THE ANTIQUITY AND ORIGIN OF THE PADMA-PURANA, AND ITS EARLY CHARACTER AND POSITION IN THE PURANIC LITERATURE

 

Among the sacred books which have greatly influenced the social and religious life of the Hindus from early times the Puranas occupy a very high position which is next only to that of the Vedas Though, as modern research has shown, a very few of the extant Puranas can reasonably claim an early origin, the root of the Purana literature can be traced back to the period of composition of the Vedic Samhxtas The earliest mention of purana is found in two hymns of the Atharva veda, in one of which (viz, m xi 7 24) it has been said to have had the same sacred origin as that of the Rks, the Samans, the Metres and the Yajus formulae, and in the other (viz, in xv 6 11-12) it has been mentioned with Itihasa The Purana has also been mentioned, either separately or together with Itihasa, in many other works of the Vedic literature, viz, shatapatha-brakmana y Gopathabrahmana, Jaimimya-upantsad brahmana, Taittinya-aranyaka y Brhada ranya ha-up an isad> Chandogya-upanisad, Sankhcryana-shrauta-sutra etc, but from the manner in which Purana and Itihasa have been mentioned in these works, it is very difficult to form any definite idea of their nature The joint mention of these two terms in some of the above-mentioned works seems to indicate that both of them were used in relation to stories of olden times, the word Itihasa probably meaning ancient legends and ballads and Purana meaning ancient tales and narratives It seems, however, to be sure that neither of these two terms was applied in Vedic times to mean any particular class of work In his commentary on the Sankhayana-shrauta-sutra Varadattasuta Anartiya takes the y ord purana, mentioned in Sutra xvi 2 27, to mean the Vayu-prokta-purana (i e, Vayu-p ), but as this commentator does not come from an early date, his explanation hardly deserves any serious consideration The fact that Narada is spoken to in Atharva-veda v. 19. 9, has led a scholar to believe that the idea of presenting Narada as one of the interlocutors in the Atharva-veda was taken from the Puranas. 1 But however early the date of the origin of the Puranas of five characteristics may be pushed up, it is not possible for us in the present state of our knowledge to say that this date goes back to a period when at least some parts of the Atharva-veda were not composed.

The mention of Purana is also found in many of the non-Vedic works. The Ram. of Valmlki mentions it in a number of places 2, but in most of them the word purana seems to refer to ancient myths and tales rather than to definite Puranic works. There is, of course, one vs, viz,

puranaiS-caiva vedais-ca pancaratrais-tathaiva va/

dhyayanti yogino nityam kratubhi£ -ca yajanti tam// 3

in which the word purana has been used in the plural number definitely to mean Puranic works numbering more than one, but the occurrence of this vs. in the Uttarakanda, 4 its mention of the Pancaratra works, and its inclusion in a chap which has been stamped out as spurious in most of the editions 5 of the Ram, greatly minimise its importance from the points of view of antiquity and authenticity

 

1 V. R Rama chandra Dikahitar, Th Pvfapa Indx y vol I, Introduction p xiu Ram. vi 129 3, vu 43 If 47.24, 72 40

In the following two passages the word purS^ia may have been used to mean Pvriflic works

(a) Rsfrt i 9 1-2

ctac-chrutvi rahab uto rijinam jdam-abravft/

IrOyatirp tat purivrtUip purige ca yathl Irutara //

rtvigbhir-iipadi^to'yaiyi puravrtto may! irutah /

sanatkumiro bhagavin pQrvaip kathitavin kathSm //

(In the text of the Bengal recension of VilmUn's Ram, as presented in Amamwar Thakur’i ed. [I 8^-6], these two vsjl have been given thus eva® ok to nfpatmi snmantro vJkyam-abravjt/

narendra irilyatiqi tivat purine yaiwnayi iruttm //

sanatkumSro bhagavin yathivat proktavin purl/

bhvishya.rji vidu? 2qs madhye tava putra-samudbhavam ff Gomsio f i ed, which also gives the Bengal text, reads purSnaryi for purine in the second line. In the editions of Bhagavad Datta and Aug GuiL A Schlfgd, who present the North-western and Bengal texts respectively, the third line reads as follows tanatkumlro bhagavin puri kadutavin fcathim)

(Sj Ram iv.? 2 3

purine tumahat kSryitp bhavishyip hi may! Iniura/

dntatp me tapasi eaiva inirvl ca viditaip mama //

(T. R Knshaacharya’s rd iv £ 2 3 and Visvahandbu Shaitn’j fd. iv 54 4)

 Ram. vu 43 16

For paacaritixib T. R Kruhnacharya’s ed reads piikaritraib

 

Unlike the Ram., the Mbh. uses the word purana as a noun very frequently, sometimes to mean its own self and sometimes to mean ancient tales and narratives. But there are a few cases in which this word has been employed to mean definite works That the Mbk. knew " individual Puranas in some form or other at least at certain stages of its growth, is shown not only by its indirect reference to the Markandeya-p. in two vss, 7 but also by its express mention of the Vayu-prokta-purana (i, e, Vayu-p.) and the Matsyaka-puraria (i e., Mats)a-p.) with some of their contents 8 Although very little of these contents is to be found m the present Vdjyu-p and Matsjya-p., it can hardly be denied that these two Puranic works in their earlier forms were widely known at the time of composition of the relevant portions of the Mbh The mention of individual Puranas by name in the Mbh. does not, however, mean that this work was familiar with the canon of eighteen Puranas The three vss. of the Svargarohana-parvan (viz., 5 45 and 46; and 6.97), in which the eighteen Puranas have been mentioned, do not occur in all the editions and mss of this work and are, consequently, of very doubtful authenticity. So also is vs. 3 of the HarxVamsha iii. 135 which mentions the eighteen Puranas.

 

4 From a critical analyse of the Ram scholars feci inclined to believe that the whole of the Uttara karate was added to the Ram at a comparatively late date 'See, foT instance, the td prepared by T R Krishnacharya (Uttara kSntfa, Prakshipta Sarga 7)

11 Ccniama-dharma-sutra 8 6 (vikovaiyttihSsa pur5r> a-Lushalzb) and 11 19 (tasya ca vyavahiro vedo dharma-UitrJ^y ahglny upavedU? purism)

In their commentaries ofl the CauUvna^Duama sutra both Haradatta ind Maskan tzie the word purii^a, used in the abovo'iuencioned phoasms of Gautama, to mean the Brahma t Brahmtiptfa and other Furipai.

Ai early as in 1896 G Bilhler tried to trace these lines to the extant Bhartpa'f ), but hn attempt did not prove CruufuL Ind Ant, 1896 pp 323-328.

“See Veju-f 6 24 bpr\'runU Cute) punafy urge bljiithxqt tl bharanfc hi.

 

Though', as we have seen above, the evidence of the Ram. and the Mbh regarding the pre-Christian origin of distinct works called Puranas is open to doubt, there are other works which prove definitely that distinct Puranas came into existence long before the beginning of the Christian era. The Gautama-dharmasutray which was written probably between 600 and 400 B.C. 10, does not name any particular Puranic work but mentions the name Purana in two places, 11 and in at least one of them this word has been used by Gautama to mean some definite Puranic work or works. The Apaslamba'dhartia-sulra y which appears to have been written later than the Dharma-sutra of Gautama but before 300 B C., 12 quotes several passages from Purana and on one occasion expressly names a BhavtsjQt-purana which must have been an earlier prototype of the present Bhavishya-p. But the two lines, quoted by Apastamba from the Bhavxtyalpurana can be traced neither in the present Bhavishya-p. nor in any of the extant Puranas. 13 The line punah sarge bljartha bhavanti has its parallel in the Vqyu-p. but from this it cannot be supposed that Apastamba knew the Vayu-p. and that in deriving the above line from it he named the Bhavisja-p. in place of the VSyu-p. through mistake. Among the authors of Dharma-shastras Manu is found to use the word purana as a noun in the plural number, 15 and, according to Medhatithi, Govindaraja, Kullukabhatta and others, this word means the Brahma and other Puranas of five characteristics. 16 Brhaspati, the famous author of a Dharma-shastra drawn upon in many of the Smriti-commentaries and Nibandhas, has a vs. 17 ascribed to him, in which the Purana has been mentioned with Dharma and Artha-Shastra to point to definite Puranic works In the Yajhavalkya Smriti (1.3) the Purana has been included among the fourteen sources of Dharma According to VijnaneSvara and Apararka, the famous commentators on the Yajnavalkya-Smriti 7 the word purana, mentioned in the said vs of Yajnavalkya, means the Brahma and other Puranas. 18 The Purana has also been mentioned in three more vss. of the Yajnavalkya-Smriti, 19 and m most of them the commentators are inclined to take this word to refer to definite Puranic works. 20 In his Arthasdstra Kautilya must have used the word purana to mean the Puranic literature. 21 One of his references to the Pauranika Suta 22 clearly shows that he was thoroughly conversant with the origin and duties of Sutas who are found to play the most important part as the narrators of the extant Puranas. That the study of the Puranas was very popular m Kautilya's days, is clear from one of his statements which shows that persons versed in the Puranas received a salary of a thousand Panas 23 from the royal exchequer and thus occupied a very high position in the royal court. Kautilya’s statements about the Pauranika Sutas and Magadhas show definitely that he knew distinct Puranic works which approached very much in nature and contents the Puranas that have come down to us. Similar interesting information about the Puranic literature is contained in Bharata’s J\fatya-shastra, in which Bharata names a number of parts of eastern India in connection with the application of the Audra-magadhl Pravrtti and says that these and other parts have been spoken of in the Puranas 21 In another place Bharata speaks of Bharata-varsa as a place of work and refers to the Puranic mention of the mountains of different Varsas (countries). 25 Bharata’s use of the word purana in the plural number in chap. 27 may also have been intended for referring to the Puranas as a distinct class of works. 26

The early origin of the Puranic literature is further proved by a number of Buddhist and Jain works. For instance, the Lahta-vistara> which is called a Mahapurana 27 in one of its printed editions, says that the Bodhisattva was excellently qualified in various branches of knowledge including the Nigama, Purana, Itihasa, Veda and Vyakarana, 58 and thus testifies to its knowledge of the existence of the Purana literature. The Milinda-panha, which claims to record the dialogue between the Greek king Menander and the Buddhist sage Nagasena, describes the academic equipments of king Menander saying: “Many were the arts and sciences he knew — holy tradition and secular laws; the Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya and VaUesika systems of philosophy; arithmetic; music; medicine; the four Vedas, the Puranas (purana), and the Itihasas;.In another place it says about the brahmins thus: “Or just as the business of Brahmins and their sons is concerned with the Rg-veda f the Yajur-vcda, the Sdma-vtda, the Atharva^vcda, with the knowledge of lucky marks (on the body), of legends, Puranas (puranam), lexicography, ... It is remarkable that in one of these two places the word purana has been used in the plural number to mean the works of a particular branch of learning, and this use of the word shows the author's knowledge of the existence of more Puranas than one in his time.

Unlike the Buddhist writers the Jains wrote a number of works much in imitation of Sanskrit Puranas and styled them Purana. The earliest of these writers is Vimala Sflri, a Jain monk, who wrote his Pavma-canya during the first century A.D. 31 and called it a Purana on more occasions than one. Another Jam author, Ravisena by name, wrote his Padma-p. in Sanskrit in 678 A.D.; and Gunabhadra wrote his Uttara-p. during the ninth century A.D. IYom the titles of these works and from the nature of their contents, it is evident that the Jains became familiar with the Sanskrit Puranas of five characteristics at least from about the beginning of the Christian era.

We have adduced above from the Vedic, Epic, Sanskrit, Buddhist and Jain literatures as much information as we could collect regarding the antiquity and nature of the Purana literature. From an examination of these sources we have seen that they amply testify to the origin of this literature a few centuries before the birth of Christ, and that more Puranas than one had come into being in those remote days. But we could discover no such evidence as could show that the people of those days were in any way familiar with the Padma-p. or even with any group of eighteen Puranas, As a matter of fact, the origin of the canon of eighteen Puranas, which, as the extant lists 32 show, invariably include the Padma-p? 3 and do not, even on a single occasion, have any substitute for it as in the case of the Vayu-p >; 24 cannot at present be pushed up earlier than the fourth century A.D. The list of eighteen Puranas, contained in Matsya-p. 53 12-57, is to be dated between 550 and 650 A.D., 35 the Vtsnu list must have been revised to its present form or inserted in later days, although the Vishnu-p. itself is to be dated between 100 and 350 A D., 36 chap. 137 of the Markandeja-p which contains a list of eighteen Puranas, does not occur in all the editions and is, consequently, of doubtful authenticity; and Vayu-p, chap, 104, giving a somewhat different list, 'vis added to the Purina very late 37 However, the evidence of the Matsja-p show's that the Padma p must have originated m some form or oilier not liter than the beginning of the seventh century AD This date is further pushed up by another piece of evidence contained in Mats)a p 53 59, 3S m which the Narasimha-p has been attached to the Padma p as one of its parts (upibhcda) The manner m which these two Punnic works have been interrelated, shows that by the sixth or seventh century AD the Padma p attained wide recognition so much so that an early, originally independent and highly authoritative Purana like the Narasxmha 39 could be assigned to it for the sake of authority The earlier origin of the Padma p is further evidenced by Ravisena’s work entitled Padma p, which, as we have already said, was written in 678 A D From the title of this work and from its treatment of the legend of Rama Daiantthf, whom it has named as Padma, we may assume that the Hindu Padma p with a Rama legend attained great popularity m Ravisena’s time, or even earlier as the title ( Patlma cariya) and subject matter of Vimala Sun’s work seem to indicate So, we may assume that our Padma p came into being not later than the third or fourth century A D It is probable that the work onginated much earlier It should be mentioned here that the early date, to which we are inclined to assign the Padma p, is not to be taken to be that of all the chaps found m it at present From an examination of its constituent parts we shall see that this work has undergone changes and modifications at different times and that, in its present form, it consists of chaps and vss written in widely distant periods.

 

For references to the Puranas containing these lists — R C Harra, PurdntC Recards p, 13 {fin. 13), M Winiermtz, History of Indian Literature 1 p 531 (fn IJ, OH, v©l 1, parti, 1953 p 48 (fn 15)

 It as only ibr Jut of Purina contained in Skonda p vu (Prabhisa khapda) I 2 5-7

hich does not mention the name of the Padma-p As this list names seventeen Puranai and not eighteen, and as the Padma-p has been included among the eighteen Purina

described in %'s. 28-76 of the lame chap of the Skanda-p, it u sure that the omission of the name of the Padma p jij the said list u due to a mistake 4 Of the numerous lists of eighteen Purina some name the fira p or auz< a in place of the 1 or Vayarfya, some name both the Stea-p and the Ydyu-p in exclusion of the Brdhmanja-p t and some name the i dye-p and the BrahmJnJa-p and not the See, for instance, K^rwia-p i. I 13-15, Vardha-p 112 60-92, Vifiu-p m 6 22 fT

Ixngo-P i 39 61 /L, Phdiauata-p xu. 7 23 IT, JMdrkandeya-p 137 8 ff and £ ira-p L 1

38 IT, Slanda-p VU- 1 2. 572, and SO On“ R- C- lUxra, Purdntc Records pp. 3W2

n The text of this vs isu follow

upabhedJn pravakjy5m lokc }e saipprat 5 th lib f pidme purSpe tatroktarp Tiaraa rphopavarnanam f tac cJjtSdala sShasrarp nSras ipham hocyatc ff Th s work wh eh was drawn upon profusely by a large number of SinFU-com mentatort and N bandha wr ten was wr tten between 400 and 500 AD A B O R t XXVI 1945 pp 12 88

 

The early origin of the extant Padma p finds strong support in its association with the pre-Tantnc Brahma-sect which is prominently reflected m the few chaps retained in its Shrishti-khanda from an earlier form of this work As a matter of fact, the extant Padma-p m its earlier, if not original, form belonged to the Brahma-sect, and it is for this reason that the Saura-p (9 19) sa> s " One, who gives the Padma (purana ) on the day of the (divine) preceptor (Brhaspati) to a twice-born man learned in the Vedas, with the intention (of offering it) to Brahma, attains the result of thejyotistoma (sacrifice) 40, 1

According to the Tamil lexicon Pingalandai, as V R Ramachandra Dihshitar informs us, 41 Brahma was the predominating deity of the Padma-p The title Padma p for this work and the name Pauskara^parvan given to that part of it which is now known as the Shrishti-khanda, also seem to indicate the original connection of this work with the Brahma-worshippers, the Padma (lotus) being said to have been the source of origin of Brahma as a personal god and Puskara being the name of the place with which this god has been connected from very early times That the sect of Brahma originated very early and was active even m the days of Varahamihira, admits of little doubt, although very few records of their ideas and activities have been left behind by these sectaries In his Brhai samhita (60 19) Varahamihira names the most popular sects and sectaries of his time, and these include the Brahma-worshippers, who were called Vxpras, 42 the Maty}a p and the Vishnu-dharmotlara deal with the construction and worship of the image of Brahma, 43 there is a widely popular tradition recorded m various works which says that Brahma was the god of the Krta age (brahma krta-yuge dcvah) and preceded both Vishnu and Shiva; 41 in the first few centuries of the Christian era Brahma was included in the group of five or six deities worshipped by the forerunners of the later Smartas who worshipped the five deities called pancayatana; there are references in the Puranas to the prevalence of Brahma-worship in the early centuries of the Christian era and to the rivalry which the Vaishnavas and Shaivas had with the Brahma-worshippers; 45 in his Njaya-kusumanjah Udayanacarya says that to the Puranawriters the principal god was Pitamaha (he., Brahma ); 45 and in his Natya-iastra Bharata assigns the highest place to Brahma, as it is this god who is said to have occupied the topmost position in the flag-staff called Jarjara. 47 These and similar other evidences in favour of the wide popularity of Brahma-worship are supported by a large number of images of Brahma found in different parts of the country. As a matter of fact, the sect of Brahma was one of those which attained great prominence in ancient India and had Puranas of their own for the effective propagation of their sectarian ideas, the other powerful sects being those of the Pancaratras, PaSupatas, Bhagavatas and Sauras.

 

44 bra!; ml krta yuge devaa-lretAyJip bhagavAn ravifc /

dvlparc bhagavAn vijgub kalau devo mahefvarab //

ascribed to the Skanda p in HemAdri's Caturvarga< vitamaTM in p 659 For other vs

44 Matsya p chaps 274 ff (ui which there are instructions for the worship of images of BrahmS m different MahSdanas), 265 4 (which states that a priest u to be brahmopendra hara pnya) and 266 39 (according to which Brihma mantras are to be used m consecrating an image of BrahmA), Kurma p i 2 194 (m which it is said that those who take recourse to BrahmA should always bear the sectarian, mar.k. on the forehead), i 28 19 (in which BrahmA, Vi? i? u and Surya have been said to be worshipped in the Kah age) and n 18 90-91 and 26 39 (which contain directions for the worship of BrahmA), and so on 41 Nyaya kusumailjah stabaka 1 (p 4) — lha yady api yatp kam api punjsh3rthamanViayamAnAV pitAmaha \\\ update tasmm. bhagavati bhave sandeha eva kutah? Also Bibl Ind ed, 1890 p |fi

 

It is very difficult to say where the extant Padma-p. first came into being. The way in which the Puskara-tlrtha has been glorified and connected with Brahma in the Mbh and other works including the Padma-p. it appears that this Purana was first composed by the BrahmS-worshippers of Puskara and that with the growing popularity of this deity, the Padma-p. also attained greater recognition, so much so that it tempted the Vaishnavas to appropriate this work in later times to propagate their own ideas through it.

The Padma-p as we have it now, is a voluminous work consisting of extensive parts called Khandas, which are five in number in the Bengal recension, viz., Shrishti-khanda, Bhumikhanda, S varga-khanda, Patala-khanda and Uttara-khanda. In the South Indian (or rather Devanagari) recension, which has been published by the Anss Press (Poona), Venkat Press (Bombay), Vang. Press (Calcutta) and Shri-gurumandala-granthamala and also edited by Kedaranatha Bhaktivinoda (Calcutta), this work is found to have six Khandas, in which the Svarga-hhanda of the Bengal recension has been replaced by the Adi-khanda (called Svargakhanda in the Venkat and Vang. Press editions and also in that of Kedaranatha Bhaktivinoda) and the Brahmakhanda. Although the names of the Khandas in the Anss, and other printed editions do not in all cases agree with those in the Bengal recension and the arrangement of the Khandas is found to be quite different in the Anss ed, there are many vss. in these five printed editions as well ^as in Bengal mss. which name the Khandas exactly in the same way and in the same order as those in the Bengal recension. In addition to the Khandas already mentioned there are numerous treatises which, though being originally independent, claim to be parts of the Padma-p It is due to this huge bulk of this Purana, which must have begun to grow in extent from a fairly early date, that the Afatsja, Vayu and some other Puranas state that the Padma-p. consisted of 55000 Shlokas. 49 Even the Padma-p. itself claims to have this extent. But a careful examination of the present Padma-p. will show that originally this work consisted neither of such a huge bulk nor of distinct parts called Khandas. As to the names of the different parts of the Padma-p and the subjectmatters dealt with in them, the Shrishti-khanda has a feu \cry interesting \ss., in which Suta says:

“brahmanabhihitarp purvam yavan-matrarp maricaj c/ /

etad-eva ca vai brahma padmam lokejagada vai/

sarva-bhutairayam tac-ca padmam-ityucyate budhaih/ /

padmam tat paiica-pancaSat sahasranlha pathyate/

pancabluh parvabhih proktam samksepad vjasa karanat/ /

pauskaram prathamam parva jatrotpannah svayam virat /

dvitlyarp tirtha-parva syat sarva-graha-ganaSrayam/ /

trtlya-parva-grahana rajano bhuri-daksinah/

vamianucaritam caiva caturthe panklrtitam/ /

pancame moksa-tattvam ca sarva-tattvam nigadyatc/

pauskare navadha Shrishtih sarvesarp brahma-karita/ /

devatanam munlnam ca pitr-vargas-tathaparah/

dvitiye parvatas-caiva dvipah sapta ca sagarah/ /

trtiye rudra-sargas-tu daksa-Sapas-tathaiva ca/

caturthe sambhavo rajnam sarva-Vamshanukirtanam/ /

antye'pavarga-samsthanam moksa-Shastranuklrtanam/

sarvam-etat purane'smin kathayisyami vodvijah”/ / 49

 

49 Padma-p, Sr? P khapd a > VaAg ed 1 5Gb-66 (=VeAkat ed 1 58b-66«Anssh ed 1 52b-60) For these vss see also Kcdaranatha Bhaktivinoda's cd chap 1 p 3

The readings of these vss m the ed agree with those of the Anss ed Though the text of this passage, as given in the Vang and Venkat editions is belter than that given in the Anss ed we have preferred the reading vySsa Lira^ac, (m line 5) of the Anss ed to vy5sa k5ritlt of the other two editions The VaAg and VeAkat editions give the same text of the above extract The above vss also occur in the Bengal mss of the Sr? U khan^a See, for instance VaAgiya Sihitya Pan} at (Calcutu) ms no 755, fol 3a, chap 1 (v 1 vyls karitab in line 5, tarva tlrtha gui^iirayam for the second half of line 7, and tftlyaiji parva svargai-ca for the 6rst half of line 8, inserts the following line after line 16 brahma gltinukathanaip pancame'py anuklrtanam)

 

Similar vss also occur in a text called Puskaramahatmya which claims to belong to the Padma-purana-samuccaya and in which one Brhadbala says to Vasistha:

 

“bhagavan pauskarlyam tu puranarn padmasamjfiitam/

etad vai panca-pancaSat-sahasrani nu padyate (sahasranlha pathyate? )//

pahcabhih parvabhih proktam samksepad vyasakaritat /

prathamam pauskaram parva yatrotpannah svayam virat/ /

dvitiyam tirtha-parvatra (? ) sarva-grahaganairayam/

trtlyo rudra-sargas-ca daksa-Sapas-tathaiva ca/ /

Vamshanucaritam caiva caturtham parikirtitam/

pancamam moksa-tattvam ca sarvajnatvam nigadyate/ /

anenanukramenedarp puranam samprakasate”/ / 50

 

From the statements made by Suta and Brhadbala in the vss quoted above and also from two others, in one of which a part of the Padma-p. has been mentioned as a parvan 51 and in the other the entire Padma-p has been said to have consisted of five Parvans (panca-parva-samanvitam), 52 we gather the following details about the Padma-p in its earlier form:

(1) This Purana was originally spoken out by Brahma to Marici, and it consisted of 55000 shlokas.

(2) For Vyasa’s sake it was spoken out (by Marici or Narada? ) briefly in five parts called Parvans.

(3) Of these five Parvans, (c) the first, viz., Pauskaraparvan, dealt with the origin of Viraj, Brahma’s ninefold creation, and the Pitrs of the gods, sages and men; (i) the second, called Tlrtha-parvan, dealt with all the planets (in the sky) and the mountains, continents and seven oceans (on the surface of the earth); (c) the third contained the accounts of those kings who paid large sums of money as priestly fees, and also treated of the creation by Rudra and the curse of Daksa; (d) the fourth dealt with the origin of kings and with the history of all the royal families; and (e) the fifth treated of the nature of final liberation and the way of attaining it.

 

M Pushkara-mlh2tniya (Asiatic Society [Calcmta] nw, no. C 8548) chap 37, fol 98an Podma-p 9 Snh«khp< )a 2 58a («VAg ed 2 57b and Vcfckai cd 2 58b, both of which read the line as parva vJpy-tth parvirdhaip agraqi vJ prabh^iUm)

For this line see also Kedaranatha Bhaktivmodas td chap 2 p 5

n Pu^kara mihStraya chap 37 foh 98a — mama nJradenoktaqi paftca pantamanvitam.

 

That the Padma-p., in its earlier form with the Parva division and with Brahma and Marici as interlocutors, was a much shorter work, is shown not only by one of the vss. quoted above (in which the Padma-p. is said to have been spoken out briefly in five Pan arts) but also by the spurious Agni-p and the Bhumi-khanda of the present Padma-p. Of these two works the former gives the extent of the Padma-p. as twelve thousand Shlokas, 53 and the latter says that it consisted of one lac and twentyfive thousand Shlokas in the Krta-yuga, fiftytwo thousand jfiokas in the Treta-yuga, twenty two thousand Shlokas in the Dvapara, and in the thousand ilokas in the Kah-yuga, that it contained the same meaning and the same idea in all the four ages and had a very extensive speech of £ esha, that the entire Parana of twelve thousand ilokas would perish in the Kali age> and that this work would again come into being for the first time (in that age) 54

Abo in Kedaranatha Bhaklmnoda i ed chap 82 p 801 For line 8, this ed reads Mharmikhyi kathyate sidhu d\ Jparaiya maMraale 1 Otherwise it strictly follow the readmes of the Arus. rd It is clear that the text of the above extract, at given in the Vaftg and VeAkat editions, is better than that presented by the Aim. ed The above vis also occur in the Bengal nw. or the Uttar Uup^a with the following modifications m lines 7 14, Uttar kharx^a, Asiatic Society (Calcutta) me no G 4116, U. 365bOf these th. of the Uttar khaod, lines ] and 3-5 are fouml to occur In one of the four Bengal ro. of the Bhflmi-khatxJ we have fonwlinl Vc Auauc Society (Calcutta) m. no- C4423 foL 233b.

These m tell us (0 dial the PsJttuhfi conustsd of 32000 Uokai in the Dvlpara age, (y) that foe the good of the world Bldarlyai^a would again make It Into a work t> 5 VJaBb W / 0^v Vrir/j vam arwvj Vy so the Kah age, 12000 of Its (bbi would peruh, {«) that us the Kali people wool! read the lack mg thee 12000 ikln, and (f) that the study of this shortened /Wmj /i would yield the came berwrCt as (hat of the longer tmtir of S500Q Bokas.

11 si to be ixed that tbosigh lie wrttn of iW via. made an Htnnpt W |w» the prevent amp! died text of die garb of grealnr anupury, he ha not domed the Uu #/ ale 12000 aUi brhjngusg to this work.

 

So, it is evident that the Padma-p. in its earlier form, was much shorter, and that the present voluminous work of the same title is practically a new one having little in common with its earlier prototype and lacking any interlocution between Brahma and Marici It is, however, not asserted that the shorter text of the Padma-p. w r as not preceded by any other text of the same work which is no longer available to us From the statement of the Bhumi-khanda (as well as the Uttara-khanda of the Bengal recension) referred to above and from a critical analysis of the present text of the Padma-p, it appears that the Padma-p, has come down to us through a number of stages in which this work was subjected to destructive recasts by \anous sectaries.

The division of the Padma p into parts called Parvans is nothing new but has its parallel m the Bhavishya-p which is found in its pnnted ed to have four parts called Brahmaparvan, Madhyama-parvan, Pratisarga-parvan and Uttaraparvan, and is said in two of its vss as well as in a chap of the Naradiya-p to have consisted of five Parvans, viz, Brahma, Vaishnava, Shaiva, Tvastra (or Saura according to the Naradvya-p ) and Pratisarga 65 It is highly probable that like the Vayu-p as well as the Brahmdnda-p, which, though having a continuous numbering of its chaps, is divided into four Padas (viz, Praknya, Anusanga, Upodghata and Upasamhara), the shorter text of the Padma-p also had its chaps divided into a number of groups called Parvans in accordance with the topics dealt with in them, although it had a continuous treatment of its subject-matters and numbered its chaps continuously.

In some treatises claiming to belong to the Padma-p there is mention of a Purva-bhaga and an Uttara-bhaga of the latter 66 As we do not know of any text of the Padma-p, or of any of its parts, as consisting of two Bhagas called Purva and Uttara, and as there is no reference to such division of the Padma-p anywhere except in the treatises mentioned above, we cannot say definitely that like the Vayu-p 57 the Padma-p also had its Parvans divided into two groups m some mss and that these groups formed the two Bhagas of the work It may be that the authors of these treatises used the names Uttara-bhaga and Purva bhaga to mean the Uttara-khanda and the rest of the Padma-p respectively From the evidence of the Bhumi-khanda referred to above, we come to know that the four Samhitas of the Padma-p. during the four Yugas contained long speeches of Shesha. So, we may presume that in the earlier form or forms of this work Shesha was the principal speaker and that he spoke on the various topics (viz., creation, celestial and terrestrial geography, accounts of royal dynasties etc.) dealt with in its different Parvans. That our presumption is not baseless, is shown by the present texts of the Padma-p, which have mention of the interlocution between Shesha and Vatsyayana on more occasions than one, although these texts have very little in common with their earlier prototypes. For example, in the Bengal mss. the Bhumi-khanda has, towards its end, a few chaps, which begin with Vatsyayana’s question to Shesha as to the’extent of the earth and the numbers of the heavens and the nether worlds, 58 and in which Shesha is found to speak to Vatsyayana on bhumi-samsthana 59; the Svargakhanda of the Bengal mss., which has been spoken out by Suta as an interlocution between Shesha and Vatsyayana, begins with Suta’s reference to Shesha’s speech to Vatsyayana on terrestrial geography (bhugola) 60; -and the Patala-khanda, as occurring in the printed editions and the Bengal mss., has Shesha and Vatsyayana as the principal interlocutors and contains a few to. 61 in which the following topics have been mentioned by Suta as already narrated by Shesha to Vatsyayana:

Process of creation and destruction of the world; terrestrial geography, celestial geography, information about the circles of luminaries (i e, the planets and stars), accounts of kings, including those of the solar dynasty, and the Rama-Iegend narrated in brief.

 

M Asiatic Society (Calcutta) ms. no G 4517, fob 208b — 1 vatsyayana uvlc

kiyat pramlnarp khti khantfam svarg54< a kati bbudhara /

pltilim ca ItAiuha kjpayS lad vadasva nab//

Kedaranatha Bhaiuvinoda, chap. 1 p. 957 (no v ]).

These m abo occur un the Bengal nm. or the Pi ilia khagda See Asiatic Society (Calcutta) ms. no. G 1416 A, chap, 29 (fpL 62a h)

 

Although the Padma-p in its present form is found to have the early chaps on geography etc replaced by those of later origin, its reference to and also retention of Shesha and Vatsyayana as interlocutors m some places and its orderly mention of the topics spoken out by Shesha, establish the truth in the statement of the Bhumi khanda referred to above and also m that of the Shrishti khanda regarding the contents of the different Parvans of the Padma-p The absence of any reference to Shesha or VStsyayana in the Shrishti-khanda may be due either to their first appearance as interlocutors m a subsequent Parvan of the Padma-p or to their first introduction m some form of this work which immediately preceded the present one.

We do not know definitely when and how the Padma p came to be divided into parts called Khandas The Bengal mss and the Anss ed of the Shrishti-khanda do not contain any mention of the division of this work into Khandas, although they have vss on its Parva division, 62 and the nine lines of the Venkat and the Vang editions, 63 which immediately precede the vss on the Parva division of the Padma p and name the five Khandas of this work, occur neither m the Anssed nor in the Bengal mss So, it is evident that the division of the Padma p into Khandas was a later development The mention in these lines of the Venkat and Vang editions that the entire Padma-p of five Khandas and 55000 Shlokas was pure with the glorification of Vishnu (Vishnu-mahatmya-nirmalam) and that Han spoke out this Purana to Brahma (devadevo hanr-yad vai brahmane proktavan. pura) tends to indicate that it was the Vishnu worshippers who magnified the Padma p with repeated additions and modifications and divided it into five distinct M For these vm, ice f n 49 Khandas So, the Khanda division of this work seems to be intimately connected with the nse of its longer version.

It has already been said that the Jain authors named Rama DMarathi as Padma or Pauma and wrote Purlnas and also similar other works characterised as Purlnas on the legend of RJma The titles Pauna carrya of Vimala Sun (which its author calls a Purana on more occasions than one) and Padma purana of Rav iscna and the elaborate treatment of the Rima legend in these, tend to indicate that the Hindu Padma p had incorporated an extensive R5ma legend which had attained a great popularity c\cn before the time of Vimala Sun, and that the Jain authors tried to spread their religious views by taking full advantage of the populant) of this work as well as its Rama legend which was the main cause of its reputation So, it appears that the Padma p had passed into the hands of the Vishnu worshippers and begun to be modified and increased m bulk from about the beginning of the Chnstian era, if not earlier, and this carl) beginning of the longer version of this work and its connection with the Vishnu worshippers find support Ml only in the Afatrya, Skanda and oilier Puranas which give its extent as 55000 shlokas but also in the assignment of the Piaranrpha p, a purely Vaiynava work, tothc/Wn«j p as one of its sub-sections (upabheda) But unfortunately tins longer version also has not come down to us in its original form From our analysis of the different parts of the present Padra p we shall see that this version also was subjected to recasts on more occasions than one, and the chaps on the prr Tlntnc Brahml worship, which arc now found in the Snp khaiuja, were put in or revised by the members of the Brahma sect at a comparatively late period.

We have already referred to the connection of the Vawnavas with the present Icdra p and alto to the wide populant) of this work from early tim^j As a matter of fact the \ annavas have been utilising this work vrry realoudy for many centuries for the effective propagation of their own religious views With the rue of vinous new seels among them thev modified and often changed its text and ad lrd new chaps to it They also composed new and independent treatises and gave them out to be parts of the Padma-p The wide reputation, which the Vaishnavas thus earned for this work, encouraged the members of various non-Vaishnava sects, viz, Shaiva, Shakta, Tantnc-Brahma etc, to take advantage of it for their own sectarian interest Like the Vaishnavas they also lay their hands on the text of this work according to their own necessity m different climes and ages and ascribed many of their new compositions to it for the sake of authority Thus, with the progress of time the longer version of the Padma p went on growing in bulk, so much so that its present extent must have far exceeded 55000 shlokas.

The zealous and repeated interference of the various sectaries, especially the Vaishnavas, with the text of the Padma p in different climes and ages made this work have considerable textual difference in different parts of India and in course of time gave rise to two distinct recensions, viz, Bengal and Devanagari The former, which is still preserved in Bengal mss written almost invariably in Bengali scripts 64 and has not yet been printed, consists of five parts called Khandas, viz, Shrishti, Bhumi, Svarga, Patala and Uttara But the Devanagari recension, as has already been said, has been published by the Anss Press (Poona), Venkat Press (Bombay), Shri-guru-mandala-granthamala and Vang Press (Calcutta) and also by Kedaranatha Bhaktivinoda (Calcutta) In the first three of these editions, this recension has six Khandas including the Adi and the Brahma-hhanda which are entirely different from the Svarga-khanda of the Bengal recension, although the Adi-hhanda has been named as Svarga-khanda in the Venkat ed In the last two editions, on the other hand, the Padma p has been divided into five Khandas of which the Svarga khanda has the same text as those of the Adi and the Brahma-khanda of the other two editions 63 The Venkat and Vang editions as w ell as that ofKedaranatha Bhaktivmoda include the Knyayoga-sara, an independent work of Bengal, as one of their Khandas following the Uttara-khanda.

 

44 So far as wc have been able to find there is only one ms written m DcvaQjtran script which records the text of the Sr? t khapd a Bengal recension. (For this m see Eggelmg I O Cat. vi p 1214 no 3380)

44 The Brahma khanda has also been printed separately by the Vahg Press Calcutta.

 

Chapter II.

⇐ Предыдущая435436437438439440441442443444Следующая ⇒

Поделиться: