Historical Elements in the Matsya Purana
by Chaitali Kadia | 2021 | 91,183 words
This essay studies the historical elements of the Matsya-purana: one of the typical eighteen Mahapuranas: Sanskrit texts that have recorded the ancient Indian cultural heritage, philosophy, religion, geography, etc. This Matsyapurana was originally written in 20,000 metrical verses and its content includes scientific topics such as architecture, de...
Preface
The work of ʳܰṇa has been very important in the development of Indian culture and religion. The pride of the ʳܰṇas is honorable in many perspectives, in which religious and historical terms are prominent. Vedas are the basic texts of Indian religion, but for ordinary human beings, understanding Veda is a very difficult task.
Therefore, in order to understand the decisions of religion and philosophy and to bring them to the hearts of the people, there is a need for a literature which is interesting despite being serious, simple and understandable even though it is a representation of Veda. The ʳܰṇas fulfill this need. Their language is practical, simple, easy and comprehensible. The written style is interesting and narrative. The popularity of the ʳܰṇa depends on the comprehensibility of the language and the interest of the genre. Thus, to understand the Veda and to have an accurate representation of the Vedas, the practice of ʳܰṇa is absolutely necessary.
That is why this statement of the Nārada ʳܰṇa is consistent�
�vedārthādadhika� manye purāṇārtha� varānane |
vedā� pratiṣṭhatā� sarve purāṇe nātra saṃśaya� ||
Objectives of the Research�
1. To find out the Relation between the ʳܰṇas and History.
2. To find out the meaning of historical elements.
3. To find out the cultural histories in the Matsya-ʳܰṇa.
4. To highlight the geographical histories in the Matsya-ʳܰṇa.
5. To enlighten the human histories in the Matsya-ʳܰṇa.
ѱٳǻDZDz�
This research topic is based on Descriptive, analytical, fundamental, hypothetical and comparative research methods.
Scope and Limitation of the Study�
This research is based on, the texts and commentaries of the eighteen Ѳ ʳܰṇas. Particularly the Matsya ʳܰṇa has been studied in the chapters like 4, 5 and 6. Only the historical parts of the ʳܰṇa is the scope of this research.
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The research topic is divided into six chapters. Name of the first chapter is “An Introduction of the ʳܰṇas�. The contains of this chapter are–meaning of the word ‘ʳܰṇa�, ancient depictions of the ʳܰṇas, difference between the ʳܰṇa and پ, date of the ʳܰṇas, author of the ʳܰṇas, characteristics of the ʳܰṇas name of the ʳܰṇas, division of the ʳܰṇas and subject matter of the Puraāṇas etc.
Name of the second chapter is “History and Historical elements�. The contains of this chapter are–what is history, classification of History, relation between History and ʳܰṇa, what is historical elements, descriptions of the historical elements etc.
Name of the third chapter is “Historical elements in the Ѳ-ʳܰṇas�. The contains of this chapter are–Geographical history of the Ѳ-ʳܰṇas (except Matsya ʳܰṇa), cultural history of the Ѳ-ʳܰṇas (except Matsya-ʳܰṇa), human history of the Ѳ-ʳܰṇas (except Matsya-ʳܰṇa) etc.
Name of the Fourth chapter is “Geographical history in the Matsya ʳܰṇa�. The contains of this chapter are–what is geographical history, �ٲ屹ī貹 Vasumati�, Caturdvīpa Vasumati�, ܻ屹ī貹, ٲṣa, mountain , river Ganges, Ś첹屹ī貹, ś屹ī貹, ñ屹ī貹, Śālmaladvīpa, Gomedakadvīpa, ʳṣk屹ī貹, ancient state or Janapada in the Matsya ʳܰṇa etc.
Name of the fifth is “Cultural history in the Matsya-ʳܰṇa�. The contains of this chapter are–what is cultural history, family, women, prostitution, marriage, niyoga, Varnṇa (Cast), Antyaja, mixed caste, four ś, Debt, education, Politics (type of king, 峾-峾-Danda-Bheda), war and weapons, Religion and rituals, iconography etc.
Name of the sixth chapter is “Human history in the Matsya-ʳܰṇa�. The contains of this chapter are–what is human history, lineages of Brahma, lineages of Manu, lineages of ٲṣa, lineages of śⲹ貹, Surya and Candra dynasty, dynasty of ṣv, lineages of ʾ�, sons of Ѳṣi ś첹, Lineages of Budha, lineages of ۲پ (lineages of Yadu, Turvasu, Druhya, Anu), dynasty of Puru, dynasty of ṣṭ, dynasty of ṛṣṇi, lineages of Agni, lineages of ṛg, Angirā Atri, վś峾ٰ, śⲹ貹, ղśṣṭ, ʲś, dynasty of Dharma, some king’s dynasty in Kaliyuga etc.
All these chapters have been followed by a conclusion and a select bibliography.