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| The '''Purāṇas''' (''devanāgarī'': पुराण, literally "ancient, old") is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly myths, legends and other traditional lore. Composed primarily in [[Sanskrit]], but also in regional languages, several of these texts are named after major Hindu deities such as [[Viṣṇu|Vishnu]], [[Śiva|Shiva]] and Devi. The Puranas genre of literature is found in both [[Hinduism]] and [[Jainism]].
| | #redirect [[Puranas (book)]] |
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| There are 18 Maha Puranas (Great Puranas) and 18 Upa Puranas (Minor Puranas), the most studied and circulated being the Bhagavata and the [[Viṣṇu Purāṇa (book)|Vishnu Purana]]s.
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| Several Puranas list five main topics (called the Pancha Lakshana (pañcalakṣaṇa) that are covered by the Puranas, which are:
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| *Sarga: cosmogony
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| *Pratisarga: cosmogony and cosmology
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| *Vamśa: genealogy of the gods, sages and kings
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| *Manvañtara: cosmic cycles, history of the world during the time of one patriarch
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| *Vamśānucaritam: legends during the times of various kings.
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| A few Puranas, such as the most popular Bhagavata Purana, add five more characteristics to expand this list to ten:
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| *Utaya: karmic links between the deities, sages, kings and the various living beings
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| *Ishanukatha: tales about a god
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| *Nirodha: finale, cessation
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| *Mukti: moksha, spiritual liberation
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| *Ashraya: refuge
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| [[Category:Books]]
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| [[Category:Sanskrit terms|Puranas]]
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