Purāṇas (book): Difference between revisions

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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)]]
 
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.
 
Several Puranas list five main topics (called the Pancha Lakshana (pañcalakṣaṇa) that are covered by the Puranas, which are:
 
*Sarga: cosmogony
 
*Pratisarga: cosmogony and cosmology
 
*Vamśa: genealogy of the gods, sages and kings
 
*Manvañtara: cosmic cycles, history of the world during the time of one patriarch
 
*Vamśānucaritam: legends during the times of various kings.
 
A few Puranas, such as the most popular Bhagavata Purana, add five more characteristics to expand this list to ten:
 
*Utaya: karmic links between the deities, sages, kings and the various living beings
 
*Ishanukatha: tales about a god
 
*Nirodha: finale, cessation
 
*Mukti: moksha, spiritual liberation
 
*Ashraya: refuge
 
[[Category:Books]]
[[Category:Sanskrit terms|Puranas]]

Latest revision as of 19:38, 26 July 2017

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