The
Puranas (
Sanskrit ????? pura?a, "of ancient times") are a group of important
Hindu (or
Jain and
Buddhist) religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the Universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of the kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.
[1] Puranas usually give prominence to a particular deity and most use an abundance of religious and philosophical concepts. They are usually written in the form of stories related by one person to another.
The date of the production of the written texts does not define the date of origin of the Puranas.[4] On one hand, they existed in some oral form before being written[4] while at the same time, they have been incrementally modified well into the 16th century[4][5] and perhaps down to the present day.
Serious work on the Puranas began when the All India Kashiraj Trust was formed under the patronage and guidance of Dr. Vibhuti Narayan Singh, the Maharaja of Kashi, which, in addition to producing critical editions of the Puranas, also published the journal Puranam.[6]
An early reference is found in the Chandogya Upanishad (7.1.2). (circa 500BCE.) The Brhadaranyaka Upanishad refers to purana as the "fifth Veda"[7], itihasapura?a? pañcama? vedana?, reflecting the early religious importance of these myths, presumably then in purely oral form. The term also appears in the Atharvaveda 11.7.24[8][9]. According to Matysa Purana, [10] they are said to narrate five subjects, called Pancha Lakshana pañcalak?a?a ("five distinguishing marks")[11]
