Preface. 17. The G'aruda Pur'ana
*
"The Vishnu Purana", translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840],
17. The Gruda Purna
17. Gruda Purna. "That which Vishnu recited in the Gruda Kalpa, relating chiefly to the birth of Gruda from Vinat, is here called the Gruda Purna; and in it there are read nineteen thousand verses 79."
The Gruda Purna which has been the subject of my examination corresponds in no respect with this description, and is probably a different work, though entitled the Gruda Purna. It is identical, however, with two copies in the Company's library. It consists of no more than about seven thousand stanzas; it is repeated by Brahm to Indra; and it contains no account of the birth of Garuda. There is a brief notice of the creation; but the greater part is occupied with the description of Vratas, or religious observances, of holidays, of sacred places dedicated to the sun, and with prayers from the Tntrika ritual, addressed to the sun, to iva, and to Vishnu. It contains also treatises on astrology, palmistry, and precious stones; and one, still more extensive, on medicine. The latter portion, called the Preta Kalpa, is taken up with directions for the performance of obsequial rites. There is nothing in
p. liv
all this to justify the application of the name. Whether a genuine Gruda Purna exists is doubtful. The description given in the Matsya is less particular than even the brief notices of the other Purnas, and might have easily been written without any knowledge of the book itself, being, with exception of the number of stanzas, confined to circumstances that the title alone indicates.
Footnotes
liii:79
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"The Vishnu Purana", translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840],
17. The Gruda Purna
17. Gruda Purna. "That which Vishnu recited in the Gruda Kalpa, relating chiefly to the birth of Gruda from Vinat, is here called the Gruda Purna; and in it there are read nineteen thousand verses 79."
The Gruda Purna which has been the subject of my examination corresponds in no respect with this description, and is probably a different work, though entitled the Gruda Purna. It is identical, however, with two copies in the Company's library. It consists of no more than about seven thousand stanzas; it is repeated by Brahm to Indra; and it contains no account of the birth of Garuda. There is a brief notice of the creation; but the greater part is occupied with the description of Vratas, or religious observances, of holidays, of sacred places dedicated to the sun, and with prayers from the Tntrika ritual, addressed to the sun, to iva, and to Vishnu. It contains also treatises on astrology, palmistry, and precious stones; and one, still more extensive, on medicine. The latter portion, called the Preta Kalpa, is taken up with directions for the performance of obsequial rites. There is nothing in
p. liv
all this to justify the application of the name. Whether a genuine Gruda Purna exists is doubtful. The description given in the Matsya is less particular than even the brief notices of the other Purnas, and might have easily been written without any knowledge of the book itself, being, with exception of the number of stanzas, confined to circumstances that the title alone indicates.
Footnotes
liii:79
Click to view
