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Chapter Seven
Puranas and their dates
Purana means ancient
tales. All the major Puranas are written in Sanskrit and are
therefore necessarily written after the second century
AD.
According to tradition, the Puranas were composed by Vyasa at the
end of Dvapara Yuga. The bulk of the material contained in the
Puranas was established during the reign of the Guptas (320-500 CE )
. Puranas are constantly evolving that new additions to the old
tales are being constantly added.
Traditionally it is said that there are 18 Mahapuranas and 18
Upapuranas. Each Mahapurana lists eighteen canonical puranas, but
the contents of each list vary reflecting differences in time and
place.
"vaisnavam
naradiyanca tathabhagavatam subham
garudanca
tathapadmam varaham
subhadarsane sattvikanipuranani vijneyani
subhani
vai brahmandam brahmavaivartam markandeyam tathaiva
ca bhavisyam vamanam brahmam rajasani nibodhame
matsyam
kaurmam tathalaingam
saivam
skandam tathaiva ca agneyam ca
sadetani tamasani nibodhame"
Padma Purana, Uttara Khanda
(236.18-21)
Some of the listed Puranas and their possible dates are as
follows:
1. Vishnu Purana (4th C.)
2. Brahmanda Purana (4th C.)
3. Vayu Purana (5th C.)
4. Bhagvata Purana (6/7th C.)
5. Kurma Purana (7th C.)
6. Agni Purana (8th C.)
7. Narada Purana (10th C.) )
8. Brahma Purana (10th C)
9. Garuda Purana (10th C.)
10. Skanda Purana (11/12th C.)
11. Padma Purana (12/15th C.)
12. Vishnu Dharmottara Purana
13. Narasimha Purana
14. Vahni Purana
14. Shiva Mahapurana
16. Devi Bhagvata Mahapurana
17. Brihaddharmapurana
http://www.hvk.org/specialrepo/rjm/ch2.html
18. Narayana Purana
19. Markandeya Purana
20. Bhavishya Purana
21. Brahma Vaivarta Purana
22. Linga Purana
23. Varaha Purana
24. Vamana Purana Matsya Purana
(http://www.lebensplan.com/puranas/
http://www.hvk.org/specialrepo/rjm/ch2.html)
This list is not complete as there are many others of recent
origin. Those marked without an approximate earliest possible date
are of later origin.
Classification
The Mahapuranas are also classified by the three aspects of
Trimurti,
and of the Kashmiri Nagas.
· Brahma Puranas: Brahma Purana, Brahmānda
Purana, Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Mārkandeya Purana, Bhavishya
Purana, Vāmana Purana
· Vishnu Puranas: Vishnu Purana, Bhagavata
Purana, Nāradeya Purana,
Garuda Purana, Padma Purana, Varaha
Purana
· Shiva Puranas: Shiva Purana, Linga
Purana, Skanda Purana,
Agni Purana, Kūrma Purana, Matsya
Purana, Vāyu Purana
· Naga
Purana: Nilamata Purana (Kashmir)
Authorship, name and chronology
Traditionally, the Puranas are said to have been composed by the
sage Veda Vyasa. Vyasa in Sanskrit means 'Divider,' and some scholars
therefore take this simply as a term meaning 'Editor'. These texts,
were probably produced by ordinary people all over India which were
collected, collated and composed
In Siva Purana, Lord Siva is highly eulogised and an inferior
position is given to Lord Vishnu. Sometimes Vishnu is belittled. In
Vishnu Purana, Lord Hari is highly eulogised and an inferior status
is given to Lord Siva. Sometimes Lord Siva is belittled. Thus the
Puranas often contradicts each other. This has developed as each
opposing sects invented their derogatory tales to belittle the
others. There were periods in Indian history when they persecuted
other groups.
"Apart from these 18 Puranas, there are also 18 Upapuranas or
subsidiary Puranas, which were composed after the major ones. ….The
Puranas are a valuable source from which to trace the development of
Hinduism. They mark the next stage in beliefs after the Vedas.
Hinduism, as practiced today, is largely inspired by the
Puranas." http://www.lebensplan.com/puranas/
Dates
The oldest Purana is believed to date back to 300 AD, and the
most recent ones to 1300 - 1600 AD. Although they have been composed
at different times, all the Puranas seem to have been revised at a
later date. This is apparent because all of them state that the
total number is 18. The Puranas vary greatly in length: the Skanda
Purana is the longest with 81,000 couplets, while the Brahma Purana
and Vamana Purana are the shortest with 10,000 couplets each. The
total number of couplets in the Puranas collectively is 400,000.
(http://www.gurjari.net/ico/Mystica/html/purana.htm)
Scholars regard the Puranas in general as having been compiled by
many hands between the 4th and the 16th centuries AD.
[http://www.angelfire.com/realm/shades/ganesh/puranas.htm]
The oldest of the Puranas, Vayu Purana, may date back
to about the sixth century. and some of the others may be as recent
as the thirteenth century.
[http://scholars.nus.edu.sg/post/india/religion/hindu/hindu1.html:
University Scholars Program]
Some references are given below:
Ganesh Purana
Thapan reviews different views on dating and
states her own judgement that it appears likely that the core of the
Ganesha Purana come into existence around the 12th and 13th
centuries, being subject to interpolations during the succeeding
ages. Thapan notes that these puranas, like other
puranas, developed over a period of time as multi-layered works.
Lawrence W. Preston and Hazra considers that the period AD
1100-1400 is the most reasonable date for the Ganesha Purana because
that period agrees with the apparent age of the sacred sites
mentioned by it.
[ Thapan, Anita Raina (1997).
Understanding Ga ṇapati: Insights into the
dynamics of a cult. Manohar
Publishers, 304. ISBN 81-7304-195-4.
Preston, Lawrence W.,
p. 103. "Subregional Religious Centers in the History of
Maharashtra: The Sites Sacred to Gaṇeśa", in: N. K. Wagle, ed.,
Images of Maharashtra: A Regional Profile of India.]
R. C. Hazra,
"The Gaṇeśa Purāṇa", Journal of the Ganganatha Jha Research
Institute, Vol. 9, 1951, pp. 79-99. For dating see p. 97.
Farquhar dates it between AD 900-1350 [Farquhar, J.
N., An Outline of the Religious Literature of India, pp. 226 and
270. ]
http://www.mysteriesofthekingdom.com/krishna.htm as
retrieved on Apr 13, 2007 16:41:54 GMT.
Vishnu Purana:
This work contains the geneology of the
Gupta kings, and therefore could not have been finalized before 320
AD. Hazra is positive the date of this Purana is between 275
– 325 AD, while Winternitz agrees it is not later than the 400’s.
(Jaiswal, 17) Others agree it was probably written between 300 – 400
AD. (sdmart.com) Raychaudhuri agrees that it was probably written
between 320 – 355 AD, and goes further by saying that the puranas
that relate the Krishna story cannot be placed much before the Gupta
kings, since the geneology of those kings is included.
(Raychaudhuri, 91, 42)
Bhagavata Purana:
Hazra points out that the Vishnu
Puran is a source for the Bhagavata Purana and believes
its date to be between 500 – 550 AD, despite many who believe the
date should be even later. It embellishes the Vishnu Purana
and is the most complete biography of Krishna. Another generally
accepted date for it is 800 – 1000 AD. (sdmart.org) It includes
myths about all ten of Vishnu’s avatars. The Bhagawata Purana has
been placed at several dates by scholars, ranging from 3000BCE
(Traditional), to 700BCE, 400BCE, 500AD, 800AD and even as late as
1000AD.
"Thus for instance the vast amalgamation of Puranic tradition
known as the Skandapurana, as far as we can speak of it as a
single work at all, cannot be older than the 16th century, as has
been shown in the Groningen Skandapurana project (see Adriaensen
et al 1994). Many scientific manuals and commentaries were
composed during the 17th and 18th centuries, and a 19th century
compilation, the Sukraniti, passed for a long time as a
genuine ancient work. And of course Indian scholars of traditional
learning are all the time producing new Sanskrit
literature"
Klaus Karttunen
http://folklore.ee/folklore/vol8/veda.htm
Harivamsa:
The work was revised and changed numerous
times and adopted its current form sometime around 400 AD. (Jaiswal,
16) It was added to the Mahabharata between 300-400 AD. It tells the
story of Krishna as a youth. (sdmart.com)
Mahabharata and Bhagavad Gita:
The Mahabharata was
an evolving work that probably started sometime in the 200’s BC and
ended in the 400’s AD. The work was constantly being added to, and
it was corrupted so badly that we cannot be sure that words were not
interpolated hundreds of years later. The Bhagavad Gita is
part of the Mahabharata and is thought by many to be written
sometime around 200 - 300 BC. The familiarity with the Greeks as
"famous fighters" places the Mahabharata after Alexander, and its
alarm at the Buddhist edukas replacing Hindu temples makes a
date around the time of Asoka likely. The Romans are mentioned only
in passing in a list of possible peoples, thus placing the epic
probably before the time of Rome’s greatness. (Raychaudhuri, 41, 42,
32)
Nevertheless, many still consider a post-Christian date for the
Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita. Pisani puts forward
a strong argument that the Mahabharata was written between
100 - 300 AD, because it mentions Sakas (Scythians) who invaded
around then, Parthians (Pahlavas) who had gained their independence
from the Greeks, Huns (Hunas), and Romans (Romakas) who they had not
established contact with before the time of Augustus.
"The great epic called the Mahabaharatha (between 300 BC
and AD 300) is by far the most important representative of the
purana. Of somewhat similar free style are the 18 Puranas of
a much later date. The beginnings of the artistic style are seen in
the Ramayana (begun 3rd century BC). The finished epic
kavya form, however, was not evolved until the time of
Kalidasa, about the 5th century AD. This poet and dramatist is the
author of the two best-known Sanskrit artistic epics, the
Kumarasambhava and the Raghuvamsa."
http://www.connect.net/ron/sanskritliterature.html
If the horoscope given to us is correct Krishna was born in the
month of Sravana on the 23rd day on the night of full
moon in Lagnam Edavam at midnight and if Guru (Mars), Kujan
(Mercury), Ravi (Sun) and Sukran (Venus) were at their own home,
Budan, Chandran (moon) and Sani (Saturn) were in their highest time,
then Krishna was born in AD 600
" Mahabaharatha as given to us could not have been written before
A.D fourth Century. Panini, who is the famous grammarian, has
mentioned several important personalities of the epics of that
period. While the reprints published later have made several errors,
variations and exaggerations, the main characters and the imports of
the stories remain in tact. There is no doubt that Gita came into
existence only during the period of Gupta Empire."
K.M.Panicker
( A Survey of Indian History p.67)
All Hindu myths are developed over a long period of times,
where each myth was built over some older historical fact or person.
This is often due to confusion of names and times. Most of them were
local stories, which got incorporated, in the bigger picture. So
when a purana was presented in a codified form it was normally done
in a third person method where this person sees the act being
carried out in some distant places at distant time. This was indeed
the normal style of story telling of the period. In the present day
Katha Kala Shepam and Thullal this is clearly visible. It is the
same old "Once upon a time there lived…….", bedtime story. That does
not mean it has no historical basis. But the puranas themselves
cannot be taken on face value as presented. It may be a good
symbolic presentation or an allegory, but not history or scripture
truth.
The sheer comparison of the Modern Hinduism with the Vedism
simply shows that it could not have been connected directly in any
way. One thing is evident, modern religion Hinduism is not based on
Vedas. It is a totally different religion which took place sometime
before the third century AD. Somehow some vested interest
conveniently twisted history so that everything was cleverly hidden
and some strange explanations to avoid even directl enquiry into
origins and dates and who and why were arrogantly obliterated.
"But religion has to extend beyond realisation and cater to the
emotional needs of the lesser category of humanity. No historian of
philosophy, to our knowledge, has been able to get over the
prejudice that all religious thought subsequent to the Vedas and
Upanishads, and apart from the later systematic Vedanta of the
Darsana school, is a kind of trash, or, at best, a concession to the
weakness of the popular mind."
A Short History of Religious and
Philosophic Thought in India by Swami Krishnananda
But the question still remains, What made the step from the old
Indian religions to the modern Hinduism. From early monotheism how
did it degenerate into polytheism and the elaborate system of
Puranas? For this we need to look into the religious events that
transpired between the 3rd C BC and 3rd C
AD.
I leave this quote without comments. Check the dates that are
indicated.
http://www.geocities.com/rigvedsamhita/bhagwat.htm
As we can see from the above verses, Krishna-bhakti is older than
the Vaishanacharyas, and dates back to the Rig Veda itself. We
should also note of Shankaracharya (500BCE), and his
'Bhaja-Govindam', as well as Gita and Mahabharata, which note of
Krishna-bhakti before the advent of the Guptas (c.300BCE).
It was Shankara's influence that, under the Guptas (300BCE), the
Greeks such as Heliodorus, become devotees of Krishna, through
Bhajagovindam etc. and Bhagawata.
The Bhagawata Purana has been placed at several dates by
scholars, ranging from 3000BCE (Traditional), to 700BCE,
400BCE, 500AD, 800AD and even as late as 1000AD.
--
Krishna's traditional date is around 3180BCE, and his death
(3102BCE) marks the end of the Vedic Era, when the Vedas,
Upanishads and Puranas were re-written for Kali-Yuga minds and the
Tantra-Shastra or 'Agama' literature began, according to these
dates, from older Vidyas or Shastras (Upavedas, Vidyas and Sutras
etc.) from Vedic eras.
Now, this seems about correct, as the Indus Cities were all
rebuilt around 3000BCE-2500BCE, because of calamities around
3000BCE, and again in 1900BCE, which marks the end of the Vedic
period.
---
To this, we can also include NS Rajaram, who deciphered the
Indus script, and in his 'Search for the Historical Krishna',
shows much evidence of Krishna at 3000BCE date is correct, and he
correlates evidences from Mahabharata-era names in the Shastras and
also on Indus seals.
DATE OF HINDU TEMPLES
Table showing the date of building the temple
As far as we know there not one single temple which are
dedicated to the worship of Brahma, Vishnu or Siva that predates
the Christian Era. We can find a lot of Buddhist and Jain
temples, art and architecture during the BC period.
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