Preface. The Upa Pur'anas
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"The Vishnu Purana", translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840],
The Upa-purnas
The Upa-purnas, in the few instances which are known, differ little in extent or subject from some of those to which the title of Purna is ascribed. The Matsya enumerates but four; but the Dev Bhgavata has a more complete list, and specifies eighteen. They are, 1. The Sanatkumra, 2. Nrasinha, 3. Nradya, 4. iva, 5. Durvsasa, g. Kpila, 7. Mnava, 8. Auanaa, 9. Varuna, 10. Klik, 11. mba, 12. Nandi, 13. Saura, 14. Prara, 15. ditya, 16. Mhewara, 17. Bhgavata, 18. Vaishtha. The Matsya observes of the second, that it is named in the Padma Purna, and contains eighteen thousand verses. The Nandi it calls Nand, and says that Krtikeya tells in it the story of Nand. A rather different list is given in the Rev Khanda; or, 1. Sanatkumra, 2. Nrasinha, 3. Nand, 4. ivadharma, 5. Durvsasa, 6. Bhavishya, related by Nrada or Nradya, 7. Kpila, 8. Mnava, 9. Auanaa, 10. Brahmnda, 11. Vruna, 12. Klik, 13. Mhewara, 14. mba, 15. Saura, 16. Prara, 17. Bhgavata, 18. Kaurma. These authorities, however, are of questionable weight, having in view, no doubt, the pretensions of the Dev Bhgavata to be considered as the authentic Bhgavata.
Of these Upa-purnas few are to be procured. Those in my possession
p. lvi
are the iva, considered as distinct from the Vyu; the Klik, and perhaps one of the Nradyas, as noticed above. I have also three of the Skandhas of the Dev Bhgavata, which most undoubtedly is not the real Bhgavata, supposing that any Purna so named preceded the work of Vopadeva. There can be no doubt that in any authentic list the name of Bhgavata does not occur amongst the Upa-purnas: it has been put there to prove that there are two works so entitled, of which the Purna is the Dev Bhgavata, the Upa-purna the r Bhgavata. The true reading should be Bhrgava, the Purna of Bhrigu; and the Dev Bhgavata is not even an Upa-purna. It is very questionable if the entire work, which as far as it extends is eminently a Skta composition, ever had existence.
The iva Upa-purna contains about six thousand stanzas, distributed into two parts. It is related by Sanatkumra to Vysa and the Rishis at Naimishranya, and its character may be judged of from the questions to which it is a reply. "Teach us," said the Rishis, "the rules of worshipping the Linga, and of the god of gods adored under that type; describe to us his various forms, the places sanctified by him, and the prayers with which he is to be addressed." In answer, Sanatkumra repeats the iva Purna, containing the birth of Vishnu and Brahm; the creation and divisions of the universe; the origin of all things from the Linga; the rules of worshipping it and iva; the sanctity of times, places, and things, dedicated to him; the delusion of Brahm and Vishnu by the Linga; the rewards of offering flowers and the like to a Linga; rules for various observances in honour of Mahdeva; the mode of practising the Yoga; the glory of Benares and other aiva Trthas; and the perfection of the objects of life by union with Mahewara. These subjects are illustrated in the first part with very few legends; but the second is made up almost wholly of aiva stories, as the defeat of Tripursura; the sacrifice of Daksha; the births of Krtikeya and Ganea the sons of iva, and Nandi and Bhringarti his attendants and others; together with descriptions of Benares and other places of pilgrimage, and rules for observing such festivals as the ivaratri. This work is a aiva manual, not a Purna.
p. lvii
The Klik Purna contains about nine thousand stanzas in ninety-eight chapters, and is the only work of the series dedicated to recommend the worship of the bride of iva, in one or other of her manifold forms, as Girij, Dev, Bhadrakl, Kl, Mahmy. It belongs therefore to the Skta modification of Hindu belief, or the worship of the female powers of the deities. The influence of this worship spews itself in the very first pages of the work, which relate the incestuous passion of Brahm for his daughter Sandhy, in a strain that has nothing analogous to it in the Vyu, Linga, or iva Purnas.
The marriage of iva and Prvati is a subject early described, with the sacrifice of Daksha, and the death of Sati: and this work is authority for iva's carrying the dead body about the world, and the origin of the Pthasthnas, or places where the different members of it were scattered, and where Lingas were consequently erected. A legend follows of the births of Bhairava and Vetla, whose devotion to different forms of Dev furnishes occasion to describe in great detail the rites and formul of which her worship consists, including the chapters on sanguinary sacrifices, translated in the Asiatic Researches. Another peculiarity in this work is afforded by very prolix descriptions of a number of rivers and mountains at Kmarpa-trtha in Asam, and rendered holy ground by the celebrated temple of Durg in that country, as Kmkh or Kmkhy. It is a singular, and yet uninvestigated circumstance, that Asam, or at least the north-east of Bengal, seems to have been in a great degree the source from which the Tntrika and kta corruptions of the religion of the Vedas and Purnas proceeded.
The specification of the Upa-purnas, whilst it names several of which the existence is problematical, omits other works, bearing the same designation, which are sometimes met with. Thus in the collection of Col. Mackenzie 82 we have a portion of the Bhrgava, and a Mudgala Purna, which is probably the same with the Ganea Upa-purna, cited by Col. Vans Kennedy 83. I have also a copy of the Ganea Purna, which seems to agree with that of which he speaks; the second portion being entitled the Krd Khanda, in which the pastimes of Ganea, including
p. lviii
a variety of legendary matters, are described. The main subject of the work is the greatness of Ganea, and prayers and formul appropriate to him are abundantly detailed. It appears to be a work originating with the Gnapatya sect, or worshippers of Ganea. There is also a minor Purna called di, or 'first,' not included in the list. This is a work, however, of no great extent or importance, and is confined to a detail of the sports of the juvenile Krishna.
Footnotes
lvii:82 Mackenzie Collection, 1. 50, 51.
lvii:83 Anc. and Hindu Mythology, p. 251.
"The Vishnu Purana", translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840],
The Upa-purnas
The Upa-purnas, in the few instances which are known, differ little in extent or subject from some of those to which the title of Purna is ascribed. The Matsya enumerates but four; but the Dev Bhgavata has a more complete list, and specifies eighteen. They are, 1. The Sanatkumra, 2. Nrasinha, 3. Nradya, 4. iva, 5. Durvsasa, g. Kpila, 7. Mnava, 8. Auanaa, 9. Varuna, 10. Klik, 11. mba, 12. Nandi, 13. Saura, 14. Prara, 15. ditya, 16. Mhewara, 17. Bhgavata, 18. Vaishtha. The Matsya observes of the second, that it is named in the Padma Purna, and contains eighteen thousand verses. The Nandi it calls Nand, and says that Krtikeya tells in it the story of Nand. A rather different list is given in the Rev Khanda; or, 1. Sanatkumra, 2. Nrasinha, 3. Nand, 4. ivadharma, 5. Durvsasa, 6. Bhavishya, related by Nrada or Nradya, 7. Kpila, 8. Mnava, 9. Auanaa, 10. Brahmnda, 11. Vruna, 12. Klik, 13. Mhewara, 14. mba, 15. Saura, 16. Prara, 17. Bhgavata, 18. Kaurma. These authorities, however, are of questionable weight, having in view, no doubt, the pretensions of the Dev Bhgavata to be considered as the authentic Bhgavata.
Of these Upa-purnas few are to be procured. Those in my possession
p. lvi
are the iva, considered as distinct from the Vyu; the Klik, and perhaps one of the Nradyas, as noticed above. I have also three of the Skandhas of the Dev Bhgavata, which most undoubtedly is not the real Bhgavata, supposing that any Purna so named preceded the work of Vopadeva. There can be no doubt that in any authentic list the name of Bhgavata does not occur amongst the Upa-purnas: it has been put there to prove that there are two works so entitled, of which the Purna is the Dev Bhgavata, the Upa-purna the r Bhgavata. The true reading should be Bhrgava, the Purna of Bhrigu; and the Dev Bhgavata is not even an Upa-purna. It is very questionable if the entire work, which as far as it extends is eminently a Skta composition, ever had existence.
The iva Upa-purna contains about six thousand stanzas, distributed into two parts. It is related by Sanatkumra to Vysa and the Rishis at Naimishranya, and its character may be judged of from the questions to which it is a reply. "Teach us," said the Rishis, "the rules of worshipping the Linga, and of the god of gods adored under that type; describe to us his various forms, the places sanctified by him, and the prayers with which he is to be addressed." In answer, Sanatkumra repeats the iva Purna, containing the birth of Vishnu and Brahm; the creation and divisions of the universe; the origin of all things from the Linga; the rules of worshipping it and iva; the sanctity of times, places, and things, dedicated to him; the delusion of Brahm and Vishnu by the Linga; the rewards of offering flowers and the like to a Linga; rules for various observances in honour of Mahdeva; the mode of practising the Yoga; the glory of Benares and other aiva Trthas; and the perfection of the objects of life by union with Mahewara. These subjects are illustrated in the first part with very few legends; but the second is made up almost wholly of aiva stories, as the defeat of Tripursura; the sacrifice of Daksha; the births of Krtikeya and Ganea the sons of iva, and Nandi and Bhringarti his attendants and others; together with descriptions of Benares and other places of pilgrimage, and rules for observing such festivals as the ivaratri. This work is a aiva manual, not a Purna.
p. lvii
The Klik Purna contains about nine thousand stanzas in ninety-eight chapters, and is the only work of the series dedicated to recommend the worship of the bride of iva, in one or other of her manifold forms, as Girij, Dev, Bhadrakl, Kl, Mahmy. It belongs therefore to the Skta modification of Hindu belief, or the worship of the female powers of the deities. The influence of this worship spews itself in the very first pages of the work, which relate the incestuous passion of Brahm for his daughter Sandhy, in a strain that has nothing analogous to it in the Vyu, Linga, or iva Purnas.
The marriage of iva and Prvati is a subject early described, with the sacrifice of Daksha, and the death of Sati: and this work is authority for iva's carrying the dead body about the world, and the origin of the Pthasthnas, or places where the different members of it were scattered, and where Lingas were consequently erected. A legend follows of the births of Bhairava and Vetla, whose devotion to different forms of Dev furnishes occasion to describe in great detail the rites and formul of which her worship consists, including the chapters on sanguinary sacrifices, translated in the Asiatic Researches. Another peculiarity in this work is afforded by very prolix descriptions of a number of rivers and mountains at Kmarpa-trtha in Asam, and rendered holy ground by the celebrated temple of Durg in that country, as Kmkh or Kmkhy. It is a singular, and yet uninvestigated circumstance, that Asam, or at least the north-east of Bengal, seems to have been in a great degree the source from which the Tntrika and kta corruptions of the religion of the Vedas and Purnas proceeded.
The specification of the Upa-purnas, whilst it names several of which the existence is problematical, omits other works, bearing the same designation, which are sometimes met with. Thus in the collection of Col. Mackenzie 82 we have a portion of the Bhrgava, and a Mudgala Purna, which is probably the same with the Ganea Upa-purna, cited by Col. Vans Kennedy 83. I have also a copy of the Ganea Purna, which seems to agree with that of which he speaks; the second portion being entitled the Krd Khanda, in which the pastimes of Ganea, including
p. lviii
a variety of legendary matters, are described. The main subject of the work is the greatness of Ganea, and prayers and formul appropriate to him are abundantly detailed. It appears to be a work originating with the Gnapatya sect, or worshippers of Ganea. There is also a minor Purna called di, or 'first,' not included in the list. This is a work, however, of no great extent or importance, and is confined to a detail of the sports of the juvenile Krishna.
Footnotes
lvii:82 Mackenzie Collection, 1. 50, 51.
lvii:83 Anc. and Hindu Mythology, p. 251.
