Preface. 12. The Var'aha Pur'ana
*
"The Vishnu Purana", translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840],
12. The Varha Purna
12. Varha Purna. "That in which the glory of the great Varha is predominant, as it was revealed to Earth by Vishnu, in connexion, wise Munis, with the Mnava Kalpa, and which contains twenty-four thousand verses, is called the Vrha Purna 68."
It may be doubted if the Varha Purna of the present day is here intended. It is narrated by Vishnu as Varha, or in the boar incarnation, to the personified Earth. Its extent, however, is not half that specified, little exceeding ten thousand stanzas. It furnishes also itself
p. xlv
evidence of the prior currency of some other work, similarly denominated; as, in the description of Mathur contained in it, Sumantu, a Muni, is made to observe, "The divine Varha in former times expounded a Purna, for the purpose of solving the perplexity of Earth."
Nor can the Varha Purna be regarded as a Purna agreeably to the common definition, as it contains but a few scattered and brief allusions to the creation of the world, and the reign of kings: it has no detailed genealogies either of the patriarchal or regal families, and no account of the reigns of the Manus. Like the Linga Purna, it is a religious manual, almost wholly occupied with forms of prayer, and rules for devotional observances, addressed to Vishnu; interspersed with legendary illustrations, most of which are peculiar to itself, though some are taken from the common and ancient stock: many of them, rather incompatibly with the general scope of the compilation, relate to the history of iva and Durg 69. A considerable portion of the work is devoted to descriptions of various Trthas, places of Vaishnava pilgrimage; and one of Mathur enters into a variety of particulars relating to the shrines of that city, constituting the Mathur Mhtmyam.
In the sectarianism of the Varha Purna there is no leaning to the particular adoration of Krishna, nor are the Rath-ytr and Janmshtam included amongst the observances enjoined. There are other indications of its belonging to an earlier stage of Vaishnava worship, and it may perhaps be referred to the age of Rmnuja, the early part of the twelfth century.
Footnotes
xliv:68
Click to view
xlv:69 One of these is translated by Col. Vans Kennedy, the origin of the three aktis, or goddesses, Saraswat, Lakshm, and Prvati. Ancient and Hindu Mythology, p. 209. The Tri akti Mhtmya occurs, as he gives it, in my copy, and is so far an indication of the identity of the Varha Purna in the different MSS.
"The Vishnu Purana", translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840],
12. The Varha Purna
12. Varha Purna. "That in which the glory of the great Varha is predominant, as it was revealed to Earth by Vishnu, in connexion, wise Munis, with the Mnava Kalpa, and which contains twenty-four thousand verses, is called the Vrha Purna 68."
It may be doubted if the Varha Purna of the present day is here intended. It is narrated by Vishnu as Varha, or in the boar incarnation, to the personified Earth. Its extent, however, is not half that specified, little exceeding ten thousand stanzas. It furnishes also itself
p. xlv
evidence of the prior currency of some other work, similarly denominated; as, in the description of Mathur contained in it, Sumantu, a Muni, is made to observe, "The divine Varha in former times expounded a Purna, for the purpose of solving the perplexity of Earth."
Nor can the Varha Purna be regarded as a Purna agreeably to the common definition, as it contains but a few scattered and brief allusions to the creation of the world, and the reign of kings: it has no detailed genealogies either of the patriarchal or regal families, and no account of the reigns of the Manus. Like the Linga Purna, it is a religious manual, almost wholly occupied with forms of prayer, and rules for devotional observances, addressed to Vishnu; interspersed with legendary illustrations, most of which are peculiar to itself, though some are taken from the common and ancient stock: many of them, rather incompatibly with the general scope of the compilation, relate to the history of iva and Durg 69. A considerable portion of the work is devoted to descriptions of various Trthas, places of Vaishnava pilgrimage; and one of Mathur enters into a variety of particulars relating to the shrines of that city, constituting the Mathur Mhtmyam.
In the sectarianism of the Varha Purna there is no leaning to the particular adoration of Krishna, nor are the Rath-ytr and Janmshtam included amongst the observances enjoined. There are other indications of its belonging to an earlier stage of Vaishnava worship, and it may perhaps be referred to the age of Rmnuja, the early part of the twelfth century.
Footnotes
xliv:68
Click to view
xlv:69 One of these is translated by Col. Vans Kennedy, the origin of the three aktis, or goddesses, Saraswat, Lakshm, and Prvati. Ancient and Hindu Mythology, p. 209. The Tri akti Mhtmya occurs, as he gives it, in my copy, and is so far an indication of the identity of the Varha Purna in the different MSS.
