26]
If a person steals flowers he is born as a poor beggar. [1.225.30]
There are many attributes of the beginningless soul. [cf. 2.46.31-32]
Going for wealth,
delicate pleasures, and freedom are worthy goals in Hinduism. We should not wait to secure
our happiness, then.
Vedas can be spoiled by misinterpreters. [cf. 1.223.28] (5)
He who rapes an immature girl becomes a serpent. [2.46.20-21]
For those walking on the path of Yama, dharma, artha, kama and moksa - or righteousness,
wealth, pleasure (lust), and freedom - are secondary [2.48.4-6]
It is very rare to keep company with the good and noble people who can throw light on the
nature of tattvas. [3.24.125]
In the house where there is no cow or the holy basil plant in the courtyard, where the
inmates do not celebrate any festival for the gods, where there is no recitation of the
narrative of God, one should never stay . . . , for association with the
inmates of that house will lead to misery. [3.29.43-44]
They say penance is a self-reflection, whereby reality is sought to be determined,
or it is a way of repentance for the sins of previous life. [3.21.3]
People do not realize the true form of Lord Hari. [3.24.12]
More important than fasting is the constant thought of Vasudeva.* [1.230.11]
Whether a task is done or not done, death [may] not wait whether a person has completed it
or left in incomplete. [2.49.41]
The Primeval Being alone is real. [3.28.68]
In this world of mortals . . . Kali is known as . . . the endless pain incarnate.
[3.12.82-83]
A ghost once said to a brahmin: "Excellent brahmin, our ghosthood is the outcome of our own misdeeds. We had been engaged in harassing others. [2.22.33] ✪
He who imparts knowledge to the undeserving becomes a bull. [2.46.16]
There is no sin in accepting food from an ascetic, Vedic scholar or a high-souled person.
[cf. 3.23.25]
A man depositing his semen in a vagina is actually sowing a seed. [cf. 2.32.17]
People [tend to be] content with their routine work. But that does not help them to reach the
goal. It is the knowledge of truth or reality that causes release. [2.49.70]
Right action does not put one into bondage. [2.49.94]
By accepting duality as a matter of fact, one feels quite happy. [3.28.73]
[The nine "planets":] The Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu
[Rahu and Ketu are no planets, but are the Moon's nodes against the constellations.]
The malignant aspect is countermanded respectively by wearing copper, bell metal, crystal,
the red sandalwood, gold, silver, iron, lead and bell metal on their bodies. [1.101.2-3]
The eternal Goddess Laksmi is inseparable from the Lord. . . . She is always awakened.
[3.16.3]
In this world, there are several women who though married are always widows . . . are always
widows. [3.19.31]
The existence of the universe is actual and not a fiction. Those who speak
otherwise are slayers of truth. The course of the universe is true, o Lord, the service of
the Lord is also true. [3.10.52-54]
Eyes are prone to gaze at men and women.
Excessive doting takes away sleep. [3.28.77] (7)
There are ten principal "nerves" [nadis, life force vessels] in the body: Ida, Pingala,
Susumna, Gandhari, Gajajihva, Pusa, Yasa, Alambusa, Kuhu and Sankhini. [2.32.43-44]
Can the ignorant fools get release by torturing their body? [2.49.62]
Usually, man completes the allotted span of life, dies and is born again. As a result of
the influence of sacred rites and gifts he is able to complete his life's term. [cf.
2.24.32-33]
A personal soul is an eye that perceives the universe. The knowledge of the universe is
the knowledge belonging to Laksmi. [cf. 3.16.2]
Rare is the dialogue with God. [3.19.41]
Deprived of true knowledge and engrossed in worldly
affairs from kalpa to kalpa, some undergo tortuous pains. [Cf. 3.2.64]
He who lays down his life for the sake of
his preceptor, attains salvations. [2.38.16] (8)
- The most unfortunate women sinned against their husbands earlier, and thus they are at a loss to rectify some of these sins, or may be at a loss to counteract some of these effects well. The next most unfortunate women keep on sinning against their husband still (if their bad karma has not borne fruit full yet, for example). The possible good thing about it is that they may have opportunites to make things good, or create good karma to counterbalance the bad karma they have created for themselves and maybe others - relating to social standing, deeds, talk, ideas, and spiritual levels.
- The amount of sleep, nervousness and fears, and riches are not evenly
distributed among people.
- Going for wealth, delicate and essential pleasures, and freedom are worthy goals in Hinduism. We should not wait to secure our happiness, then.
Unfortunate women sin against their husbands, and then by stages get whiny, nervous and
fearful and mad as a result. Wise women, on the other hand, secure their calm and happiness
by reciting mantras, doing daily chores like milking, keeping good company, and thinking a lot of
God. The wise can attain to profitable and right action, even salvation.
