Studies in the Upapuranas
by R. C. Hazra | 1958 | 320,504 words
This book studies the Upapuranas: a vast category of (often Sanskrit) literature representing significant historical, religious, and cultural insights of the ancient Indian civilization. These Upa-Purana texts provide rich information, especially on Hinduism covering theology, mythology, rituals, and dynastic genealogies....
Chapter 9.1 - Some lost Upapuranas of non-sectarian or unknown origin—Introduction
Besides the lost Upapuranas dealt with in the immediately preceding Chapter and in Chapter V of Volume I of the present work, there were many others, about which our information is in most cases so meagre that we are in absolute darkness about the sects to which these works originally belonged. Most of them are now known to us only by name; and as regards the religious views of those very few Upapuranas about which we can gather some information from external sources and quotations, our knowledge is no better than in the case of the rest. It can hardly be denied that clash of religious interest and sectarian rivalry in the mediaeval period of Indian history were responsible for the composition of many more Upapuranas than we know of at present. The few works, about which we have been able to gather some information, are the following.