Que. Evaluate the contribution of the Puranas in disseminating secular knowledge among the masses in ancient India. [UPSC CSE-2013]
Approach:
(1) Define Puranas.
(2) Mention the five characteristics (panch-lakshanas) of the Puranas.
(3) Mention the secular knowledge contained in the puranas.
(4) Conclude by supporting the statement.
Introduction:
The Puranas are ancient Hindu texts eulogizing various deities of the Hindu pantheon through divine stories. Although the Puranas share some of the traits of the great epics, they belong to a later period and provide a more definite and connected representation of the mythological fictions, and the historical traditions.
So far as secular laws are concerned, the Puranas can be identified by five characteristics they possess – history, cosmology, often with various symbolical illustrations of philosophical principles; secondary creation; genealogy of kings; and of ‘Manvantaras’ or the period of Manu’s rule consisting of 71 celestial Yugas or 306.72 million years. All the Puranas belong to the class of ‘Suhrit-Samhitas, or friendly treatises, markedly differing in authority from the Vedas, which are called the ‘Prabhu- Samhitas’ or the commanding treatises. The Puranas have the essence of the Vedas, and are written to popularize the thoughts contained in the Vedas.
There are 18 Mahapuranas (great puranas) and many more Upapuranas (secondary puranas). The origins of the puranas may be overlapped to some extent with the vedas, but their composition stretched forward into the 4th-5th centuries CE and in some cases even later.
Five Characteristics (Panch-Lakshanas) of the Puranas:
The Puranas are supposed to have five characteristics (panch-lakshanas) i.e. they are supposed to discuss five topics:
(1) The creation of the world (sarga);
(2) Re-creation (pratisarga);
(3) The periods of the various manus (manvantaras);
(4) The genealogies of gods and rishis (vamsha); and
(5) An account of royal dynasties (vamshanucharita) including the suryavamshi and chandravamshi kings.
The Secular Knowledge Contained in the Puranas:
(1) The conception of time: The conception of time in the puranas is mind-boggling. There are four ages of yugas, krita, treta, dvapara and kali. One yuga follows the other and the periodic destruction of the world is followed by its re-creation.
(2) Political History: The puranas especially the Vayu, Brahmanda, Brahma, Harivamsha, Matsya and Vishnu provide useful information on ancient political history. They refer to historical dynasties such as the Haryankas, Shishunaga, Nandas, Mauryas, Shungas, Kanvas and Andhras (Satavahanas). The dynastic lists end with the Guptas.
(3) Historical geography: The puranas have accounts of mountains, rivers, and places, which are useful for the study of historical geography.
(4) Intermingling of culture: The puranas also reflect the interactions between the people belonging to different cultural traditions. For example, the interaction between Brahmanical and non-Brahmanical cultural traditions.
The secular knowledge in some specific puranas:
(1) Agni Purana: It has an encyclopedic character, it deals with subjects like astronomy, geography, grammar, law, medicine, politics etc.
(2) Garuda Purana: It has also assumed an encyclopedic form. There are sections on cosmography, astronomy and astrology, omens and portents, medicine, metrics, grammar, knowledge of precious stones (ratnapariksha) and politics (niti).
(3) Vishnudharmottara Purana: It is a supplement to the Vishnu Purana and is also encyclopedic in nature. It also talks about the art of painting. It also gives an account of the various branches, methods and ideals of Indian painting.
(4) Padma Purana: It describes the Prithvi or the Earth in detail. This section deals with the life and times of several stages and important kings such as Prithu and Yayati, also giving factual elements of the history and geography prevalent at that period in time. It also describes the cosmos, with particular focus on the description of the Bharata Varsha or India.
Conclusion:
The greatness of charity, compassion, sacrifice and other virtuous deeds, literature, music, dance, architecture, etc. are described in these puranas. These Puranas are very much informative to the students of Indian culture, philosophy, ethics and religion. A correct understanding of everyday life in ancient India can be had by a study of the Puranas.
