Purana

(Sk. “ancient”). A collection of ancient Indian texts which are written in verse and deal with religious and mythological subjects. They are attributed to the legendary sage Vyšsa, who is also said to have written the Mah€bh€rata. The contents of the Pur€Šas are related to those found in this great epic and to those of R€m€yaŠa, as well as to the law books called Dharma ®€stra. Their origins can be traced back to Vedic times, but scholars consider that they were compiled in their present form between 500 and 1500 CE from ancient oral traditions. There are eighteen major Pur€Šas, eighteen minor ones called Upa-pur€Šas, and a large number of Sthala-Pur€Šas, which deal with local temples and religious customs.

A Pur€Ša generally treats of primary and secondary creation, genealogy of the gods and seers, and the great ages of mankind. The major Pur€Šas are ViŠu, N€rad…ya, ®r…mad Bh€gavata, Garuda, Padma, V€r€ha, Brahm€, Brahm€Šda, Brahm€ V€ivarta, M€rkaŠdeya, Bhaviya, V€mana, Matsya, K™rma, Li‰ga, ®iva, Skanda and Agni. The first six Pur€Šas center around ViŠu and are called sattvic Pur€Šas; the next six around Brahm€ and are called rajasic Pur€Šas; while the last six around ®iva and are termed tamasic Pur€Šas. The most popular among them is the Bh€gavata-Pur€Ša which deals with the life of Krishna, the avatar. Another favorite Pur€Ša is the ViŠu Pur€Ša, which mentions, among other things, that at the end of the Kali-Y™ga, an avatar (Sk. avat€ra, lit. “descent”) from Shamballa shall be born to re-establish righteousness on earth.

Helena P. BLAVATSKY considers the Pur€Šas to contain allegorical and esoteric teachings regarding cosmogony, the races of humanity, avatars, etc. In her writings, she drew parallelisms between the Pur€Šas and the scriptures of other religions. For example, the Praj€patis are identical with the Elohim of the Old Testament. In the ViŠu Pur€Ša, the manner of death of Krishna (written KŠa in Sanskrit) had similarities with the story of Jesus’ crucifixion. Krishna was shot with an arrow and died hanging on a tree. The hunter who inadvertently shot Krishna asked for forgiveness, and dying Krishna replied, “‘Go, hunter, through my favor, to Heaven, the abode of the gods’” after which Krishna died. This is similar to the Christian crucifixion story that Jesus told the thief who was also crucified that on that day he will go to heaven with him (IU II:546).

While she mounted a spirited defense of the Pur€Šas against scholarly critics who claim to have discovered many discrepancies and contradictions, she also deplored the superstitions that arise out of a “dead-letter traditions” of these texts that will “yield nonsense”(IU II:51; CW IV:195). V.H.C./P.S.H.

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