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 2 (1970)
112 (of 136)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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310
啶啶班ぞ啶｀ぎ啷� - [pur膩峁嘺m - ] PURANA
[Vol. XII, No. 2
The edition of the text of a single manuscript or of a single
version of a Pur膩峁嘺 may, therefore not provide us a correct and
authoritative text throughout. Hence there is the need of a critical
edition of a Pur膩峁嘺 based on its available manuscripts of different
versions and scripts.
Evolution and Growth of a Pur膩峁嘺-text
According to the Indian tradition relating to the origin and
evolution of the Pur膩峁嘺s as recorded in the Vis峁噓-Pur膩峁嘺 (III, 6.
15ff), Vayu-Pur膩峁嘺 (60. 2; 61.55ff.; 104. 2ff.) etc. Vy膩sa first
composed a Pur膩峁嘺-Samhit膩 containining the 盲khy膩na-s (tales and
legends), upakhy膩na-s (episodes), gatha-s (艣lokas handed down from
the ancient times) and Kalpajokti s (lore coming down from the
ages). Vy膩sa taught his Pur膩峁嘺-Samhit膩 to his disciple S奴ta
Romahar峁峁嘺, who also composed a Pur膩峁嘺-Samhita, which was
the basis of the other three Pur膩峁嘺-Samhit膩s composed by three
disciples of Romahar峁峁嘺, viz. K膩艣yapa (or Ak峁泃av峁涐箛a), S膩var峁噄
and S膩峁兣沘p膩yana, These four Pur膩峁嘺-Samhita-s were the purva
(Vayu.-P.) or the the mula (Bh膩g.) Pur膩峁嘺-Samhita-s, each con-
sisting of 4000 slokas excepting the Sa峁兣沘p膩yana-Samhita which
consisted of 8600 slokas. Later on eighteen Pur膩峁嘺s were evolved
out of these four original Pur膩峁嘺-Samhita-s, which all
ascribed to the authorship of Vy膩sa.
The Vayu-Pur膩峁嘺 says that originally a Pur膩峁嘺 consisted of
four p膩da s, and contained 12,000 slokas only (32.62-63). The
Bhavi峁a-Pur膩峁嘺 (I. 1. 103) also corroborates the Vayu-Pur膩峁嘺
when it says that all the Pur膩峁嘺s are said by the wise each to have
been of 12,000 艢lokas ( "啶膏ぐ啷嵿さ啶距ぃ啷嵿く啷囙さ 啶啶班ぞ啶｀ぞ啶ㄠた 啶膏啷嵿啷囙く啶距え啶� 啶ㄠぐ啶班啶粪き 啷� 啶︵啶掂ぞ啶︵ざ啷堗さ 啶膏す啶膏啶班ぞ啶｀た
[sarv膩峁噛eva pur膩峁嚹乶i saj帽ey膩ni narar峁bha | dv膩da艣aiva sahasr膩峁噄
] imate Halfaft: 11") But the Bhav.-P. further remarks that later on
they increased in their extent by incorporating in them 膩khy膩na-s
of various kinds ("gaf鈥�). Still later on, the
extent of the Pur膩峁嘺-literature swelled up to four lacs of slokas
("啶忇さ啶� 啶啶班ぞ啶｀じ啶傕じ啷嵿ぅ啶距え啶� 啶氞い啷佮ぐ啷嵿げ啶曕啶粪ぎ啷佮う啶距す啷冟い啶 啷� [eva峁� pur膩峁嘺sa峁僺th膩na峁� caturlak峁mud膩h峁泃am | ] " Bhav. P.)
Thus the Pur膩峁嘺-literature from the few thousand slokas
gradually grew up to an enormous extent of four lacs of slokas, and
the authorship of all these four lacs of slokas was attributed to Vyasa
(鈥渁gdame di anata-P., 53.57). Thus, all this
growth in the extent of the Pur膩峁嘺s is admitted by the Pui膩峁嘺s
