Vedic Period:

Que. Puranas were the innovative genre of literature to popularise and revive Vedic religion. Elaborate with examples. [UPSC CSE-2020]

Introduction:

Purana means’ old. According to tradition, the composition of Puaranas began with Sage Veda-Vyasa. 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 case even later. Most of the puranas were written during the Gupta period though some of them belong to the early medieval period as well.

Puranas as innovative genre of literature to popularise and revive vedic religion:

The Vedic religion was challenged by the rise of heteroxical sects in the sixth century BCE. The central institution of the Vedic texts – the yajna or sacrifice gradually came under criticism. In response of it, Puranas, along with epics (the Mahabharata and the Ramayana) emerged as more inclusive and accommodating category of texts. The Puranas were essential components of Hindu religious thought and claimed a connection with the Vedas.

Puranas and epics are combinedly regarded as the fifth Veda. They were said to be the Veda for a new age, and for both kinds of devotees those who had access to the other Vedas as well as those who did not.

The Puranic religion entail concessions which the Vedic specialists were willing to make to draw into their fold people who for a variety of reasons did not have access to Vedic learning.

The Puranic tradition reflects the gradual absorption of emerging critique against the Vedic religion. E.g. (i) Tantrism, which neither presupposes the infallibility of the Vedas nor the social supremacy of its brahmanical custodians, was condemned by the Puranas initially. However gradually Tantric elements become noticeable in those parts of the Puranic corpus that date from the ninth century. (ii) It is mentioned in one of the Puranas, that if tantra does not go against the Veda, it should certainly be regarded as authoritative. The Tantras too began to associate themselves with the Vedas, on occasion claiming to be the fifth Veda.

Vedic religion also suffered at the hands of rulers like the Mauryas who patronized heterodox faiths. Ashoka was a Buddhist, and Chandragupta Maurya was a Jiana. The Puranas describe these kings as sudras and the age they ruled in as the Kali Age-the age when adharma is rampant.

The transition from Vedic Brahmanism to Puranic Hinduism did not mean that all old ideas relating to Vedic Brahmanism were entirely abandoned. It was a slow process of assimilation, negotiation and incorporation of local cults. The Vedic Brahmanism remained as one of the major constituents of Puranic Hinduism.

What the Puranas were doing was to gradually assimilate unorthodox and heterodox elements by becoming increasingly inclusive. The performance of puja and collective rituals became central as the importance of performing sacrifices decreased. The inclusion of leaves and flowers of plants found in forest areas in puja activities is a marker of the relationship between Brahmanism and the cults it imbibed. Similarly, the act of making pilgrimages and pilgrimage places gained prominence. The placement of such pilgrimage sites was also strategic in that they were specifically located in areas away from the core Brahmanical zone. This was a step towards the engagement of Brahmanism with local cults.

In the Vedic Brahmanaial religious tradition women and sudras were debarred from many religious activities. But some features of Puranic traditions like vrata in which the right of participation was extended to everyone, irrespective of caste or gender. The vrata was a practice that could encompass all the members of the community. The katha element of vrata which recounts the purpose why a vrata came to be observed, became an effective medium for the transmission of messages to a large and diverse gathering of people.

Most of the Puranas were even named after the Vedic gods like the Agni Purana, Vishnu Purana, Brahma Purana etc. The name of the vedic gods, Indra, Agni, soma, Vayu and Surya reappeared and glorified in puranic lore.

However, in Puranic texts there were some visible shifts from the Vedic tradition:

The shift from the yajna to puja (mostly image worship). The shift from rituals in which a plot of land is temporarily cordoned off and made into a sacred spot by experts in a consecration rite, to worship in permanent structures open to a far wider range of devotees is another.

There are many non-vedic gods (local gods) in the Puranic tradition. Even the functions of the vedic gods had changed in Puranic tradition and some of them were demoted in favour of the famous Hindu ‘triad’ of Brahma, the creator, Visnu the preserver, and Siva the destroyer, who dominate puranic literature.

Conclusion:

Puranas are not only about the religious information but also contained secular knowledge. It encompasses the information about the political history, intermingling of culture, system of land grant, has conception of time etc.

To conclude, although there were remarkable changes in the puranic tradition vis-a-vis Vedic religion, these texts always associated themselves with the Vedas and even became more inclusive to popularise the Vedic religion.