Preface. 13. The Skanda Pur'ana
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"The Vishnu Purana", translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840],
13. The Skanda Purna
13. Skanda Purna. "The Sknda Purna is that in which the six-faced deity (Skanda) has related the events of the Tatpurusha Kalpa, enlarged with many tales, and subservient to the duties taught by Mahewara. It is said to contain eighty-one thousand one hundred stanzas: so it is asserted amongst mankind 70."
p. xlvi
It is uniformly agreed that the Skanda Purna in a collective form has no existence; and the fragments in the shape of Sanhits, Khandas, and Mhtmyas, which are affirmed in various parts of India to be portions of the Purna, present a much more formidable mass of stanzas than even the immense number of which it is said to consist. The most celebrated of these portions in Hindustan is the K Khanda, a very minute description of the temples of iva in or adjacent to Benares, mixed with directions for worshipping Mahewara, and a great variety of legends explanatory of its merits, and of the holiness of K: many of them are puerile and uninteresting, but some are of a higher character. The story of Agastya records probably, in a legendary style, the propagation of Hinduism in the south of India: and in the history of Divodsa, king of K, we have an embellished tradition of the temporary depression of the worship of iva, even in its metropolis, before the ascendancy of the followers of Buddha 71, There is every reason to believe the greater part of the contents of the K Khanda anterior to the first attack upon Benares by Mahmud of Ghizni. The K Khanda alone contains fifteen thousand stanzas.
Another considerable work ascribed in upper India to the Skanda Purna is the Utkala Khanda, giving an account of the holiness of Urissa, and the Kshetra of Purushottama or Jaganntha. The same vicinage is the site of temples, once of great magnificence and extent, dedicated to iva, as Bhuvanewara, which forms an excuse for attaching an account of a Vaishnava Trtha to an eminently aiva Purna. There can be little doubt, however, that the Utkala Khanda is unwarrantably included amongst the progeny of the parent work. Besides these, there is a Brahmottara Khanda, a Rev Khanda, a iva Rahasya Khanda, a Himavat Khanda, and others. Of the Sanhits, the chief are the Sta Sanhit, Sanatkumra Sanhit, Saura Sanhit, and Kapila Sanhit: there are several other works denominated Sanhits. The
p. xlvii
[paragraph continues] Mhtmyas are more numerous still 72. According to the Sta Sanhit, as quoted by Col. Vans Kennedy 73, the Skanda Purna contains six Sanhits, five hundred Khandas, and five hundred thousand stanzas; more than is even attributed to all the Purnas. He thinks, judging from internal evidence, that all the Khandas and Sanhits may be admitted to be genuine, though the Mhtmyas have rather a questionable appearance. Now one kind of internal evidence is the quantity; and as no more than eighty-one thousand one hundred stanzas have ever been claimed for it, all in excess above that amount must be questionable. But many of the Khandas, the K Khanda for instance, are quite as local as the Mhtmyas, being legendary stories relating to the erection and sanctity of certain temples or groups of temples, and to certain Lingas; the interested origin of which renders them very reasonably objects of suspicion. In the present state of our acquaintance with the reputed portions of the Skanda Purna, my own views of their authenticity are so opposed to those entertained by Col. Vans Kennedy, that instead of admitting all the Sanhits and Khandas to be genuine, I doubt if any one of them was ever a part of the Skanda Purna.
Footnotes
xlv:70
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xlvi:71 The legend is translated by Col. Vans Kennedy: Ancient and Hindu Mythology, Appendix B.
xlvii:72 p. xlvi In a list of reputed portions of the Skanda Purna in the possession of my friend Mr. C. P. Brown, of the Civil service of Madras, the Sanhits are seven, the Khandas twelve, besides parts denominated p. xlvii Gt, Kalpa, Stotra, &c. In the collection of Col. Mackenzie, amongst the Mhtmyas thirty-six are said to belong to the Skanda P.: vol. I. p. 6i. In the library at the India House are two Sanhits, the Sta and Sanatkumra, fourteen Khandas, and twelve Mhtmyas.
xlvii:73 Ancient and Hindu Mythol., p. 554, note.
"The Vishnu Purana", translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840],
13. The Skanda Purna
13. Skanda Purna. "The Sknda Purna is that in which the six-faced deity (Skanda) has related the events of the Tatpurusha Kalpa, enlarged with many tales, and subservient to the duties taught by Mahewara. It is said to contain eighty-one thousand one hundred stanzas: so it is asserted amongst mankind 70."
p. xlvi
It is uniformly agreed that the Skanda Purna in a collective form has no existence; and the fragments in the shape of Sanhits, Khandas, and Mhtmyas, which are affirmed in various parts of India to be portions of the Purna, present a much more formidable mass of stanzas than even the immense number of which it is said to consist. The most celebrated of these portions in Hindustan is the K Khanda, a very minute description of the temples of iva in or adjacent to Benares, mixed with directions for worshipping Mahewara, and a great variety of legends explanatory of its merits, and of the holiness of K: many of them are puerile and uninteresting, but some are of a higher character. The story of Agastya records probably, in a legendary style, the propagation of Hinduism in the south of India: and in the history of Divodsa, king of K, we have an embellished tradition of the temporary depression of the worship of iva, even in its metropolis, before the ascendancy of the followers of Buddha 71, There is every reason to believe the greater part of the contents of the K Khanda anterior to the first attack upon Benares by Mahmud of Ghizni. The K Khanda alone contains fifteen thousand stanzas.
Another considerable work ascribed in upper India to the Skanda Purna is the Utkala Khanda, giving an account of the holiness of Urissa, and the Kshetra of Purushottama or Jaganntha. The same vicinage is the site of temples, once of great magnificence and extent, dedicated to iva, as Bhuvanewara, which forms an excuse for attaching an account of a Vaishnava Trtha to an eminently aiva Purna. There can be little doubt, however, that the Utkala Khanda is unwarrantably included amongst the progeny of the parent work. Besides these, there is a Brahmottara Khanda, a Rev Khanda, a iva Rahasya Khanda, a Himavat Khanda, and others. Of the Sanhits, the chief are the Sta Sanhit, Sanatkumra Sanhit, Saura Sanhit, and Kapila Sanhit: there are several other works denominated Sanhits. The
p. xlvii
[paragraph continues] Mhtmyas are more numerous still 72. According to the Sta Sanhit, as quoted by Col. Vans Kennedy 73, the Skanda Purna contains six Sanhits, five hundred Khandas, and five hundred thousand stanzas; more than is even attributed to all the Purnas. He thinks, judging from internal evidence, that all the Khandas and Sanhits may be admitted to be genuine, though the Mhtmyas have rather a questionable appearance. Now one kind of internal evidence is the quantity; and as no more than eighty-one thousand one hundred stanzas have ever been claimed for it, all in excess above that amount must be questionable. But many of the Khandas, the K Khanda for instance, are quite as local as the Mhtmyas, being legendary stories relating to the erection and sanctity of certain temples or groups of temples, and to certain Lingas; the interested origin of which renders them very reasonably objects of suspicion. In the present state of our acquaintance with the reputed portions of the Skanda Purna, my own views of their authenticity are so opposed to those entertained by Col. Vans Kennedy, that instead of admitting all the Sanhits and Khandas to be genuine, I doubt if any one of them was ever a part of the Skanda Purna.
Footnotes
xlv:70
Click to view
xlvi:71 The legend is translated by Col. Vans Kennedy: Ancient and Hindu Mythology, Appendix B.
xlvii:72 p. xlvi In a list of reputed portions of the Skanda Purna in the possession of my friend Mr. C. P. Brown, of the Civil service of Madras, the Sanhits are seven, the Khandas twelve, besides parts denominated p. xlvii Gt, Kalpa, Stotra, &c. In the collection of Col. Mackenzie, amongst the Mhtmyas thirty-six are said to belong to the Skanda P.: vol. I. p. 6i. In the library at the India House are two Sanhits, the Sta and Sanatkumra, fourteen Khandas, and twelve Mhtmyas.
xlvii:73 Ancient and Hindu Mythol., p. 554, note.
