Essay name: Purana Bulletin
Author:
Affiliation: University of Kerala / Faculty of Oriental Studies
The "Purana Bulletin" is an academic journal published in India. The journal focuses on the study of Puranas, which are a genre of ancient Indian literature encompassing mythological stories, traditions, and philosophical teachings. They represent Hindu scriptures in Sanskrit and cover a wide range of subjects.
Purana, Volume 8, Part 1 (1966)
114 (of 340)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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106
啶啶班ぞ啶｀ぎ啷� - [pur膩峁嘺m - ] 笔鲍搁膧狈础
[Vol. VIII., No. 1
Garuda Pur膩峁嘺, in particular, is considered very holy and pious by
the religious minded Hindus.
On account of certain common features the Garu岣峚 Pur膩峁嘺
can be safely described as the sister Pur膩峁嘺 of the Agni-Pur膩峁嘺.
Each one deals with the Par膩 and Apar膩 Vidy膩 and the R膩m膩ya峁嘺
and the Mahabharata can be looked upon as the model of that
class of literature. This Pur膩峁嘺 lifts the veil of nature as it were.
It is a moot question whether Garuda Purana was written by
one author or its bulk has been increased by subsequent additions.
From the first chapter we gather that it consisted of 8800 verses.
It seems that many things have been added which have no direct
bearing with it or have no legitimate connection with it and a
large mass of original matter has been expunged from it so that it
can remain true to the number 8800. The Pretakhanda was
added as an appendix. The Pur膩峁嘺 was slowly turned into a
compendium. Tantric rites and mantras such as Tripura Vidy膩,
Nityaklinna Vidy膩, were incorporated in the Garuda Pur膩峁嘺.
This Pur膩峁嘺 is considered as one of the scriptutal Pur膩峁嘺s of
Vaisnavism. The Pretakalpa is manifestedly an interpolation
as its subject is dealt with in chapters on 艢r膩ddha Kalpa,
Pr膩ya艣citta etc.
The Garuda Pur膩峁嘺 contains three Samhit膩s viz. the Agastya
Samhita, the B峁沨aspati Samhit膩 (N墨tis膩ra) and the Dhanvantari
Samhita. Any one of these would give it a permanant value,
accord it immortal fame among works on practical ethics or
applied medicine. The Agastya Samhita deals with the formation,
crystallisation and distinctive traits of differeet preciouse jems and
enumerates countries from which our forefathers used to collect
them. This part will be surely welcomed by the present day
minerologists.
In the B峁沨aspati Samhita there are observations on practical
conduct and knowledge of human naturs and it reminds one of
Bacons essays. In the Actiological portion of the Dhanvantari
Samhita one is surprised to note that in certain types of fever the
blood undergoes a sort of chemical change etc. and a kind of
