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The ''Shiva Purana'' is one of eighteen major texts of the ''
Purana 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 ...
'' genre of
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 ...
texts in
Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
, and part of the
Shaivism Shaivism (; sa, शैवसम्प्रदायः, Śaivasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Supreme Being. One of the largest Hindu denominations, it incorporates many sub-traditions rangi ...
literature corpus. It primarily revolves around the Hindu god
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 ...
and goddess
Parvati Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi i ...
, but references and reveres all gods. The ''Shiva Purana'' asserts that it once consisted of 100,000 verses set out in twelve
Samhita Saṃhitā literally means "put together, joined, union", a "collection", and "a methodically, rule-based combination of text or verses".Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
region of the
Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
with no books but two large sections called ''Purva-Khanda'' (Previous Section) and ''Uttara-Khanda'' (Later Section). The two versions that include books, title some of the books same and others differently. The Shiva Purana, like other Puranas in Hindu literature, was likely a living text, which was routinely edited, recast and revised over a long period of time. The oldest manuscript of surviving texts was likely composed, estimates
Klaus Klostermaier Klaus K. Klostermaier (born 1933) is a Catholic priest and scholar of Hinduism, Indian history and culture. Life and career Klostermaier obtained a PhD in philosophy from the Gregorian University in Rome in 1961, and another in "Ancient India ...
, around 10th- to 11th-century CE. Some chapters of currently surviving Shiva Purana manuscripts were likely composed after the 14th-century. The ''Shiva Purana'' contains chapters with Shiva-centered
cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount (lexicographer), Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in ...
,
mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
, relationship between Gods, ethics,
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-consciou ...
, ''tirtha'' (pilgrimage) sites, bhakti, rivers and geography, and other topics. The text is an important source of historic information on different types and theology behind Shaivism in early 2nd-millennium CE. The oldest surviving chapters of the Shiva Purana have significant
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 ...
philosophy, which is mixed in with theistic elements of
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 ...
. In the 19th and 20th century, 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 pr ...
'' was sometimes titled as ''Shiva Purana'', and sometimes proposed as a part of the complete ''Shiva Purana''. With the discovery of more manuscripts, modern scholarship considers the two texts as different, with ''Vayu Purana'' as the more older text composed sometime before the 2nd-century CE. Some scholars list it as a ''Mahapurana'', while some state it is an ''Upapurana''.


Date

The date and authors of Shiva Purana are unknown. No authentic data is available. Scholars such as Klostermaier as well as Hazra estimate that the oldest chapters in the surviving manuscript were likely composed around the 10- to 11th-centuries CE, which has not stood the test of carbon dating technology hence on that part we must rely on the text itself which tells when it was composed. Certain books and chapters in currently surviving Shiva Purana manuscripts were likely composed later, some after the 14th-century. The Shiva Purana, like other Puranas in Hindu literature, were routinely edited, recast and revised over the centuries. Hazra states that the Bombay manuscript published in the 19th-century is rarer, and is likely older than other versions published from eastern and southern India.


Different manuscripts

Several
recension Recension is the practice of editing or revising a text based on critical analysis. When referring to manuscripts, this may be a revision by another author. The term is derived from Latin ''recensio'' ("review, analysis"). In textual criticism (as ...
s of this text exist. The Bombay 1884 manuscript recension published by the Vangavasi Press,
Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
in 1896 consists of six s (sections): The second manuscript of Shiva Purana published in 1906, reprinted in 1965, by the Pandita Pustakalaya,
Kashi Kashi or Kaashi may refer to: Places * Varanasi (historically known as "Kashi"), a holy city in India **Kingdom of Kashi, an ancient kingdom in the same place, one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas **Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Varanasi * Kashgar, a cit ...
consists of seven s: According to a passage found in the first chapters of and of these recensions the original Shiva Purana comprised twelve s, which included five lost s: , (or ), , and (or ). The number of verses in these sections were as follows: # Vidyeshvara Samhita - 10,000 # Rudra Samhita - 8,000 # Vainayaka Samhita - 8,000 # Uma Samhita - 8,000 # Matri Samhita - 8,000 # Rudraikadasha Samhita - 13,000 # Kailasa Samhita - 6,000 # Shatarudra Samhita - 3,000 # Sahasrakotirudra Samhita - 11,000 # Kotirudra Samhita - 9,000 # Vayaviya Samhita - 4,000 # Dharma Samhita - 12,000 Several other s are also ascribed to the . These are the , the , the , the and the . Haraprasad Shastri mentioned in the Notices of Sanskrit MSS IV, pp. 220–3, Nos, 298–299 about another manuscript of the , which is divided into Two Khandas (Parts), the and the . The consists 3270 s in 51 chapters written in Nagari script and the has 45 chapters written in Oriya script. It was preserved in Mahimprakash Brahmachari Matha in
Puri Puri () is a coastal city and a Nagar Palika, municipality in the state of Odisha in eastern India. It is the district headquarters of Puri district and is situated on the Bay of Bengal, south of the state capital of Bhubaneswar. It is als ...
. The of this manuscript is same as the of the Vangavasi Press Edition.


Contents

The Vidyesvara Samhita, also called Vighnesa Samhita or Vidyasara Samhita, appears in both editions, is free of mythology found in some other samhitas, and is dedicated to describing the greatness and the bhakti of Shiva, particularly through the icon of
Linga A lingam ( sa, लिङ्ग , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. It is typically the primary ''murti'' or devotional im ...
. This section is also notable for mentioning both Shaiva
Agamas Religion *Āgama (Buddhism), a collection of Early Buddhist texts *Āgama (Hinduism), scriptures of several Hindu sects *Jain literature (Jain Āgamas), various canonical scriptures in Jainism Other uses * ''Agama'' (lizard), a genus of lizards ...
and Tantric texts, but frequently quoting from the
Vedas upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...
and asserting that the text is the essence of the Vedic teaching and 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 ...
. The chapters of this shared samhita in different versions of the Shiva Purana includes a description of India's geography and rivers from north and south India so often and evenly that Hazra states it is difficult to gauge if this part was composed in north or south India. The Jnanasamhita in one manuscript shares content with Rudrasamhita of the other manuscript, presents cosmology and mythology, and is notable for its discussion of ''saguna'' and''nirguna'' Shiva. The text discusses goddesses and gods, dedicates parts of chapters praising Vishnu and Brahma, as well as those related to avatars such as Krishna. It asserts that one must begin with karma-yajna, thereon step by step with tapo-yajna, then self study, then regular meditation, ultimately to jnana-yajna and yoga to achieve ''sayujya'' (intimate union) with Shiva within. The text emphasizes bhakti and yoga, rather than bookish learning of the Vedas. The Shiva Purana dedicates chapters to Shaiva-Advaita philosophy, like Linga Purana and other Shaivism-related Puranas, advocating it as a system for Salvation. The text also presents the Brahman as
satcitananda ( sa, सच्चिदानन्द, IAST: ; also Sat-cit-ananda or ) is an epithet and description for the subjective experience of the ultimate unchanging reality, called Brahman,Devadutta Kali (2005), Devimahatmyam: In Praise of the Godde ...
theme, with masculine and feminine Shiva-Shakti as a unity, and perception of plurality-discrimination as a form of nescience. Love-Driven Devotionalism (Bhakti), asserts the text, leads to knowledge, and such love combined with knowledge leads to attracting saintly people and
guru Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverentia ...
, and with them one attains Liberation, states Shiva Purana. These ideas, states Klaus Klostermaier, are similar to those found in Devi-related Puranas and Shakti Literature. The popular books and easy-to-read books on Shiva Purana is published by diamond books in various languages and in all formats.


References


Bibliography

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External links


The Shiva Purana
English translation by J. L. Shastri, 1970 (includes glossary)
Surya And Nairrta On The Siva Temple Of Prambanan
Roy E. Jordaan (1992), pages 59–66, Brill (Puranas/Shiva texts in southeast Asia) {{Hindudharma Puranas Shaiva texts