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 12, Part 1 (1970)
180 (of 240)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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A NOTE ON THE PROSE-PASSAGES IN THE
V膧MANA PUR膧峁咥*
Almost the whole bulk of the Pur膩峁嘺 literature is found
adorned with the art of poem-writing in pursuance of the fixed
rules of prosody (). Still the occasional use of the prose-
writing free from such rules is to be seen, in some of the Pur膩峁嘺s
This method of the prose
for depicting the various subjects.
composition is not restricted to any particular subject, but it is
generally related sometimes to the description of the modes of
worship (i.e. Mantra-Up膩sana-Angany膩sa-Av膩hana etc.), some-
times to that of geographical situation and historical dynasty,
sometimes to that of episodes, and sometimes to that of stuti-s or
eulogies of gods. Here an attempt is made to evaluate the peculia-
rity of the prose sections found in the V膩m-P.; the other Pur膩峁嘺s
which are not immune from the prose-writing are also to be
examined comparatively by the way.
While defining the prose form of composition rhetoricians
characterise it as that which does not follow the rules and
And it is of four kinds-muktaka,
rhythm of the metre-system.
vrtta-gandhi, Utkalikapraya and Cur峁嘺ka. Of these, the first has no
compound sentences, the second has the appearance
of poetry, the
third consists of long compound sentences, and the last is composed
of short compound words.1
In the Agni, Bhavisya and Garuda Pur膩峁嘺s the Mantra-s
written in prose are mainly concerned with the description of the
* The original Sanskrit translated into English by Sri A. P. Mishra.
1. Sahitya-darpana, VI. 330-332:
"啶掂啶む啶む啶ㄠ啶о啶溹啶澿た啶む 啶椸う啷嵿く啶� 啶啶曕啶む啶� 啶掂啶む啶む啶ㄠ啶оた 啶� 啷�
啶さ啷囙う啷佮い啷嵿啶侧た啶曕ぞ啶啶班ぞ啶 啶氞啶班啶｀啶� 啶� 啶氞い啷佮ぐ啷嵿さ啶苦ぇ啶 啷�
啶多啶班ぞ啶︵啶 啶膏ぎ啶距じ啶班す啶苦い啶� 啶掂啶む啶むき啶距啶啶む 啶ぐ啶 啷�
啶多啶班え啷嵿く啶︵啶︵啶班啶� 啶膏ぎ啶距じ啶距あ啷嵿く啶� 啶む啶班啶� 啶氞ぞ啶侧啶じ啶ぞ啶膏啶 啷むイ [v峁泃tagandhojjhita峁� gadya峁� muktaka峁� v峁泃tagandhi ca |
bhavedutkalik膩pr膩ya峁� c奴r峁嘺ka峁� ca caturvidham ||
艣r膩dya峁� sam膩sarahita峁� v峁泃tabh膩gayuta峁� param |
艣ranyadd墨rgha sam膩s膩岣峢ya峁� turya c膩lpasam膩sakam ||] 鈥�
2. Adh-s 27, 33, 75, 79, 80, 83-88, 92, 96, 98, 125, 133-137, 142, 144,
146-148, 295-298, 302-306-309, 311, 313-316, 322, 324, 348-349.
3. Uttara-parva, Adh-s 31, 54, 228.
4. Adh.s, 7, 10-12, 16, 19-21, 23, 25.27, 29-32, 34, 38-42, 134, 172, 177.
178, 180, 182, 184-195, 198, 206-212.
