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The Kernel of the Puranas is very ancient and the Purana Samhita of Veda Vyasa might have contained it in its pure, original form. Thereafter, his pupils elaborated the manual in several volumes; but the process did not stop there. It was necessary to bring the contents especially the geneological portions thereof, up-to-date. Hence, additions were made in it from time to time. '

113 The Markandeya Purana seems to have been related for the first time, in the age of Sri Krsna and the Pandavas. The five Pandavas marrying Draupadi was then burning topic of the day in as much as it was a deviation from a particular pattern prevalent in the society. It was, therefore, but natural that while some criticized it, others reasoned out in its favour. The Purana opens with a dialogue between Jaimini and the winged beings about the propriety of the five princes marrying one princess. The winged beings defended the action of the Pandavas. We find a series of a metaphysical teachings in that dialogue. In one place the speaker refers to the Visnu's three Avataras; Varaha, Nrsimha, and Vamana, and adds "it is impossible to enumerate all the Avataras of the Deity; but the present one is that which belongs to Mathura. 12 This is an un-ambiguous indication that the winged beings are pointing to Sri Krsna who was born in Mathura. And this prompts us to consider that at least this portion of the Purana was related to the age of Sri Krsna. From the Parasara's instruction to Maitreya, it is known that Pariksita ruled over the country when the Visnu Purana was first related. 13 Since Pariksita was a successor of Yudhisthira, a book composed in his time, enjoys the great antiquity. But a mention made 12. vamanadimstathaivanyan na samkhyatumiharetsahe avataramsca tasyeha mathurah sampratam tvayam || Markandeya Purana, IV.58. 13. yo'yam sampratamavanipatih pariksit | Visnu Purana, 4.21.2.

114 in that book about genealogies coming down to Maurya, Suriga, Kanva and Andhra etc. 14 indicates their continuous later additions to the older ones. The contents of the Bhagavata Purana were first related by Sukadeva to Pariksita. This happened thirty years after Sri Krsna's leaving for Vaikuntha. 15 Pariksita's listening to the seven-day discourse was an epoch making event in the devotional history and it gained popularity. It was then repeated after one hundred and seventy years when Gokarna related the seven-day discourse to Dhundhukari.16 Again, Sanatkumara and his brothers repeated the same to another audience after about another century. 17 If this tradition recorded in the Padma Purana is respected, it is very probable that the Bhagavata Purana got its present shape between the recitals by Sukadeva and Gokarna. In other words the Bhagavata Purana came into being near about the Kali era 200. However, the description of 14. evamete maurya dasa bhupatayo bhavisyanti | Ibid., 4.24.32. ityete sumga dvadasottaram varsasatam prthivim bhoksanti | Ibid., 4.24.37. tatah kanvanesa bhuryasyati | Ibid., 38. 15. akrsnanirgamat trimsadvarsavadhi gate kalau navamito nabhasye ca katharambham suko'karot | Padma Purana - VI. 194-97. 16. pariksicchravanante ca kalau varsasatadvaye suddhe suco navabhyam ca dhenujo'kathayatkatham | Padma Purana VI.194.98. 17. tasmadapi kalau yate trisate sadabdake ucururje site pakse navamyam brahmanah sutah | Ibid., 99.

115 dynasties, that of Maurya for an instance, 18 make the scholars opine that much matter was appended to the original one later on. The Matsya Purana enjoys the same antiquity. In the fifteenth chapter of this Purana, Suta speaks to sages; 'The son of Subhadra and Arjuna was Abhimanyu; Abhimanyu's son was Pariksita, Pariksita's was Janamejaya; his son was Satanika who got through Asvamedhadatta a successor, Adhisimhakrisna, in whose reign you have convened this long religious conference for three years at Puskara and for two years at Drsadvati in Kuruksetra. 19 This shows that the Matsya Purana too was in existence, in its original shape during the reign of Adisimha Krsna. But like other Puranas, the present volume of the Matsya Purana contains genealogies of rulers even of very late date. Therein we find for instance, a mention of Andhra kings. 20 which is a clear indication for the fact that older geneoloical lists were supplemented by newer ones from time to time. 18. nava nandana dvijah kascita prapannanuddharisyati tesamabhave jagatim maurya bhodayanti vai kalau | Bhagavata Purana - 12.1.12. 19. subhadraya rathi paryadabhimanyurajayata | | abhimanyoh pariksittu putrah para- puramjayah | janamejayah pariksitah putrah paramadharmikah | janamejayacchatanikastamajjajne sa viryavan | jajne'dhisimakrsnakhyah sampratam yo mahayasah | tasin sasati rastre tu yusmabhiridamahrtam | durapam dirghasatram vaitrini varsani puskare | varsadvayam kuruksetre varsadvatya dvijottamah | Matsya Purana - 50.56-67. 20. ekonavimsatirhyete andhra bhoksyanti ve mahim | Ibid., 272.16.

116 Similarly, the Vayu Purana is also said to have been first related in the reign of Adhisimha Krsna. 21 The Apastambha Dharma Sutra quotes two verses from the Bhavisya Purana. They mean to say that eighty-eight thousand sages, desirous of progeny, trod on the way lying south to Aryaman (Daksinayana), were of the same number of sages who did not beget children chose the route lying north to Aryaman (Uttarayana). 22 The quotation of the Puranic verses by Dharma Sutra indicates two things: - (a) That the Bhavisyat Purana existed before the composition of Dharma Sutra and (b) that the Purana was held in high esteem in matters related to Dharma. The verses referred to above are found with little 23 variations in the Matsya Purana²³ and also in the Brahmanda Purana. 24 21. asimakrsne vikrante rajanye'nuttamatvisi prasasatimam dharmena bhumibhumipa - sattame | Vayu Purana - I. 10. 22. abhutasamplavatte punah sarge bijartho bhavantiti bhavisyatpurane astasiti sahastrani yo prajamisira rsayah daksinenaryamnah pamthanam te smasanani bhejire || astasitisahastrani ye prajam nesira rsayah uttarenarthamnah pamthanam te'mrtatvam hi kalpate || Apastamba Dharma-sutra II.24. 5-6. 23. astasiti sahasrani rsinam grha-medhinam ityetaih karaneh siddhah smasananiha bhejire astasiti sahasrani nesamapyurdhvaretasam ityetaih karanaih suddhaste'mrtatvam hi bhejire || Matsya Purana 123 101-108. - 24. astasiti sahasrani rsinam grhamedhinam kriyavatam prasamkhyaisam ye smasanani bhejire astasiti sahasrani rsinamurdhvaretasam abhutasamplavasthanamamrtatvam vibhavyate | Brahmanda Purana II. 21. 160-173. -

117 The extant Bhavisyat Purana had undergone many changes by many hands probably due to the keen desire of the people in charge thereof to make it popular and to bring it up-to-date by adding fresh material. What has been said above, about the references in the Markandeya Purana, Visnu Purana, Bhagavata Puranna, Matsya Purana, Vayu Purana and the Bhavisyat Purana, make us opine that the Puranas present us a mixture of old and new material. This is the characteristic of the rest of the Puranas too. While some Puranas have kept their original and ancient character to a larger extent; others, especially those which emphasize sectarianism, seem to have lost much of it. The older nuclear is of course there in all the extant volumes of the Puranas; but fresh matter has also abundantly accreted around it. The Puranas in their present shape, thus constitute a work of various periods in succession. Herein lies the consensus of opinion of the scholars. The Puranas had been in formation from the time of Pariksita down to the Gupta period, when they probably assumed their final redaction, except, the Bhavisyat Purana which continued to grow even much later.