Chapter XXIII. Brief Notes on Individual Purānas and Upapurānas

Volume V: Part II pp. 887–912

Chapter XXIII. Brief Notes on Individual Purānas and Upapurānas

Brief Notes on individual Purāṇas and Upapurāṇas

Agnipurāṇa—’ Present Agni’ (by H.) in I. H. Q. vol. XII pp. 683-691; ‘Studies in genuine Āgneya alias Vahnipurāṇa’ by H. in ‘Our Heritage’ vol. I part 2 pp. 209-245 and vol. II part 1 pp. 76-109; ‘Discovery of genuine Āgneyapurāṇa’ by H. in J. O. I. (Baroda) vol. V (1956) pp. 411-416 (shows that present Agni published by Ānaṇ Press is not the original Purāṇa, that this was compiled late, while the original Āgneya or Vahni is not yet printed); the Dānasāgara p. 7. verse 63 speaks of an Āgneya which it has discarded apart from one which it has utilized (p. 2 verse 11 ). As usual with most Purāṇas, the printed Āgneya glorifies itself by saying ( in chap. 272. 13 and 17 ) that in that Mahāpurāṇa Hari resides in the form of different lores and the Āgneya is a great purāṇa full of Veda and all vidyāṣ

Ādipurāṇa (U. )—B. V. vol. VI (1945 ) pp. 60-73 (H. postulates an earlier and a later version ). Vāyu 104.7 mentions an Ādika among the 18 principal purāṇas (including the Brāhma ). Alberuni's list ( which mixes up Purāṇas and Upapurāṇas ) mentions an Ādipurāṇa; an Ādipurāṇa is published by the Venk. Press in 29 chapterṣ H. in ‘Studies &c.’ vol. I. pp. 279-303 deals at length with this and tries to establish that there was an earlier Ādi Purāṇa of which no msṣ are yet available (p. 211) and holds that it is to be dated between 1203 to 1525 A.D. ('Studies’ p. 288 ). Ādi and Ādya mean the same thing. But Kullūka on Manu II. 54 quotes some verses from Ādi which are ascribed to Brāhma by G. R. p. 314. The digests make a con- fusion between Ādi and Ādityapurāṇa. Vide H. in ‘Studies’ vol. I. pp. 302-303. The printed one is a late compilation and none of the verses quoted by Lakṣmīdhara and Aparārka occur therein ( vide ‘Studies’ vol. I pp. 286-289 ).

Ādityapurāṇa—Mentioned by Matsya 53.62 as U. and Al- beruni ( Sachau I. p. 130, 229, 248 ); quoted by Kṛtyakalpataru on Rājadharma ( about 2 verses ), Dāna ( about 125 ), Śrāddha (about 20), Vrata ( about 22 ); the Sṃ C. quotes many verses on Āhnika and Śrāddha from both Ādi and Āditya and quotes both separately on 'śauca' on the same page (I p. 94). Aparārka also quotes many verses from both Ādi and Āditya. The Dānasāgara quotes about forty verses from both the Ādi and Āditya purāṇaṣ

Ekāmra. (a work of Orissa):—H in P. O. vol 16 pp. 70-76 and 'Studies &c.' vol. I p. 341 (assigns it to 10th or 11th century A. D.)

Kālikā :—(an U. in 93 chapters pr. by Veṅk. Press, Bombay); vide H. in A.B.O.R.I. vol. XXII. pp. 1-23; Sharma in I. H. Q. vol. 23 pp. 322-326 (holding that Kālikā was completed during the reign of king Dharmapāla of Kāmarūpa); H. in B. V. vol. 16 (1956) pp. 35-40 questions the view of Sharma; 'Date of Kālikā' by Prof. Gode in J. O. R. (Madras) vol. X. pp. 289-294; Dr. Raghavan in J. O. R. (Madras) vol. XII. pp. 331-360 (shows that there are three separate recensions of the Purāṇa). H. distinguishes between an earlier version and the extant one and places the latter in the 10th or 11th century; on the words of Matsya 53. 60-64 ‘tad-etebhyo vinirgatam’, the Kalpataru explains ‘vinirgatam’ as ‘udbhūtam’ (sprung from) and gives the Kālikā as an illustration (Brahmacārī p. 30) of an Upa-purāṇa sprung from Mahāpurāṇas; the Kalpataru quotes from it about 100 verses on vrata, on dāna, 14 on gṛhastha, 12 on vyavahāra (about witnesses and ordeals), 5 each on niyatakāla and tīrtha and 2 on brahmacārin; Aparārka quotes it on pp. 15, 226, 377 (15 verses on marriage and house settlements for brāhmaṇas), 924; the Sṃ C. II. p. 442 quotes one verse from it on śrāddha. The Dānasāgara quotes many verses from it. The Veṅk. eḍ mentions Viṣṇudharmottara in chap. 91. 70 and 92. 2¹. the extant Kālikā would have to be placed before 1000 A. D. Vide p. 809 n 1317 above for the Kālikā saying that the howl of a female jackal is auspiciouṣ

Kalkipurāṇa —Vide H. in 'Studies &c.' vol I, pp. 303-303. There are three editions, all from Calcutta; H. remarks that it is a late work not quoted by any writer (p. 308) and that it is not to be placed later than the 18th century A. D.

Kūrma —(Veṅk. Press eḍ); is divided into Pūrvārdha (53 chapters) and Uttarārdha (46 chapters); vide H. in ‘Purāṇas in history of Smṛti' I. C. vol. I. pp. 587-614 and in 'Smṛti chapters of Kūrma' in I. H. Q. vol. XI. pp. 265-286 and P.R.H.R. pp. 57-75; H. holds that it was originally a Pāñcarātra work, but was altered to make it a Pāśupata one. In several passages the Kūrma speaks of God as one (II. 11. 112-115), but divided into two, Nārāyaṇa and Brahmā (in I. 9. 40) or as Viṣṇu and Śiva (in I. 2. 95) or in three (as in I. 10. 77). The Sṃ C. I. p. 199 quotes verses from I. 2. 94, 95, 97-99 which allow a person to worship either Viṣṇu with the mantra (Rg. I. 22. 20 or X. 90) or Śiva with Rudragāyatrī, Rudras (Tai. S. IV. 5. 1–11) or ‘Tryambakam’ (Rg. VII. 59. 12, Tai. S. I. 8. 6. 2.) or with ‘Om namaḥ Śivāya’. The Sṃ C. quotes from Kūrma about 94 verses on āhnika and 19 on śrāddha. In I. 21-22 it states that there were four samhitās of the Purāṇa viz. Brāhmī, Bhāgavatī, Saurī and Vaiṣṇavī and that the present one is the Brāhmī in 6000 verses; the Nāradīya (I. 106. 1–22) furnishes a summary of the other three samhitāṣ Padma (Pātālakhaṇḍa 102. 41–42)¹ expressly names the Kūrma and quotes a verse from it. Aparārka (on śrāddha p. 119) quotes two verses from it. Aparārka (pp. 201, 204, 207) quotes three verses from Kūrma (all in relation to fast).

Ganeśapurāṇa – Vide H. in JGJRI. vol. 9 pp. 79–99.

Garuḍa – Vide p. 769 above for Ballālasena discarding it; H. in ABORI. vol. 19 pp. 69–79, PRHR pp. 141-145; A. P. Karmarkar on 'Bṛhaspatinītisāra' in Siddha-bhāratī vol. I, pp. 239–240; Dr. L. S. Sternbach in ABORI vol. 37 pp. 63–110 on 'Cāṇakyarājanītiśāstra and Bṛhaspati-saṃhitā of Garuḍapurāṇa '; the Garuḍa is quoted by the Sṃ C. II. p. 357 (on Ekādaśī); vide H. of Dh. vol. I. pp. 173–175 which show how the Garuḍa either reproduces or summarizes verses from Yāj. I. and III.; chap. 107 of the present Garuḍa gives a summary of the Parāśarasmṛti in 39 verses (vide H. of Dh. vol. I. p. 191). The extant Garuḍa will have to be placed not later than 950 A. D. and not earlier than the 6th century A. D.

Devīpurāṇa – (U.) Vide H. in NIA vol. V. pp. 2–30 (assigning it to the latter half of the 7th century A. D.). Vide p. 769 above. for the reasons for which the Dānasāgara refused to utilize² it; it is quoted by Bhujabala-nibandha ( about 1040–50 A. D. ) on how Saṅkrānti when occurring at different parts of the day affects different people.³ Kalpataru quotes Devi-purāṇa in several kāṇḍas viz. about 210 verses in Rājadharma ( 88 verses on fortified capital ); 37 verses on worship of Devī on Āśvina śukla 9 with the bali of goats and buffaloes, 52 on raising a banner in honour of Devī, 10 verses on gavotsarga on Kārtika-amāvasyā &c; in Vrata-kāṇḍa about 80 verses ( on Durgāṣṭamī, 25 verses on Nandāvrata, 44 verses with a prose passage ); 245 verses on dāna ( such as 28 on Tiladhenu and Ghṛtadhenu pp. 147–151, 56 verses on Vidyādāna pp. 201–207, 98 verses on the construction of kūpa, vāpī, dīrghikā &c. pp. 289–299, 27 verses on laying out a park and planting trees pp. 300–303, 10 verses on building a rest-house for ascetics &c. pp. 312–313 ); in Tirthakāṇḍa 103 verses ( 20 verses on śrāddha at a tīrtha without examining character and learning of brāhmaṇas ); Niyatakālākāṇḍa quotes 30 verses; Brahmacārī-kāṇḍa quotes only a few; Gṛhasthakāṇḍa quotes 6 verses; Śrāddhakāṇḍa p. 21 quotes only one verse on Māghaśrāddha. Aparārka quotes about 34 verses ( 3 of which on qualifications of a sthāpaka are interesting, p. 16), as they require that he should possess a knowledge of the Vāma and Dakṣiṇa paths, of the Mātṛ cult, of Pāñcarātra and Śaiva śāstraṣ

Devībhāgavata (pr. by Venk. Press in 12 skandhas)—Vide H. in JOR (Madras) vol. 21 pp. 49–79 (tries to prove that it is younger than the Bhāgavata); ‘Devī-bhāgavata and Bhāgavata’ by Mr. Tadpatrikar in ABORI vol. 23 pp. 559–562; IHQ vol. 27 pp. 191–196 (Mr. Ramchandran says that the relief in Deogarh of Nara-Nārāyaṇa is based on Devībhāgavata IV. 5–10); H. in IHQ vol. 29 pp. 387–392 does not agree with Mr. Ramchandraṇ

Nandipurāṇa (U). Vide H. on ‘Bṛhan-nandikeśvara and Nandikeśvara’ in Dr. B. C. Law Presentation vol. part II. pp. 415–419 and in JGJRI vol. II pp. 305–320; Prof. Rangaswami Aiyangar in NIA vol. IV. pp. 157–161 on Nandipurāṇa (holds that the original Purāṇa is probably lost, that verses quoted from it by Lakṣmīdhara are almost all on gifts of various kinds ). Kalpataru on dāna quotes over 200 verses from it on dāna ( of which 140 are on Vidyādāna pp. 207-222, 12 verses on Ārogyadāna, which provide for the establishment of an hospital with a physician knowing the eight angas of āyurveda and provided with drugs &c ) ; Aparārka ( pp. 396-403 ) quotes about 100 verses on vidyādāna agreeing with those in Kalpataru and also quotes ( pp. 365-366 ) the same verses on Ārogyadāna; Kalpataru on Niyatakāla quotes 13 verses from this purāṇa advocating total abstention from flesh-eating ( p. 323 ) and abstaining from flesh at least on the 4th, 8th, 12th 14th and 15th tithis, on Saḍaśīti and sun's passage from one rāśi to another &c. ( pp. 353-360 ). As this is one of the four upapurāṇas expressly named by the Matsya, as Alberuni mentions a Nanda-purāṇa which ( appears to be the same as Nandi ) and as it is largely quoted by Lakṣmīdhara, Aparārka and Dānasāgara it is one of the earliest Upapurāṇas and may have been composed in the 8th or 9th century A.D.

Narasimhāpurāṇa ( or Nṛsiṁha ). This U. has been dealt with above on pp. 878-882. Kalpataru on vrata quotes 29 verses from it ( 22 on Gaṇeśacaturthī pp. 84-87 almost all of which are found in the current work, chap. 26. 2-20 ); Kalpataru on Tīrtha quotes 66 verses from it, almost all of which are in chap. 65. 2-31, 66. 1-9, 20-45 of the current work; Kalpataru on Niyatakāla quotes 65 verses almost all of which are found in chap. 58; Kalpataru on Mokṣa quotes 57 verses, which can be traced in chapters 17, 58, 59, 60, 61; the Dānakāṇḍa of Kalpataru quotes 13 verses ( found in chap. 30. 27 ff. ), and Brahmacārīkāṇḍa quotes four verses; Aparārka quotes about 40 verses from Nṛsiṁha, of which 16 concern yati ( pp. 951, 965 from chap. 60. 12 ff. ), 17 verses deal ( p. 140 ) with arghya to the Sun ( from 58. 91-93 ) by the employment of the 16 verses of the Puruṣasūkta for nyāsa on the different parts of the body and also the sixteen ( from chap. 62. 5-14 ) upacāras from āvāhana ( invoking to come ) to visarjana ( bidding adieu ) in worship, 5 verses on Narasimha-pūjā with the mantra 'Om namo Nārāyaṇāya' ( 63. 3 and 6 ). Out of 3½ verses on p. 125 dealing with evening sandhyā and homa attributed to this Purāṇa two are the same as Dakṣa-smṛti ( II. 28-29 ). Sṃ C. quotes 27 verses on Āhnika from Narasimha. It appears that both Kalpataru and Aparārka had a much longer version before them than the present purāṇa. It may be noted that Kṣemaka, who was the last king of the Aila-vamśa ( acc. to Vāyu 99. 432 and others ), is described in the Narasimha-purāṇa ( chap. 23 ) as the son of Naravāhana and grand-son of the famous ancient couple Udayana and Vāsavadattā. The extant purāṇa may be assigned to about 9th century A. D.

Nāradapurāṇa—(Veṅk. Press). Vide H. in I. C. vol. III, p. 477–488, PRHR. pp. 127–133 on ‘Bṛhan-nāradīya and Nāradīya’ and ‘Studies &c.’ vol. I pp. 309–345. The Bṛhan-nāradīya was published by the Calcutta Asiatic Society and by the Vaṅgavāsī Press in 38 chapters and about 3500 verseṣ H. holds that the Bṛhan-nāradīya is a purely sectarian Vaiṣṇava work, is wanting in the characteristics of a purāṇa, that the Nāradīya noticed by the Matsya (53. 23 as containing 23000 verses and in which Nārada proclaimed the dharmas of Bṛhatkalpa) and by the Agni (272. 8) is different from the present Nāradīya and that the extant Nāradīya borrows from the Bṛhan-nāradīya (pp. 336–341 of ‘Studies &c.’ vol. I). The Nāradīya (Veṅk. Press) is divided into two parts, the first in 125 chapters and the 2nd in 82 chapters (and about 5513 verses in all). Out of the 5513 verses of the 2nd part 3400 deal with various tīrthas and most of the remaining are concerned with the story of Rukmāṅgada and Mohinī. The first part deals with several matters such as praise of Viṣṇu and bhakti, Geography of India, story of Sagara, Bhagīratha and Gaṅgā-māhātmya, a few vratas, Varṇa-dharma, Āśramadharma, pāt̃akas, sadācāra and śrāddha. Nāra-diya I. 9.40 has a verse which echoes a Kirātārjunīya verse⁴ and proclaims that a brāhmaṇa who enters a Bauddha temple even in a great calamity cannot get rid of the sin by hundreds of expiations, since the Bauddhas are heretics and revilers of Vedā.⁵ The first part speaks of Vaiṣṇavāgama (37, 4) and Pañcarātra procedure (53. 9). The Sṃ C. quotes many verses from the extant Nāradīya on Ekādaśī and the story of Mohinī. One characteristic passage may be quoted here.⁶ Rukmāṅgada proclaimed that any person more than eight years of age and below 80 years who would eat food on the day of Viṣṇu in his kingdom would be liable to corporal punishment, fine or banish-ment. Aparārka also (p. 205) quotes two verses about fast on Ekādaśī. The above circumstances lead to the conclusion that the present Nāradīya was compiled between 700 and 1000 A. D.

Padmapurāṇa––H. in I. C. vol. IV. pp. 73-95, Mr. M. V. Vaidya in Kane presentation vol. pp. 530-537 ( holds that the tīrthayātrā section of Padma is older than the tīrthayātrā section in the Mahābhārata ), Dr. Belvalkar in F. W. Thomas Festschrift ( pp. 19-28 ) holds that Padma is based on the Mahābhārata; Prof. Lüders tried to prove that the Rṣyaśṛnga legend in Padma is older than the same legend in the Mahābhārata ( vide I. H. Q., vol. XX. p. 209 for Lüder's view ); H. in PRHR. ( pp. 107-129 ) states that there are two recensions of the Padma the North Indian and the South Indian, that the former is in five kāṇḍas and the latter in six, that the South Indian recension alone is published in the Ānandāśrama and Veṅk. Press editions, though the arrangement differs in the two editionṣ H. in PRHR ( p. 126 ) states that the Uttara-kāṇḍa ( of the Padma ) is later than 900 A. D. and earlier than 1500 A. D. One remarkable fact is that hundreds of verses are common to Matsya and Padma and some writers like Hemādri quote long extracts from the Padma, which others quote from the Matsya. In view of the vast smṛti material in the Matsya and the fact that thousands of verses therefrom are quoted in the medieval nibandhas the present writer is inclined to hold that it is the Padma that is the borrower. There are no materials to assign a definite date for the borrowing, but it is likely that it was before 1000 A. D. Padma ( IV. 102. 40-41 and IV. 110. 483 ) mentions the Kūrma ( and a verse is quoted from it ) and IV. 5. 32-43 contain such alaṅkāras as Śleṣa and Parisaṅkhyā. The Kalpataru quotes from Padma about 55 verses on vrata, 50 on niyatakāla, 50 on dāna, 12 on tīrtha, only a verse here and there on other kāṇḍaṣ Aparārka quotes only about 12 verses from it, the Smṛticandrikā only about 25. In the Ānandāśrama edition of Padma there are 48452 verses and 628 chapterṣ It speaks of the Aśvattha as Bodhisattva ( Sṛṣṭikhaṇḍa 55. 16 ) and mentions a place called Vanasthala in Gurjaradeśa ( II. 51. 36-37 ).

Brahmapurāṇa—The one printed at the Ānandāśrama appears to be a late compilatioṇ Vide H. on 'Apocryphal Brahmapurāṇa' in I. C. II. pp. 235-245 and PRHR pp. 145-157. H. states that numerous quotations from the Brahma occurring in the works of Jīmūtavāhana, Aparārka, Ballālasena, Devaṇṇa-bhatta and Haradatta are not found in the printed Brahma, that the current Brahma borrows chapters from the Mahābhārata, Viṣṇu, Vāyu and Mārkaṇḍeya and that the present Brahma

Ganapati and Kṛṣṇajanma. It has some chapters on Dharma- śāstra topics, such as on castes, gifts, vratas, hells, duties of varṇas and āśramas, womeṇ Many of the verses quoted from this Purāṇa in the Sṃ C., Hemādri and other writers are not found in the current Purāṇa. Wilson in the Introduction to the Viṣṇu, says (pp. LXV-LXVII) that it has not the slightest title to be called a Purāṇa. Vide H. in ABORI vol. XIX pp. 75-76 and PRHR pp. 166-167.

Brahmāṇḍa (pub. by Venk. Press). It is divided into four pādas (I. 1. 35-39) viz. Prakriyā (5 chapters), Anuṣaṅga (33 chap.), Upodghāta (74 chap.), Upasaṁhāra (4 chap) followed by Lalitopākhyāna in 40 chapterṣ The Kūrma expressly ⁷ states that the Brahmāṇḍa was narrated to the sages engaged in a sattra in the Naimiṣa forest and the Skanda (Prabhāsa-khaṇḍa 2. 8-9) states there was formerly only one Purāṇa called Brahmāṇḍa containing one hundred crores of verses and that later it was distributed into 18 partṣ It was probably composed near the rise of the Godāvarī, since it says that that part of the country towards the northern ranges of the Sahya mountain where the Godāvarī rises is the most charming in the whole world and that there a city called Govardhana was foun- ded by Rāma. ⁸ In the first two parts it deals with the subjects of creation, the geography of the earth and of Bhāratavarṣa, and the manvantaras, pupils of Vyāsa, the distribution of the Veda Śākhās &c. The third section is the longest and after mentioning Vaivasvata Manvantara and, after dilating upon the creation of gods, asuras, gandharvas, sages and their progeny, it deals at length with all aspects of śrāddha (in chap. 9-20 and 879 verses), describes Paraśurāma's austerities, his securing of weapons, his slaughter of Kārtavīrya and kṣatriyas, filling five lakes with their blood (in chap. 21-47 and over 1550 verses); then follow in chapters 48-57 the story of Sagara and the bringing down of the Ganges by Bhagīratha, the protection of Gokarṇa from the sea, and the story of Śūrparaka (chap. 57 and 58), the dynasties of the solar and lunar race (chap. 59f); then it speaks of Dhanvantari receiving from Bharadvāja Ayurveda in eight angas; in part IV. it refers to Manus, jñāna, karma, mokṣa &c. The Brahmāṇḍa is one of the oldest of the 18 Purāṇas and has hundreds of verses in common with the Vāyu. Vide above p. 852. The Mit. on Yaj. quotes a verse from the Brahmāṇḍa ⁹ stating that a person, on touching Śaivas, Pāśupatas, Lokāyatikas and atheists, persons of the three varṇas following forbidden paths and śūdras, should bathe with the clothes oṇ Aparārka quotes about 75 verses from it of which 43 are concerned with śrāddha. The Sṃ C. quotes about 50 verses on Āhnika and Śrāddha, of which ten occur also in Aparārka The Kalpataru does not quote a single verse from it in the sections on vrata, gṛhastha, tīrtha, rājadharma, but quotes 16 verses from it on śrāddha, and 16 on mokṣa, none from Niyata. and from Vyavahāra. If we may judge from some of the matters noted here it cannot be placed as early as the Matsya. In III. 48. 8 and 20 it employs long com-pounds, ¹⁰ mentions Bhīmasena and Nārada ¹¹ as writers on music (III. 61. 42–43), contains a chapter (III, 62) on Gāndharva, refers to the opinions of former ācāryas, to 30 alaṅkāras of nāṭya and four purposes of such alaṅkāras (chap. 62, verse 22). It may be placed between the 4th and 6th century A. D. For discussion on Brahmāṇḍa, vide Pargiter in AIHT pp. 23, 77 and H. in PRHR (pp. 17–19). The Brahmāṇḍa is very fond of etymologies; vide for example, those of vaiśya and śūdra (II. 7. 157–158), of deva, manuṣya-prajā, rakṣas and yakṣa (II. 8. 9–10, 20, 34), of Tryambaka and Rudra (II. 9. 3–4 and 78), of rājan (in II. 29. 64), of Vasudhā, Medini and Pṛthivī (II. 37. 1–3), of Atri, Vasiṣṭha, Pulaha and Pulastya (III. 1. 44–46), of Kubera (III. 8. 44–45).

Bṛhad-dharma-purāṇa (U.)—Vide H. in J. of University of Gauhati and ‘Studies &c.’ vol. I. pp. 115 and 277. It is a work of Bengal of the 13th or 14th century A. D.

Bhāviṣyapurāṇa—Accounts of the contents of the Bhāviṣya in Matsya 53. 30–31, Agni 272. 12 and Nāradīya I. 100 do not tally with the printed Bhāviṣya (Veṅk. eḍ). It is divided into four parvans viz. Brāhma, Madhyama, Pratisarga and Uttara. It is only the Brāhmaparva that can claim an early date. The Pratisarga-parva is a modern fabrication containing stories of Adam and Eve, Pr̥thvīrāja, and Samyogita, the mlecchas of Dehalī, Rāmānuja, Kabīr, Naraśrī ( Narsi ? ), Nānak, Caitanya, Nityānanda, Raïdās, Madhvācārya, Bhaṭṭoji &c. The Bhaviṣyottara is discarded by Ballalasena as unauthoritative, though it was popular in his day (vide. p. 869 above). Aparārka quotes 160 verses from Bhaviṣyottara on dānas of various kindṣ The Sṃ C. (I. p. 203 ) quotes a single verse from the same. Hence the Bhaviṣyottara cannot be later than 1000 A. D. The Kalpataru quotes hundreds of verses from Bhaviṣya on vratas and many verses in other kāṇḍas, e. g. 55 in brahmacārī, 110 on niyatakāla, 101 on gr̥hastha, 100 on rājadharma, 15 on śrāddha. The Mit. quotes ¹² a single verse from Bhaviṣya about donating a golden image of a snake when a man is bitten by a snake. Aparārka quotes about 125 verses from Bhaviṣya, of which about 90 relate to prāyaścittaṣ

One remarkable feature of the extracts from Bhaviṣya in Aparārka is that they quote the views of Aṅgiras, Gautama, Parāśara, Manu, Vasiṣṭha and Śaṅkha. There are several passages quoted by Aparārka from the Bhaviṣya which approximately indicate the age of the current Bhaviṣya. ¹³ It also refers to eight Vyākaraṇas in I. 1. 59-61 viz. Brāhma, Aindra, Yāmya, Raudra, Vāyavya, Vāruṇa, Sāvitra and Vaiṣṇava. But these are different from the well-known eight grammars (except Aindra). It mentions the foreign words Āra (Mars) and Koṇa (Saturn) ¹⁴ and states these planets are to be worshipped along with Śiva, Pārvatī, Gaṇeśa, the Sun &c. In prescribing a prāyaścitta for killing a person who is merely a brāhmaṇa by caste the Bhaviṣya prescribes ( as one of the alternatives ) the prāyaścitta prescribed by Parāśara. ¹⁵ Therefore, the extant Bhaviṣya cannot be placed earlier than about the 6th or 7th century A. D. Vide H. in I. C. vol. III. pp. 223-229 and PRHR pp. 167-173 for Bhavisya and JOI (Baroda) vol. III. pp. 8-27 for Bhavisyottara. The Bhavisya mentioned in Vāyu (99. 267 tān sarvān kīrtā- yisyāmi : Bhavisye pathitān nṛpān | tebhyah pare ca ye cānye utpatsyante mahiksitāh ॥) is not the present one but the ancient Bhavisyat mentioned by Ap. Dh. S. (vide p. 817 and n 1328 above). The Varāhapurāṇa expressly mentions Bhaviṣyat-purāṇa twice (177. 34 and 51)¹⁶. The second reference is quite interesting. It appears to say ¹⁶ that the Purāṇa well-known as Bhavisya was revised by Sāmba who then established an image of the Suṇ

Bhāgavatapurāṇa. None of the early works such as the Mit., Aparārka, Kalpataru, the Smṛticandrikā draw upon thiṣ The Dānasāgara knew it, but, as the Bhāgavata did not contain a disquisition on dānas, the author passed it over. Its date is very controversial, ranging from the 5th century A. D. to the 10th. Dr. Pusalkar (in ‘Studies in Epics and Purāṇas’ 1953, pp. 214-216) brings together most of the papers on this subject; Shri S. S. Sastri in ABORI vol 14 pp. 241-249 on ‘the two Bhāgavatas’ claims that the Devībhāgavatapurāṇa is earlier than the Bhāgavata, while H. in JOR ( Madras) vol. 21 (pp. 48-79) takes the opposite view, viz. that the Devībhāgavata is much younger than the Bhāgavata. In ‘Date of the Bhāgavata-purāṇa’ by B. N. Krishna- mūrti Sharma in ABORI. vol. 14 pp. 182-218 it is argued that the Bhāgavata is as old as the 5th century A. D. and he cites in support certain passages from the Mokṣadharma of the Mahā- bhārata (Kumbhakonam edition ), but the critical edition from Poona treats those passages as apocryphal. Prof. Das-Gupta in the 4th volume of his ‘Indian Philosophy’ deals with this Purāṇa, but his views are criticized in JBRS vol. 36 pp. 9-50. Vide H. in NIA vol. I pp. 522-528. The Padma part VI. (chapter 189-194) contains a Māhātmya of Bhāgavatapurāṇa in 518 verseṣ The author of the Purāṇa is said to be a native of the Tamil country by Mr. M. R. Majumdar in IHQ vol. 8. pp. 49-53. The present writer thinks that it is a late Purāṇa, since even in the Mokṣakāṇḍa (of Kalpataru) it is not cited, while about 300 verses are cited from the Viṣṇupurāṇa in that kāṇḍa alone. Vide note 1604 below. No reliable and cogent evidence has been adduced to prove that the current Bhāgavata can be placed earlier than the 9th century A. D.

Matsyapurāṇa (Ānandāśrama eḍ). It has 291 chapters and 14062 verseṣ It is one of the ancient Purāṇas and has perhaps the largest number of smṛti chapters among Purāṇaṣ Many verses of the Manusmṛti and the Mahābhārata occur in it. Some verses of Yāj. also occur in Matsya e. g. Yāj. I. 295 is Matsya 93. 2, Yāj. II. 279. 295-6 and 303 are the same as Matsya 227. 200, 202-203 and 204. It appears that the Matsya holds the balance between Śiva and Viṣṇu. It glorifies not only Viṣṇu in the Matsya avatāra but devotes 1570 verses to the slaughter of Tārakāsura and 623 to the destruction of Tripura, both by Śiva. The Vāmanapurāṇa (12. 48) speaks of it as the principal among Purāṇaṣ

The Mit. on Yāj. I. 297 expressly quotes all the nine verses of chap. 94 of the Matsya (about the form of the images of the planets) and two verses from chap. 93 (11-12) about the position to be assigned to each with white grains of rice in a maṇḍala. The Kalpataru quotes hundreds of verses from Matsya on vrata, quotes about 750 on dāna from Matsya (all of which except 20 are identified in the present Matsya by the editor); about 410 on Rājadharmakāṇḍa, 157 verses on tīrtha (of which 100 are identified by the editor in the Matsya), 115 verses in Gṛhastha-kāṇḍa, 112 verses on śrāddha, about 67 on niyatakāla (all except 12 identified), 18 in vyavahārakāṇḍa, 6 in brahmacārī and 2 in mokṣa, in all about 2000 verseṣ Aparārka quotes about 400 verses from Matsya (about 250 being on dāna). It is not necessary after the preceding statement to go into the large number of verses quoted in Dānasāgara, Smṛticandrikā and Hemādri. It may be said without fear of contradiction that long before 1000 A. D. the Matsya-purāṇa had the same arrange-ment and presented almost the same appearance as at present. This is more than what can be said about the other Purāṇas except Viṣṇu, Vayu, probably Bhaviṣya (I), Mārkaṇḍeya.

In the present author's opinion the Matsya is among the best preserved and the earliest of the 18 Purāṇaṣ It may be dated between 200 A. D. to 400 A. D. The author does not wish to deny that a few verses here and there might have been inter- polated at a later date.

Vide H. on the dates of the smṛti chapters of Matsya in ABORI vol. 17 pp. 1-36 and PRHR pp. 26-52 and Prof. Ram- chandra Dikshitar on ‘Matsyapurāṇa, a study’ (Madras, 1935, pp. 1-140). Four verses from a Svalpa-matsya-purāṇa are quoted in the Pitṛdayita (p. 92) of Aniruddha (about 1160 A. D.) and there is a paper thereon by Shri Manoranjana Shastri in J. G. J. R. I. vol. IX pp. 183-188. Matsya and Padma (as stated before) agree verbatim in many chapters on tīrthas and vrataṣ Śańkarācārya quotes a verse from Paurāņikas which is Matsya.¹⁷ Among the sages to whom water is offered in tarpaņa are included (by Matsya) Kapila, Asuri, Vodhu and Pañcaśikha. The first two and the last are mentioned in the Sāńkhyakārikā as the three great founders of the Sāńkhya systeṃ Vararuci is said to be a profound scholar of Nātya-veda. In chap. 24 the purāṇa refers to the fact that the Apsaras Urvaśī and her friend Citralekhā were kidnapped by a demon called Keśin, who was vanquished by Purūravas and Urvaśī was released and was given by Indra to Purūravaṣ While she was acting the part of Lakṣmī in a drama called Lakṣmī-svayamvara composed by Bharata, she, being engrossed in her passion for Purūravas, forgot the proper abhinaya taught by Bharata and was cursed by Bharata to be a creeper. It is difficult to say whether the Matsya got its inspiration for this story from the Vikramor- vaśīya or whether the great poet Kālidāsa was influenced by the story in the Matsya. The story in Matsya and in Kālidāsa’s drama agree very closely as regards names and incidentṣ The Matsya says (24. 24) that for vanquishing Keśin Purūravas employed Vāyavya-astra. The drama also mentions it (I.). The only points of difference are: in the drama Lakṣmī-svayaṃvara is said to have been composed by Sarasvatī, while Matsya does not say so. Besides, the Purāṇa says that Urvaśī was cursed by Bharata to be a creeper, while Kālidāsa says nothing of the kind and shows that her being reduced to the condition of a creeper was due to Kumāra (Kārtikeya). The decision depends on the exact dating of the Matsya from other evidence. I am inclined to believe that Kālidāsa was familiar with the episode related in the Matsya. There are scholars who believe that Kālidāsa flourished under Vikramāditya about 57 B. C. The present writer does not subscribe to this belief. There is hardly any reliable or positive evidence to show that a powerful ruler called Vikramāditya ruled Northern and Central India about 57 B. C. The tradition of the nine jewels is of no use and if relied upon would make Vikramāditya rule about the 5th or 6th century A.D., since Amarasimha, Varāhamihira and Kālidāsa would be contemporarieṣ A coin of the Gupta Emperor Candragupta II (Allen’s Catalogue of coins, pp. 35 ff.) has क्षितिमवनिसुषरचितैर्दैवी जयति विक्रमादित्यः. The present writer believes that the most probable date for Kālidāsa is between 350 to 450 A. D.

Mārkaṇḍeya-purāṇa—There are two editions, viz. B. J. edition (of 1862) and the Venk. Press eḍ The present author has mainly used the latter for quotationṣ The two differ slightly as to the number of verses in almost each chapter e. g. there are 270 verses in chap. 8 of B.J. edition and 287 in Venk. ed; chapter 16 of the Venk. edition corresponds to chapters 16-18 of the other editioṇ There are 134 chapters in the B. J. edition and 137 in the Venk. editioṇ Pargiter translated into English the Mārkaṇḍeya. In the first 42 chapters (B. J. eḍ) Mārkaṇḍeya takes hardly any part, but in the remaining chapters he is the principal speaker. This is a peculiar Purāṇa. The first chapter opens with four questions put by Jaimini to Mārkaṇḍeya about Mahābhārata saga, viz. (1) why nirguṇa Vāsudeva assumed a human form, (2) how Draupadī became the wife of five brothers, (3) Balarāma performed expiation of brahmahatyā by pilgrimage (and not by his own death), (4) how the five unmarried sons of Draupadī, themselves great warriors, met death helplessly although they had the great Pāṇḍava heroes to protect theṃ Mārkaṇḍeya directs him to go to wise birds in the Vindhya mountain and the answers are given in chapters 4 to 7. One wonders why Jaimini said to be a pupil of Vyāsa in the Purāṇas did not go to Vyāsa but to Mārkaṇḍeya. A portion of this Purāṇa is called Devimāhātmya or Saptaśati¹⁸ (chapters 78-90 of Venk. eḍ and 81-93 of B. J. edition) and is deemed by modern Sanskrit scholars to be an interpolatioṇ But even if it is an interpolation it must have been made before the 10th century, as the oldest known mṣ of it is dated 998 A. D. and probably before 600 A. D. The Mārkaṇḍeya has practically no verses on vrata, pilgrimages or śānti, but dilates on the duties of āśramas, on rājadharma, śrāddha, hells, karmavipāka, sadācāra, yoga, (explained by Dattātreya to Alarka), stories of Kārtavīrya, his grandson Kuvalayāśva and of Madalasa, creation, manvantaras, geography &c. It has hardly any sectarian bias; prayers and invocations are few except in the Devīmāhātmya. The present Purāṇa has, as indicated above, three different and disconnected sections viz. chapters 1–42 (Venk. eḍ), where the wise birds figure as speakers, chapters 43 to end where Mārkaṇḍeya and Kroṣṭuki, a disciple, carry on the discourse, except in Devī- māhātmya, which is the third and an independent sectioṇ

The Kalpataru on mokṣa quotes about 120 verses from Mārkaṇḍeya on yoga. almost all of which are found in the printed text. It quotes on brahmacārikāṇḍa 9 verses, 12 on śrāddha, 17 on niyatakāla, 19 on gṛhastha, 3 on rājadharma and one on vyavahāra. Aparārka quotes about 85 verses from the Mārkaṇḍeya of which 42 are on yoga and the rest on śrāddha, giving alms, hospitality, śuddhi &c. The Sṃ C. quotes 15 verses from Mārkaṇḍeya on āhnika, 40 verses on śrāddha. Mārkaṇḍeya quotes several verses from Manu and Mahābhārata. Mārkaṇḍeya contains some long drawn out rūpakas as in 3.59-70 (where prajñā is said to be a fort-wall and the soul as king therein) and 35. 8–13 (ahamityankurotpannaḥ &c.). It contains the popular idea that for married women long stay with their relatives (in the family of birth) does not conduce to good reputation and that the desire of her relatives (by blood) is that a married woman should stay in her husband’s house.¹⁹ The Mārkaṇḍeya says that the root of all unhappiness is the idea that one is the owner, ( of this and that ) and that bliss comes with the idea 'nothing is mine'.²⁰ In chap. 160. 39 it refers to lagna and hora. It puts forward the doctrine of the Gītā that actions done without any desire for their reward do not tend to become chains binding down a man to saṁsāra. On the other hand, this Purāṇa narrates the story of Datta²¹ or Dattatreya who imparted instruction on yoga to Alarka (from chap. 16 ff), but who is represented as an avatāra of Viṣṇu given to drinking intoxicants, as fond of the company of women, as staying near a water reservoir constructed with wood and stones on the Sahya (16. 132) and is called Avadhūta (17. 3). In chap. 54 it is said (just as in Brahmāṇḍa cited above p. 895) that the country in the north ranges of Sahya and near the Godāvarī is the most charming in the worlḍ

On the whole this is one of the early purāṇas and may be assigned to a date between the 4th to 6th century A. D.

Liṅgapurāṇa (Veṅk. eḍ). It has 11000 verses as stated in chap. II. 5. The Kalpataru on tīrtha quotes about one thousand verses from it on Avimuktaka (Banaras) and the sub-tīrthas thereiṇ Aparārka quotes six verses from it on Śivapūjā on the 8th and 14th tithis and bath and śrāddha in eclipseṣ The Sṃ C. quotes a few verses from it on bath in eclipses, Veda study &c. According to the Dānasāgara (p. 7 verse 64) there was another Liṅgapurāṇa of 6000 verses which it had not utilizeḍ Vide H. in I. C. vol. IV. pp. 415-421 and in PRHR pp. 92-96.

Varāhapurāṇa (B. I. edition). It has 217 chapters and 9654 verses, besides a few chapters entirely in prose (such as 81-83, 86-87 and 74 on bhuvanakośa) and a few in mixed prose and verse (such as 80, 84, 85, 88, 89). It is a Vaiṣṇava Purāṇa and begins with the well-known verse ‘Nārāyaṇam namaskṛtya’ and is supposed to have been narrated to the Earth by Viṣṇu in the Boar incarnatioṇ It is remarkable that Vyāsa does not appear in the Purāṇa, though the Sūta figures at the beginning of several chapters (e. g. chap. 1, 2, 39, 50, 127, 137–138, 148, 151, 181, 213). It deals with most of the general topics of Dharmaśāstra such as vrata, tīrtha, dāna, images and their worship, āśauca, śrāddha, karmavipāka, narakas, cosmology and geo-graphy, prāyaścitta &c. The Kalpataru quotes 150 verses from it on vrata (most of which are traced by the editor), 40 verses on śrāddha (none of which is traced), 250 verses on tīrtha (many of which are traced), 17 on niyatakāla (half traced), five on dāna (all traced), 4 in gṛhasthakāṇḍa (not traced). One peculiarity is that it mentions some tīrthas like Lohārgala and Stutasvāmī which are not described in other Purāṇaṣ Aparārka quotes about 55 verses from it on several topicṣ

The Brahmapurāṇa²² refers to a Vārāha text laying down a śrāddha for pitṛs on the Full Moon when the sun is in Virgo. The Bhaviṣyottara also (32. 12) refers to Vārāhavacana. For the priority of the Bhaviṣya to Varāha vide above p. 898. Varāha refers to a śaka prince called Nandavardhana (in chap. 122. 34) and verse 56 refers to a śaka king.

Vide H. in ABORI vol. 18 pp. 321–337. It is difficult to assign a date to the Vārāhapurāṇa. It is not one of the early Purāṇaṣ In any event it is earlier than the 10th century A. D.

Vāmanapurāṇa (Veṅk. eḍ). It is a short purāṇa as com-pared with Matsya, Vāyu, Varāha &c. It has 5451 verses in the Veṅk. eḍ There is prose in chapters 26, 44 and 93. For its size it contains many legends, such as Śaṅkara cutting off a head of Brahmā, the story of Prahlāda and his grandson Bali and the latter's downfall, the greatness of Devī and her exploits, marriage of Śiva and Umā at the request of gods, the birth of Kārttikeya and explanation of his various names, the story of Daṇḍa who was cursed by Śukra for rape, enmity between Vasiṣṭha and Viśvāmitra, Gajendramokṣa &c. It briefly deals with many of the usual dharmaśāstra subjects viz. tīrtha, sadācāra, āśramadharma, sāmānyadharma, vrata, karmavipāka &c. The Kalpataru quotes from Vāmana about 88 verses on tīrtha (only some of which have been traced), about 80 verses on vrata, 14 verses on dāna (which are also quoted by Aparārka p. 364) and 11 verses on niyatakāla.²³

The Vāmana-purāṇa mentions Kāmāśastras in 91. 73 and Maṅgalavāra (Tuesday) in 41. 24. It has been stated above p. 899 that it expressly mentions Matsya as the best among Purāṇaṣ The story of king Daṇḍa (in 63. 19 ff.) who perished along with the kingdom because he tried to violate Śukra's daughter appears to be an echo from Kauṭilya's Arthaśāstra (I. 6 p. 11 'Dāṇḍakyonāma Bhojaḥ kāmāt brāhmaṇakanyām abhimanyamānaḥ sabandhurāṣṭro vinanāśa.”). It states that the king is called rājan because he keeps the subjects contented, just as Kālidāsa sayṣ²⁴ It says that Umā was so called because²⁵ she was forbidden to practise 'tapas' in the words 'u mā' and that Śiva assumed the form of a Vedic student carrying a staff of Āṣāḍha (Palāśa) and wearing a girdle of Muñja grasṣ This also appears like an echo of Kumārasambhava V.

The SṃC. I, p. 168 quotes the two verses in which the Vāmana prescribes that a man after a bath and homa should leave his house (for business &c.) after touching certain objects deemed to be auspicious (noted below).

Taking all these matters into consideration the Vāmana purāṇa would have to be placed between 600 to 900 A. D. Vide H. in IHQ XI. pp. 115-130 and PRHR pp. 76-92. Vāyupurāṇa (Anandāśrama eḍ). This has 112 chapters and 10991 verseṣ It appears to have been divided like the Brahmāṇḍa into four pādas, Prakriyā (chap. 1–6), Anuṣaṅga (chap. 7–64), Upodghāta (65–99) and Upasaṃhāra (100–112). In the first chap., the first verse is the famous one ‘Nārāyaṇam namaskṛtya’ and the 2nd eulogises Vyāsa (both these are not found in several msṣ). The third verse refers to bhakti for Śiva. Chap. 104 is not found in many msṣ and the chapters at the end on Gayāmāhātmya are deemed to be later additions by some scholarṣ There is Śaiva bias in several chapters such as chap. 20. 31–35 (with a prose passage containing Vedic texts), 24. 91–165 (called Sarvastotra), chap. 55 (Śivastuti put in the mouth of Viṣṇu), chap. 101. 215–330. Probably to counterbalance this the chapters on Gayā were added and also the praise of Viṣṇu in chap. 98 where Dattātreya, Vyāsa, Kalkin are said to be avatāras of Viṣṇu, but Buddha is not mentioneḍ Chapter 99 is the longest one in the Purāṇa, contains 464 verses and is full of legendary material and historical referenceṣ There are several verses in the Purāṇa that appear also in the Mahābhārata, Manu and Matsya. For its relation to Brahmāṇḍa vide pp. 852, 896 above. This Purāṇa, like the Matsya, contains much Dharmaśāstra material. It is one of the oldest and most authoritative Purāṇas, though it contains some later additionṣ

The Vāyu is not quoted in the vrata and niyatakāla sections of the Kalpataru, but it is largely quoted in several other sectionṣ From the Vāyupurāṇa Kalpataru quotes about 160 verses on śrāddha²⁶ (of which the editor identified only about 21), about 35 on mokṣa (most traced), 22 on tīrtha, 7 on dāna, 5 in brahmacārī and 5 in gṛhastha. Aparārka quotes about 75 verses from Vāyu out of which 60 concern śrāddha and the rest deal with fast, dravyāśuddhi, dāna, sannyāsa and yoga. The Sṃ C. quotes only about 24 verses from Vāyu on śrāddha, on atithi, on Agnihotra and fuel-stickṣ

The Vāyu makes a passing reference to the Gupta dynasty (vide p. 852 above), it knows the yuga of five years (50. 183). and Mesa, Tula (50. 196), Makara and Simha (Jupiter therein) in 82. 41–42. Chapter 87 describes Gītālaṅkāras basing its treatment on the doctrines of pūrvācāryaṣ Brahmāṇḍa III. 62 is a similar chapter on the same subject and has almost the same verseṣ

As it refers to the kings of the Gupta dynasty and as Bāṇa refers to it in the Kādambarī and the Harṣacarita, it must be placed between 350 A. D. and 550 A. D. This date is corroborated in several wayṣ Śaṅkarācārya in his Bhāṣya on Vedāntasūtrā II. 1. 1 quotes a verse as from a Purāṇa, which is Vāyu except¹⁴⁴⁰ for one worḍ In another place Śaṅkara quotes a verse as smṛti which is found in Vāyu with slight variationṣ Another verse which is cited as smṛti by Śaṅkarācārya occurs in Vāyu. The Tattvavaiśāradī of Vācaspati on Yogasūtra I. 25 expressly quotes from Vāyu 12. 33 and 10. 65–66.

Vide Prof. Dikshitar on ‘Some aspects of the Vāyupurāṇa’ (1933, 52 pages, University of Madras); H. in IHQ. vol 14 pp. 131–139 and PRHR pp. 13–17; Shri D. R. Patil's ‘Cultural History from the Vāyupurāṇa’ (1946, Poona, a Ph. D. thesis).

Viṣṇupurāṇa—(Vehk. Press edition and another published by Messrṣ Gopal Narayan and Co. in śaka 1824 with two commentaries, one called Vaiṣṇavakūṭacandrikā of Ratnagarbha Bhaṭṭācārya and the other called Viṣṇucitti). The present text is divided into six aṁśas, 126 chapters and about 6000 verseṣ There are many chapters in prose alone such as in 4th aṁśa chapters 7, 8, 9 and many in mixed prose and verse as in aṁśa 4 chap. 1, 2, 6, 11, 12 &c. As stated above this purāṇa agrees with the definition of purāṇa as pañca-lakṣaṇa far more than any other purāṇa. This purāṇa is declared to Maitreya by Parāśara (son of Vasiṣṭha), which he received from Sārasvata, who received it from king Purukutsa on the Narmadā, who heard it from Dakṣa and others who learnt it from Brahmā.

Five out of the seven verses of Brahmāṇḍa III. 68. 97–103 are the same as Viṣṇu IV. 10. 23–27 (about what Yayāti said about trṣṇā). The same occur in Brahma-purāṇa 12. 40–46. It is likely that all borrow from the Mahābhārata, Ādiparva 75. 44 ff., 85. 9 ff. and Anuśāsana 7. 21 ff. The Mit. on Yājñavalkya III. 6 quotes on Nārāyaṇabali about 14 verses of the Viṣṇu- purāṇa. The Kalpataru on Mokṣa quotes 250 verses from the Viṣṇu (most of which have been identified), 70 on niyatakāla (almost all traced), 21 on brahmacāri, 28 on śrāddha (only one not traced), 21 on tīrtha (all traced), about 45 on gṛhastha- kanda.²⁸ Aparārka cites about 75 verses from the Viṣṇupurāṇa and the Smṛticandrikā about 100. The Kāvyaprakāśa²⁹ (IV.) quotes two verses from this (V. 13. 21–22 about a gopakanyā attaining final release by her thorough unswerving devotion to Lord Kṛṣṇa). The Viṣṇupurāṇa teaches in some places the sublime philosophy of advaita ;³⁰ for example, it says ‘He who seeks mokṣa should strive for treating all as equal, gods, men, beasts, birds, trees and creeping life are all the form of the Infinite Viṣṇu, though appearing as distinct from each other; one who realizes this should look upon the world as his own self &c.’ In another place the Viṣṇupurāṇa³¹ states ‘The mind alone is the cause of the bondage of men and their release; mind that is attached to the objects of the senses tends to bondage, but when it is beyond attachment to them, it tends to mokṣa’. It teaches the central doctrine of the Gītā that actions done without an eye to the reward or fruit thereof do not lead to bondage.³⁵ The date of the Viṣṇupurāṇa is a difficult questioṇ There is no doubt that it is one of the early Purāṇas and that its text is not very much inflateḍ Hundreds of verses quoted in the three early digests viz. Kalpataru, Aparārka and Smṛticandrikā can be traced in the current text and this leads to the inference that the text has remained fixed for at least a thousand yearṣ One important fact is that in this Purāṇa Vyāsa and the Sūta do not play a prominent part as in many other Purāṇaṣ It states as some other Purāṇas do, that Vyāsa had four pupils to whom he imparted the four Vedas and a fifth pupil the Sūta Romaharṣaṇa (III. chapters 3-7). But the sūta does not appear anywhere as the narrator of this Purāṇa. In the 4th amśa one remarkable matter is the mention of Śākya, Śuddhodana and Rāhula and it is stated that Śuddhodana was 23rd in descent from Bṛhad-bala of the Ikṣvāku line (chap. 22). The possibility of interpolations, particularly in the prose passages, would have to be admitteḍ Rāśis are referred to in III. 14. 5 (rāśisvar ke ca gacchati) and the words lagna and horā also appear (in a prose passage). Vācaspati in his commentary on the Yogabhāṣya 2. 32 quotes it by name on yamas and niyamas (Viṣṇu VI. 7. 36-38) and a half verse ‘evam bhadrāsanādinām’ etc., Viṣṇu VI. 7. 49 in coṃ on Yogabhāṣya III. 49. Vācaspati wrote his Nyāyasūcinibandha in vatsara 888 which should be taken as Vikrama year as he was a northerner and as the word ‘vatsara’ is used ( and not śaka) i. e. 841 A. D. 1047 A.D. Bühler in I. A. vol. 19 at p. 407 holds that this Purāṇa as well as the next were canonical acc. to Alberuni's panditṣ

Visņudharmottara (U. pub. by Venk. Press). It is a huge work and has been dealt with above (pp. 876-878). In spite of its huge size it is not quoted by the Kalpataru on vrata, tīrtha, brahmacārī, gṛhastha, rājadharma, mokṣa and other kāṇḍaṣ Aparārka quotes only 30 verses from it, of which 24 are on dāna: the Smṛticandrikā quotes about 30 in all and that Dānasāgara quotes profusely from it on dāna. It cannot be earlier than 600 A. D., and cannot be placed later than the 10th century, though parts of it may be later additionṣ Chapters 52-65 of the first section are called Śankaragītā. The Kālikā Purāṇa expressly refers (in chap. 91. 70 and 92. 2) to the Viṣṇudharmottara as having been concerned with Rājanīti and Sadācāra.

Sāmbapurāṇa (U. pub. by Venk. Press). Vide H. in 'Sāmbapurāṇa through the ages' in JASB vol. 18 (1952) pp. 91-111, 'on Sāmba-purāṇa' a śaiva work in ABORI vol. 36 (1955) pp. 62-84 and 'Studies &c.' vol. I. pp. 32-108. This purāṇa is hardly ever quoted by early digests such as the Kalpataru, Aparārka or Smṛticandrikā. Only four verses from it are quoted by the Dānasāgara. Prof. Hazra's propositions that the Bhaviṣya (pp. 68-82) and Brahmapurāṇa (present) borrow from the Sāmbapurāṇa in his own admission (in 'Studies &c.' vol. I. p. 68) that the present Sāmbapurāṇa consists of different units belonging to different climes and ageṣ All that can be said positively is that a purāṇa called Sāmba is mentioned by Alberuni in 1030 A. D. (Sachau I. p. 130).

Śivapurāṇa ( a Mahāpurāṇa according to some Purāṇas); Printed by Venk. Press in two volumeṣ Vide H. on 'Problems relating to Śivapurāṇa' in 'Our Heritage' (Calcutta 1953) vol. I. part 1 pp. 46-48. Dr. Pusalkar in 'Studies in Epics and Purāṇas pp. 31-41 (holds that the printed Vāyu is a genuine Mahāpurāṇa, that the Śivapurāṇa is a late work and is only an Upapurāṇa); the oldest datable reference to it is in Alberuni's work (vide Sachau, vol. 1. p. 131). It is quoted in the Dānasāgara several times, but is not quoted in Kalpataru, Aparārka and Sṃ C. It is divided into seven samhitās called Vidyēśvara, Rudrasaṃhitā (in five parts called Sṛṣṭi, Satī, Pārvatī,³⁵ Kumāra, Yuddha ). Śatarudra, Koṭirudra, Umā, Kailāsa, Vāyaviya (in two parts). It contains about 23000 verseṣ In Śatarudrasaṁ., chap. 42, the twelve jyotirliṅgas are mentioned, are spoken of as avatāras of Rudra and described; in Koṭirudrasaṁ., chap. 35 one thousand names of Śiva are set out; in Kailāsasaṁ., chap. 5 mandala in pūjā is described; in chap. 7 verses 5-26 various Mudrās and Nyāsas are provided for; in the Rudrasaṁ. section, Pārvati, there is a close resemblance between this purāṇa and the Kumāra- sambhava as noted below.

Śivadharma. Vide H. in JGJRI vol. X. pp. 1-20; Aparārka p. 274 on Yāj. I. 193 quotes one verse from it which is a para- phrase of Yāj.

Śaura (U.).—Vide H. in N. I. A. vol. VI. pp. 103-111 and 121-129, in B. V. vol. IV. pp. 212-216 and ‘Studies &c.’ vol. I. p. 348.

Skanda—This is the most extensive of Purāṇas and poses perplexing problemṣ It is found in two forms, one being divided into seven khaṇḍas, viz. Maheśvara, Vaiṣṇava, Brāhma, Kāśī, Āvantya, Nāgara and Prabhāsa, the other being divided into six saṁhitās, viz. Sanatkumāra, Sūta, Śaṅkarī, Vaiṣṇavī, Brāhmī and Saura. The Skanda in seven khaṇḍas has been published by the Veṅk. Press and the Sūtasaṁhitā with the commentary of Mādhavācārya has been published by the Anaṇ Press, Poona. The extent of the Skanda is variously given as 81000 ślokas, at 100000 ślokas (vide PRHR p. 158), at 86000 (in PRHR p. 159). The god Skanda does not figure prominently in this Purāṇa named after hiṃ The Skanda is named in the Padma V. 59. 2. Skanda I. 2. 6. 79 is almost in the same words as Kirātārjunīya³⁷ (II. 30 'sahasaś vidadhīta na kriyām'). Skanda, Kāśīkhaṇḍa 24 (8 ff) is full of Śleṣa and Parisankhyā in the style of Bāṇa as in 'yatra kṣa- panakā eva dṛśyante malādhāriṇaḥ' (verse 21) or 'vibhrāmo yatra nārīṣu na vidvatsu ca karhicit' (verse 9). Nāṭyaveda and Artha-śāstras are mentioned in Kāśīkhaṇḍa (Pūrvārdha 4-5), Dhan-vantari and Caraka on medicine are mentioned in Kāśīkhaṇḍa (Pūrvārdha 1.71); the word Jhotinga occurs in Kāśīkhaṇḍa 72. 74 (Jhotiṅgā rākṣasāḥ krūrāḥ). Skanda is quoted on topics of Dharmaśāstra in early commentaries and digestṣ The Mit. on Yāj. II. 290 mentions it in connection with the status of veśyās (courtezans). Kalpataru on vrata quotes only 15 verses from it, Kalpataru on tīrtha (pp. 36-39, 32, 46, 130-135) quotes 92 verses from it, on dāna only 44, on niyatakāla 63 verses, 18 verses on Rājadharma (on Kaumudīmahotsava), only 4 in śrāddhakāṇḍa and 3 in gṛhasthakāṇḍa. Aparārka ³⁷ quotes only 19 verses from it; one quotation indicates Tāntrik influence (vide note). The Dānasāgara cites 48 verses on dāna from it and the Sṃ C. only 23 in all. Considering the colossal figure of ślokas in the Skanda it must be said that it is rather sparingly quoted in the Dharmaśāstra workṣ A verse in it seems to echo the very words of Kālidāsa and quotes the view of Devala.³⁸ In such a huge work interpolations could easily be made. So it is difficult to assign a definite date to it. A mṣ of the Skanda in the Nepal Durbar Library is written in charac-ters which belong to the 7th century A. D. according to Haraprasad Shastri (vide Cat. of Nepal Palm-leaf msṣ p. LII.)

It would be not far from the truth to say that the Skanda cannot be placed earlier than the 7th century A. D. and not later than 9th century A. D. on the evidence so far available.