The Puranas
By
The Friendly Treatises
Eighteen Puranas
Ten Avataras And Their Purpose
Lilas of Lord Siva
The Puranas are of the same class as the
Itihasas (the Ramayana, Mahabharata, etc.). They have
five characteristics (Pancha Lakshana), viz.,
history, cosmology (with various symbolical illustrations of
philosophical principles), secondary creation, genealogy of
kings, and of Manvantaras (the period of Manu’s rule
consisting of 71 celestial Yugas or 308,448,000 years). All
the Puranas belong to the class of Suhrit-Sammitas,
or the Friendly Treatises, while the Vedas are called the
Prabhu-Sammitas or the Commanding Treatises with great
authority.
Vyasa is the compiler of the Puranas from age to age; and
for this age, he is Krishna-Dvaipayana, the son of Parasara.
The Puranas were written to popularise the religion of
the Vedas. They contain the essence of the Vedas. The aim of
the Puranas is to impress on the minds of the masses the
teachings of the Vedas and to generate in them devotion to
God, through concrete examples, myths, stories, legends,
lives of saints, kings and great men, allegories and
chronicles of great historical events. The sages made use of
these things to illustrate the eternal principles of
religion. The Puranas were meant, not for the scholars, but
for the ordinary people who could not understand high
philosophy and who could not study the Vedas.
The Darsanas or schools of philosophy are very stiff.
They are meant only for the learned few. The Puranas are
meant for the masses with inferior intellect. Religion is
taught in a very easy and interesting way through the
Puranas. Even to this day, the Puranas are popular. The
Puranas contain the history of remote times. They also give
a description of the regions of the universe not visible to
the ordinary physical eye. They are very interesting to read
and are full of information of all kinds. Children hear the
stories from their grandmothers. Pundits and Purohits hold
Kathas or religious discourses in temples, on banks
of rivers and in other important places. Agriculturists,
labourers and bazaar people hear the stories.
There are eighteen main Puranas and an equal number of
subsidiary Puranas or Upa-Puranas. The main Puranas are:
Vishnu Purana, Naradiya Purana, Srimad Bhagavata Purana,
Garuda (Suparna) Purana, Padma Purana, Varaha Purana, Brahma
Purana, Brahmanda Purana, Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Markandeya
Purana, Bhavishya Purana, Vamana Purana, Matsya Purana,
Kurma Purana, Linga Purana, Siva Purana, Skanda Purana and
Agni Purana. Of these, six are Sattvic Puranas and glorify
Vishnu; six are Rajasic and glorify Brahma; six are Tamasic
and they glorify Siva.
Neophytes or beginners in the spiritual path are puzzled
when they go through Siva Purana and Vishnu Purana. 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. This is only to increase the faith of the
devotees in their particular Ishta-Devata. Lord Siva and
Lord Vishnu are one.
The best among the Puranas are the Srimad Bhagavata and
the Vishnu Purana. The most popular is the Srimad Bhagavata
Purana. Next comes Vishnu Purana. A portion of the
Markandeya Purana is well known to all Hindus as Chandi,
or Devimahatmya. Worship of God as the Divine Mother
is its theme. Chandi is read widely by the Hindus on sacred
days and Navaratri (Durga Puja) days.
The Srimad Bhagavata Purana is a chronicle of the various
Avataras of Lord Vishnu. There are ten Avataras of Vishnu.
The aim of every Avatara is to save the world from some
great danger, to destroy the wicked and protect the
virtuous. The ten Avataras are: Matsya (The Fish),
Kurma (The Tortoise), Varaha (The Boar), Narasimha
(The Man-Lion), Vamana (The Dwarf), Parasurama
(Rama with the axe, the destroyer of the Kshatriya race),
Ramachandra (the hero of the Ramayana—the son of
Dasaratha, who destroyed Ravana), Sri Krishna, the
teacher of the Gita, Buddha (the prince-ascetic,
founder of Buddhism), and Kalki (the hero riding on a
white horse, who is to come at the end of the Kali-Yuga).
The object of the Matsya Avatara was to save Vaivasvata
Manu from destruction by a deluge. The object of Kurma
Avatara was to enable the world to recover some precious
things which were lost in the deluge. The Kurma gave its
back for keeping the churning rod when the Gods and the
Asuras churned the ocean of milk. The purpose of Varaha
Avatara was to rescue, from the waters, the earth which had
been dragged down by a demon named Hiranyaksha. The purpose
of Narasimha Avatara, half-lion and half-man, was to free
the world from the oppression of Hiranyakasipu, a demon, the
father of Bhakta Prahlada. The object of Vamana Avatara was
to restore the power of the gods which had been eclipsed by
the penance and devotion of King Bali. The object of
Parasurama Avatara was to deliver the country from the
oppression of the Kshatriya rulers. Parasurama destroyed the
Kshatriya race twenty-one times. The object of Rama Avatara
was to destroy the wicked Ravana. The object of Sri Krishna
Avatara was to destroy Kamsa and other demons, to deliver
His wonderful message of the Gita in the Mahabharata war,
and to become the centre of the Bhakti schools of India. The
object of Buddha Avatara was to prohibit animal sacrifices
and teach piety. The object of the Kalki Avatara is the
destruction of the wicked and the re-establishment of
virtue.
Lord Siva incarnated himself in the form of Dakshinamurti
to impart knowledge to the four Kumaras. He took human form
to initiate Sambandhar, Manikkavasagar, Pattinathar. He
appeared in flesh and blood to help his devotees and relieve
their sufferings. The divine Lilas or sports of Lord
Siva are recorded in the Tamil Puranas like Siva Purana,
Periya Purana, Siva Parakramam and Tiruvilayadal Purana.
The eighteen Upa-Puranas are: Sanatkumara, Narasimha,
Brihannaradiya, Sivarahasya, Durvasa, Kapila, Vamana,
Bhargava, Varuna, Kalika, Samba, Nandi, Surya, Parasara,
Vasishtha, Devi-Bhagavata, Ganesa and Hamsa.
Study of the Puranas, listening to sacred recitals of
scriptures, describing and expounding of the transcendent
Lilas of the Blessed Lord—these form an important part of
Sadhana of the Lord’s devotees. It is most pleasing to the
Lord. Sravana is a part of Navavidha-Bhakti.
Kathas and Upanyasas open the springs of
devotion in the hearts of hearers and develop
Prema-Bhakti which confers immortality on the Jiva.
The language of the Vedas is archaic, and the subtle
philosophy of Vedanta and the Upanishads is extremely
difficult to grasp and assimilate. Hence, the Puranas are of
special value as they present philosophical truths and
precious teachings in an easier manner. They give ready
access to the mysteries of life and the key to bliss. Imbibe
their teachings. Start a new life of Dharma-Nishtha
and Adhyatmic Sadhana from this very day, and attain
Immortality.
