Brahmanda Purana
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The ''Brahmanda Purana'' ( sa, ब्रह्माण्ड पुराण, ) is a Sanskrit text and one of the eighteen major
Puranas Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...
, a genre of
Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
texts. It is listed as the eighteenth Maha-Purana in almost all the anthologies. The text is also referred in medieval Indian literature as the Vayaviya Purana or Vayaviya Brahmanda, and it may have been same as the
Vayu Purana The ''Vayu Purana'' ( sa, वायुपुराण, ) is a Sanskrit text and one of the eighteen major Puranas of Hinduism. ''Vayu Purana'' is mentioned in the manuscripts of the Mahabharata and other Hindu texts, which has led scholars to p ...
before these texts developed into two overlapping compositions. The text is named after one of the cosmological theories of Hinduism, namely the "Cosmic Egg" ( Brahma-Anda). It is among the oldest Puranas, the earliest core of text maybe from 4 century CE, continuously edited thereafter over time and it exist in numerous versions. The Brahmanda Purana manuscripts are encyclopedic in their coverage, covering topics such as
Cosmogony Cosmogony is any model concerning the origin of the cosmos or the universe. Overview Scientific theories In astronomy, cosmogony refers to the study of the origin of particular astrophysical objects or systems, and is most commonly used i ...
,
Sanskara (Rite Of Passage) Samskara ( IAST: , sometimes spelled ''samskara'') are sacraments in Hinduism and other Indian religions, described in ancient Sanskrit texts, as well as a concept in the karma theory of Indian philosophies. The word literally means "putting t ...
,
Genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...
, Chapters On Ethics And Duties (
Dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...
),
Yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consci ...
, Geography, Rivers, Good Government, Administration, Diplomacy, Trade, Festivals, A Travel Guide To Places Such As
Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...
,
Cuttack Cuttack (, or officially Kataka ) in Odia is the former capital and the second largest city in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the headquarters of the Cuttack district. The name of the city is an anglicised form of ''Kataka'' which literally ...
, And Kanchipuram, And Other Topics. The Brahmanda Purana is notable for including the
Lalita Sahasranamam ''Lalita Sahasranama'' (IAST: lalitāsahasranāma; Sanskrit: ललिता सहस्रनाम) is a sacred Hindu text from the Brahmanda Purana which lists the thousand names of the Hindu mother goddess Lalita Devi, a manifestation of t ...
(A
Stotra ''Stotra'' (Sanskrit: स्तोत्र) is a Sanskrit word that means "ode, eulogy or a hymn of praise."Monier Williams, Monier Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Article on 'Stotra'' It is a literary genre of In ...
Praising The Goddess Lalita As The Supreme Being In The Universe), and being one of the early Hindu texts found in
Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...
, Indonesia, also called the Javanese-Brahmanda. The text is also notable for the
Adhyatma Ramayana ''Adhyatma Ramayana'' (Devanāgarī: अध्यात्म रामायण, IAST: ''Adhyātma Rāmāyaṇa'', ) is a 13th- to 15th-century Sanskrit text that allegorically interprets the story of Hindu epic ''Ramayana'' in the Advaita Vedan ...
, the most important embedded set of chapters in the text, which philosophically attempts to reconcile
Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...
-
Bhakti ''Bhakti'' ( sa, भक्ति) literally means "attachment, participation, fondness for, homage, faith, love, devotion, worship, purity".See Monier-Williams, ''Sanskrit Dictionary'', 1899. It was originally used in Hinduism, referring to d ...
with
Advaita Vedanta ''Advaita Vedanta'' (; sa, अद्वैत वेदान्त, ) is a Hinduism, Hindu sādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience, and the oldest extant tradition of the Āstika and nāstika, orthodox Hindu school Ved ...
over 65 chapters and 4,500 verses.


History

The Brahmanda Purana is one of the oldest Puranas, but estimates for the composition of its earliest core vary widely. The early 20th-century Indian scholar
V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar Vishnampet R. Ramachandra Dikshitar (16 April 1896 – 24 November 1953) was a historian, Indologist and Dravidologist from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He was professor of history and archaeology at the University of Madras and is the auth ...
dated this Purana to 4th-century BCE. Most later scholarship places this text to be from centuries later, in the 4th- to 6th-century CE. The text is generally assumed, states
Ludo Rocher Ludo Rocher (1926–2016) was an eminent Sanskrit scholar, and the W. Norman Brown Professor Emeritus of South Asia Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Biography Ludo Rocher was born in Hemiksem in the province of Antwerp, Belgium on 25 Apri ...
, to have achieved its current structure about 1000 CE. The text underwent continuous revisions after the 10th century, and new sections probably replaced older ones. The 13th-century Yadava dynasty scholar Hemadri quoted large parts of the then existing Brahmanda Purana, but these parts are not found in currently surviving versions of the same text, suggesting that the 13th-century version of this Purana was different in many respects than extant manuscripts. The Adhyatma-Ramayana, the most important embedded set of chapters in the extant versions of the Purana, is considered to have been composed centuries later, possibly in the 15th century, and is attributed to
Ramananda Sri Ramanandacharya (IAST: Rāmānanda) was a 14th-century Vaishnava devotional poet saint, who lived in the Gangetic basin of northern India. The Hindu tradition recognizes him as the founder of the Ramanandi Sampradaya, the largest monastic ...
– the
Advaita ''Advaita Vedanta'' (; sa, अद्वैत वेदान्त, ) is a Hindu sādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience, and the oldest extant tradition of the orthodox Hindu school Vedānta. The term ''Advaita'' (l ...
scholar and the founder of the Ramanandi Sampradaya, the largest monastic group in Hinduism and in Asia in modern times. The Adhyatma-Ramayana thus was added to this Purana later, and it is an important document to the Rama-related tradition within Hinduism. A Javanese Brahmanda
palm-leaf manuscript Palm-leaf manuscripts are manuscripts made out of dried palm leaves. Palm leaves were used as writing materials in the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia reportedly dating back to the 5th century BCE. Their use began in South Asia and ...
was discovered in
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
in the mid-19th century by colonial-era Dutch scholars, along with other Puranas. The
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
originals of these are either lost or yet to be discovered. The Javanese Brahmanda was translated by the Dutch Sanskrit scholar
Jan Gonda Jan Gonda (14 April 1905 – 28 July 1991) was a Dutch Indologist and the first Utrecht professor of Sanskrit. He was born in Gouda, in the Netherlands, and died in Utrecht. He studied with Willem Caland at Rijksuniversiteit, Utrecht (since 1990 ...
and compared to Sanskrit texts found in India.


Structure

The original, complete version of the Brahmanda Purana has been lost, and 19th-century scholars could only generally locate and procure independent sub-parts or collection of chapters that claimed to have been part of this Purana. Many of these chapters turned out to be fraudulent, sold by imposters in the 19th century. Later, Wilson states, rare compilations claiming to be the entire Purana emerged. The published manuscript of the Brahmanda Purana has three Bhaga (Parts). The first part is subdivided into two Pada (Sub-Parts), while the other two have just one Pada each. The first Bhaga has 38 Adhyaya (Chapters), the second is structured into 74 chapters, while the third and last Bhaga has 44 chapters. These published text has a cumulative total of 156 chapters. Other unpublished versions of the manuscripts exist, states Rocher, preserved in various libraries. These vary in their structure. The Nasiketopakhyana text, which is embedded inside this Purana, for example exists in 18 chapters in one version and 19 chapters in another, in a form that
Moriz Winternitz Moriz Winternitz ( Horn, December 23, 1863 – Prague, January 9, 1937) was a scholar from Austria who began his Indology contributions working with Max Müller at the Oxford University. An eminent Sanskrit scholar, he worked as a professor i ...
termed as a corrupted "Insipid, Amplified Version" of the "Beautiful Old Legend" of Nachiketa found in the ancient
Katha Upanishad The ''Katha Upanishad'' (Sanskrit: कठोपनिषद् or कठ उपनिषद्) (') is one of the ''mukhya'' (primary) Upanishads, embedded in the last eight short sections of the ' school of the Krishna Yajurveda.Paul Deussen. ...
. The tradition and other Puranas assert that the Brahmanda Purana had 12,000 verses, but the published Venkateshwar Press version of manuscript contains 14,286 verses. The Indonesian version of Brahmanda Purana is much shorter, lacks superfluous adjectives but contains all essential information, and does not contain the prophecy-related chapters found in the published extant Indian version. This suggests that older versions of the Indian text may have been smaller, in a different style, and without prophecy-related sections, although tradition informs the opposite (an even larger source).


Content

The text is encyclopedic. It is non-sectarian and reveres all gods and goddesses, including
Brahma Brahma ( sa, ब्रह्मा, Brahmā) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the trinity of supreme divinity that includes Vishnu, and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 21 ...
,
Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...
,
Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...
,
Ganesha Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is found throughout India. Hindu d ...
,
Surya Surya (; sa, सूर्य, ) is the sun as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchayatana puja and a m ...
and
Shakti In Hinduism, especially Shaktism (a theological tradition of Hinduism), Shakti (Devanagari: शक्ति, IAST: Śakti; lit. "Energy, ability, strength, effort, power, capability") is the primordial cosmic energy, female in aspect, and rep ...
. The text's philosophy is a blend of the
Vedanta ''Vedanta'' (; sa, वेदान्त, ), also ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six (''āstika'') schools of Hindu philosophy. Literally meaning "end of the Vedas", Vedanta reflects ideas that emerged from, or were aligned with, t ...
,
Samkhya ''Samkhya'' or ''Sankya'' (; Sanskrit सांख्य), IAST: ') is a Dualism (Indian philosophy), dualistic Āstika and nāstika, school of Indian philosophy. It views reality as composed of two independent principles, ''purusha, puruṣa' ...
and
Yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consci ...
schools of
Hindu Philosophy Hindu philosophy encompasses the philosophies, world views and teachings of Hinduism that emerged in Ancient India which include six systems ('' shad-darśana'') – Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa and Vedanta.Andrew Nicholson (20 ...
, woven in with
Bhakti ''Bhakti'' ( sa, भक्ति) literally means "attachment, participation, fondness for, homage, faith, love, devotion, worship, purity".See Monier-Williams, ''Sanskrit Dictionary'', 1899. It was originally used in Hinduism, referring to d ...
and some
tantra Tantra (; sa, तन्त्र, lit=loom, weave, warp) are the esoteric traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism that developed on the Indian subcontinent from the middle of the 1st millennium CE onwards. The term ''tantra'', in the Indian ...
themes. The second part, which comprises chapters 5–44 of the third section, the Uttarabhaga is the Lalitopakhyana (Narrative Of Lalita). It describes the Goddess Lalita (An manifestation Of
Adi Parashakti Mahadevi ( sa, महादेवी, ), also referred to as Adi Parashakti, Adi Shakti, and Abhaya Shakti, is the supreme goddess in the Shaktism sect of Hinduism. According to this tradition, all Hindu goddesses are considered to be manifesta ...
) and her worship as well a discussion of Tantra. This part is written as a dialogue between
Hayagriva Hayagriva, also spelled Hayagreeva ( sa, हयग्रीव IAST , ), is a Hindu deity, the horse-headed avatar of Vishnu. The purpose of this incarnation was to slay a danava also named Hayagriva (A descendant of Kashyapa and Danu), wh ...
and sage
Agastya Agastya ( kn, ಅಗಸ್ತ್ಯ, ta, அகத்தியர், sa, अगस्त्य, te, అగస్త్యుడు, ml, അഗസ്ത്യൻ, hi, अगस्त्य) was a revered Indian sage of Hinduism. In the I ...
on the Goddess Lalita's emergence out of fire after which the king of gods
Indra Indra (; Sanskrit: इन्द्र) is the king of the devas (god-like deities) and Svarga (heaven) in Hindu mythology. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war.  volumes/ref> I ...
worshipped
Devi Devī (; Sanskrit: देवी) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is ''deva''. ''Devi'' and ''deva'' mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are also gender-specific terms for a deity in Hinduism. The conce ...
(The Goddess Representing The Supreme Reality). It includes her war with the
Asura Asuras (Sanskrit: असुर) are a class of beings in Indian religions, Indic religions. They are described as power-seeking clans related to the more benevolent Deva (Hinduism), Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. In its Buddhism, Buddhi ...
Bhanda and her final triumph. The sections of this Purana include: * Detailed description of creation of cosmos, discussion about the time as a dimension and details of Kalpa and Yuga. * Description of certain dynasties like the houses of Bharata, Prithu, Deva, Rishi, and Agni; as well as the
Vedanga The Vedanga ( sa, वेदाङ्ग ', "limbs of the Veda") are six auxiliary disciplines of Hinduism that developed in ancient times and have been connected with the study of the Vedas:James Lochtefeld (2002), "Vedanga" in The Illustrated Enc ...
and the Adi Kalpa. * Aspects of religious geography, and in this context description of Jambudvipa and Bharata-varsha, and certain other locations identified as islands and landmasses like Anudvipa, Ketumaala-varsha. * About 20% of the chapters are related to Lalitopakhyana, that is highlighting the goddess theology and her central importance * Over 35% of the chapters in the text is Adhyatma Ramayana, an
Advaita Vedanta ''Advaita Vedanta'' (; sa, अद्वैत वेदान्त, ) is a Hinduism, Hindu sādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience, and the oldest extant tradition of the Āstika and nāstika, orthodox Hindu school Ved ...
treatise of over 65 chapters and 4,500 verses. * Another 30% of the chapters approximately, or 47 chapters, are geographical Mahatmyas to various locations across India, such as those in modern
Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...
,
Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...
and
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
. Geography-related Mahatmyas are travel guides for pilgrimage, describing rivers, temples and scenes to visit. The
Adhyatma Ramayana ''Adhyatma Ramayana'' (Devanāgarī: अध्यात्म रामायण, IAST: ''Adhyātma Rāmāyaṇa'', ) is a 13th- to 15th-century Sanskrit text that allegorically interprets the story of Hindu epic ''Ramayana'' in the Advaita Vedan ...
, a text consisting about 4,500 verses in 65 chapters and divided into seven Kanda''s''. The Nasiketopkhyana, a text in 18 chapters, the Pinakinimahatmya, a text in 12 chapters, the Virajakshetramahatmya and the Kanchimahatmya, a text in 32 chapters are embedded in this Purana.


See also

*
List Of Hindu Texts Hinduism is an ancient religionShaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism and others. Each tradition has a long list of Hindu texts, with subgenre based on syncretization of ideas from Samkhya, Nyaya, Yoga, Vedanta and other schools of Hindu philosophy. ...
*
Hindu Cosmology Hindu cosmology is the description of the universe and its states of matter, cycles within time, physical structure, and effects on living entities according to Hindu texts. Hindu cosmology is also intertwined with the idea of a creator who all ...


Notes


References


Bibliography

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External Links


The Brahmanda Purana
English Translation By G. V. Tagare roofRead(Includes Glossary)
Read Brahmand Puran Online In Hindi
* Brahmanda Purana - English Translation By G.V.Tagare - Part 1 * Brahmanda Purana - English Translation By G.V.Tagare - Part 2 * Brahmanda Purana - English Translation By G.V.Tagare - Part 3 * Brahmanda Purana - English Translation By G.V.Tagare - Part 4 * Brahmanda Purana - English Translation By G.V.Tagare - Part 5 {{Brahmanda Puranas Hindu creation myths Hindu cosmology Advaita Vedanta