VEDAS and PURANAS:
Mythology and Philosophy Intertwined

Hinduism is both a mythology and a philosophy. By and large there are different spiritual texts for the two streams but not surprisingly they do intertwine on the odd occasion. The classic example is that of the Bhagavad Gita. It is a purely philosophical work, but forms a part of the mythological epic, the Mahabharata.

The philosophical texts are known as the Vedas and Upanishads. The term Veda comes from the root Vid, meaning to know. The Vedas are the foundational scriptures of the Hindus. Lord Brahma, the Creator, imparted the divine knowledge to the Sages who then disseminated the knowledge. The Veda is divided into four great books: the Rig-Veda, the Yajur-Veda, the Sama-Veda and the Atharva-Veda. The Upanishads are the most important portion of the Vedas. They summarize the essence of the Vedas. The teaching based on them is called Vedanta.

The mythological texts are known as the Itihasas and Puranas. There are four books under Itihasas, which means histories: The Ramayana, the Yogavasishtha, the Mahabharata and the Harivamsa. These works explain the great universal truths in the form of historical narratives, stories, parables and dialogues. They are for the benefit of common people who would find the arguments and the concepts of the Vedas difficult to comprehend.

The better known Itihasas are the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. They are also known as Mahakavyas or Epics. The Ramayana narrates the life of Rama, the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu and is written by Valmiki. The Mahabharata is about the Great War between the cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas, in which the eighth incarnation of Vishnu played a major role. It is written by Vyasa.

The wealth of the mythological knowledge however is found in the Puranas. All Puranas contain information on incarnations, cosmology, creation, genealogy of kings and of time cycles. Krishnadvaipayana, the son of Sage Parasara, more popularly known as Vyasa is the compiler of the Puranas. He is the same person who wrote the Mahabharata and divided the Vedas into the four books.

The purpose of the Puranas is the same as that of the Itihasas. They explain the Vedic principles and the ethics and rituals of religion with examples and parables for the consumption of the common man. Another purpose is to instill in the populace a feeling of devotion and worship. Study of the Puranas, listening to sacred recitals of scriptures, describing and expounding of the transcendent miracles of the Lord form an important part of discipline of the devotees.

There are eighteen main Puranas and an equal number of subsidiary Puranas. The main Puranas are:

1. Vishnu Purana,
2. Naradiya Purana,
3. Srimad Bhagavata Purana,
4. Garuda (Suparna) Purana,
5. Padma Purana,
6. Varaha Purana,
7. Brahma Purana,
8. Brahmanda Purana,
9. Brahma Vaivarta Purana,
10. Markandeya Purana,
11. Bhavishya Purana,
12. Vamana Purana,
13. Matsya Purana,
14. Kurma Purana,
15. Linga Purana,
16. Shiva Purana,
17. Skanda Purana, and
18. Agni Purana.

Of these, six glorify Vishnu, six glorify Brahma and six glorify Shiva.

The most popular among the Puranas is the Srimad Bhagavata. The Srimad Bhagavata Purana is a chronicle of the various incarnations of Lord Vishnu, but focuses on Krishna. Each Purana has a specific purpose and was first narrated on a special occasion. The purpose of the Srimad Bhagavata Purana is to enable a person to overcome the fear of death. Sukhdev, the son of Vyasa narrated it to King Parikshit, when Parikshit was cursed to die in a week's time.

The longest Purana is the Skanda Purana, which has 81000 couplets. The shortest is the Markandeya Purana, which has 9000 couplets. The Mahabharata has 100000 couplets and is said to be the longest epic in the world.

It is said that Vyasa first recited the Puranas to his disciple Lomaharshana, who then spread them to the other sages and common people. "Loma" means hair and "harshana" means to thrill. These tales were hair-raising in a way and hence the narrator was given the name Lomaharshana. The Puranas went orally from generation to generation. Each time the narrator would add some detail of his own and hence the content kept on changing. The Puranas as we know them today were crystallized and put in writing some time between 300 AD and 1000 AD. Some sections in each Purana were fairly recent (a few hundred years) whereas others could have been as old as ten thousand years.

The Vedas and Puranas, together, have created a coherent and supportive network of values and ethics and of a way of life itself. However they are not without inconsistencies. Different Puranas describe the same event differently. Shatrupa is Manu's mother in one Purana, whereas she is his wife in another. When one realises that the different texts were written over a period of ten thousand years, one can ignore these minor discrepancies and can depend on the big picture.

– by Harsh Nevatia

Harsh Nevatia, 45, lives in Mumbai on the west coast of India. He is a graduate in chemical engineering from the premier Indian Institute of Technology and has done his postgraduation in business administration from another premier Indian Institute of Management. Literature, especially Indian literature, is his passion, and he is widely read in this domain. Writing has been a natural outcome, and he says it has been a fascinating journey which he now shares with others. Apart from being active on a number websites, he is edits the prestigious DMoz Directory on the Internet. .

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