CHAPTER I.

THE PURANAS.

THE chief sources of information respecting the modern mythology of the Hindus are the two great Epics--the Ramayana and the Mahabharata--the Puranas, or "old traditional stories," eighteen in number, and the five principal Tantras.

There is nothing definitely known as to the date of the Epics, beyond the fact that they are later than the Vedas, and earlier than the Puranas. Some place the Ramayana as early as B.C. 500, whilst others affirm that it could not have been composed before B.C. 100, and that a considerable portion was added much later. The Mahabharata is supposed to be fully a century nearer our own time. Unlike the Vedas, they, as well as the Puranas and Tantras, may be read by other than Brahmans. Each of these books is of immense bulk, and the same stories frequently reappear in them. Yet to this day they retain a firm hold of the faith and veneration of the mass of the people of India. Nor is this to be wondered at when we read such words as these, often repeated in these works: "He who reads

and repeats this holy life-giving Ramayana [or the Mahabharata], is liberated from all sins, and exalted with all his posterity to the highest heaven."

It is almost equally difficult to determine the date of the Puranas. It is, however, believed that none of them are older than the 8th century A.D., though some of the legends incorporated in them may have come from much earlier times. That they are considerably later than the two great Epics is evident from the fact that many, who are described there as men and heroes only, in the Puranas, are said to be divine beings. These books differ from the Vedas in this respect, that whilst the older scriptures treat of the religion common to the Hindus of that period, all of whom worshipped the same deities, each Purana is chiefly concerned with some one god whose excellences are extolled, whilst others are spoken of in a depreciatory manner. There is a general respect shown to the rest of the gods of the Pantheon; yet the particular deity to whose praise the Purana is devoted, is declared to be supreme; and of him the others are said to be incarnations. Now Brahma, now Siva, now Vishnu in some of his many forms, is the great god, whose will is that all men should worship him. It may be that originally the Puranas were written in praise of the three great gods, but as the Hindu conquest extended over the continent, there being no central religious authority, a spirit of sectarianism arose and the writers extolled their own special deity at the expense of the others.

The Puranas may be classified as follows:--

I. Those which are devoted to the praise of Brahma; viz. the Brahma; the Brahmanda, the Brahmavaivarta, the Markandeya, the Bhavishya, and the Vaman.

II. Those which relate to Vishnu; viz. the Vishnu,

the Bhagavata, the Naradiya, the Garuda, the Padma, and the Varaha.