Vamana Purana, translated by Bibek Debroy

Vamana Purana, translated by Bibek Debroy

This is my eighteenth Purana review. This is my second – last rajsik Purana too. The Vamana Purana comes fourteenth in the list of Mahapuranas. It only has ten thousand shlokas. These shlokas are divided into a purva bhaga and an uttara bhaga. There are ninety-five chapters in the Purana. This Purana was first recited by Sage Pulastya to the rishi Narada.

This Purana talks more about the wars between the gods and the demons. It mentions the asura Andhaka a lot. It also focuses more on the formation of the goddess Durga except they call her Katyayani. The defeat of Mahishasura, Chanda, Munda and Raktajiva are described in great detail. The formation of Koushiki and Chamunda are talked about too.

In all these stories I found a very unique one. It talks about another vamana avatar of Vishnu. This story is given below.

Varaha Purana, translated by Bibek Debroy

Varaha Purana, translated by Bibek Debroy

This is my sixteenth Purana review. It is a satvik Purana, so it concentrates more on Vishnu and glorifies him in his Varaha avatar. The Varaha Purana comes twelfth in the list of Mahapuranas. It has twenty-four thousand shlokas so it is medium sized in length. These shlokas are divided into two parts – the purva bhaga and the uttara bhaga. This purana is named so because it was narrated by Vishnu in his varaha avatar to the earth (prithvi). Prithvi had many questions and was also curious to know the powers of Vishnu and who he really was. In answer to these questions Vishnu narrated this Purana.

This Purana talks about rituals, sacrifices, fasts and major tirthas in detail. It also talks about the 35 ways in which varaha or a boar is connected to sacrifices and the Vedas.

Now let us move on to my favourite stories.

Agni Purana, translated by Bibek Debroy

Agni Purana, (abridged) translation by Bibek Debroy

This is my fifteenth Purana review. It is also my last tamasik Purana review. The Agni Purana is an interesting Purana. It is eighth in the list of Mahapuranas. It is not too long, it has fifteen and a half thousand shlokas. These shlokas are further divided into three hundred and eighty-three chapters. The Agni Purana is named thus as it was narrated by the fire – god Agni. Vashishta narrated this Purana to Vedavyasa. Vedavyasa narrated it to Suta who narrated it to some sages in the Namisharanya forest. This Purana has lots of information on rituals, omens, social norms, duties of a king, etc. There are very few stories and even those are in a summarized form. Apart from this, it also narrates the ten avatars of Vishnu along with a short version of the Mahabharata. The duties of a king are described as well.

Now let me narrate my favourite story.

Brahmavaivarta Purana, translated by Bibek Debroy

Brahmavaivarta Purana, translated by Bibek Debroy

This is my nineteenth and last Purana review. It is my last rajsik Purana. The Brahmavaivarta Purana comes eighth in the list of Mahapuranas. It has a total of eighteen thousand shlokas and is medium in length. These shlokas are divide into four khandas. They are the Brahma khanda, the Prakriti khanda, the Ganesha khanda and the Srikrishnajanma khanda.

Although this Purana is a rajsik purana it glorifies Krishna more. Krishna is said to be the creator. He is identified with the brahman and is said to have created Shiva, Brahma and Narayana from his own body. This is slightly confusing as it describes Krishna’s type of creation and Brahma’s creation at the same time. This is one of the few Puranas that talk about Krishna in great detail.

In Krishna’s creation, all the gods and goddesses emerged from different parts of his body like his chest, mouth, mind, etc.

In Brahma’s creation, the world was formed from a golden egg.

Like most Puranas this one also starts in the Naimisharanya forest. The narrator is Souti or Suta who is the son of Lomaharshana. On the request of some sages Souti narrates the Brahmavaivarta Purana.

This was a very interesting Purana. It had so much new information. Most of it was in the form of stories. I learnt lots of stuff. Out of this information I picked out the most interesting bits and have given it below.

Have you wondered why Narada was named Narada? What is the meaning of the name? The answers to this are given below.

Narada Purana, translated by Bibek Debroy

Narada Purana, translated by Bibek Debroy

Before you start reading please recite this prayer:

Narayanam namaskritya

Naranchaiva narottamam devim

Sarasvatinchaiva tato Jayamudiyaret

You should recite this prayer and pray to Nara and Narayan. Only after you do this should you start reading any sacred text.

Let us start the review now.

This is my seventeenth Purana review. It is also my last sattvika purana. The Narada Purana comes sixth in the list of Mahapuranas. It has twenty-five thousand shlokas which are divided into the purva bhaga and the uttara bhaga. There are a total of thirty-eight chapters in this Purana. This Purana is also called a vrihat purana. Vrihat means vast. Like most Puranas this one also starts in the Naimisharanya forest. However, this time the narrator is not Lomaharshana but his son Suta.

I will also give a little information on the title of this Purana. The name of this Purana is Narada Purana as it was first recited by the sage Narada to Sanatkumar.

I will now narrate my favourite stories.

Kurma Purana, translated by Bibek Debroy

The Kurma Purana, translated by Bibek Debroy

The Kurma Purana is my fourteenth purana review. It comes fifteenth in the list of Mahapuranas. In my last review, I had mentioned that I would review one category at a time. Well, I wanted to complete the tamasik puranas (puranas that glorify Shiva) first so here is a tamasik purana review.
This Purana is medium sized and has seventeen thousand shlokas in all. It was divided into four sections, the Brahmi samhita, Bhagvati samhita, Souri samhita and the Vaishnavi samhita. Unfortunately, now only the Brahmi samhita is left. It is this section that is known as the Kurma Purana. The Brahmi samhita has 2 divisions. The Purva bhaga and the Upari bhaga. The purva bhaga has fifty-two chapters and the other one forty-four. I will give a little history about the name of the Purana.

Linga Purana translated by Bibek Debroy

Linga Purana

translated by Bibek Debroy

category: mythology, religion, fiction

Age: 8-12years

Buy from: Amazon US, Amazon IN 

This is one of the 13 puranas that I have read. The Linga Purana is number 11 in the list of the eighteen Mahapuranas. This Purana is a tamsik Purana, a Purana that glorifies Shiva. The Linga Purana is a comparatively short Purana because it is just eleven thousand shlokas long. It is divided into two parts. The first part is known as Purva bhaga and has one hundred and eight chapters. The second part is known as Uttara bhaga and has fifty-five chapters.

This Purana like most other Puranas is narrated by Sauti or Lomaharshana, a disciple of Vedvyasa to some sages living in the Namisharanya forest.

There were many interesting stories in the Purana. The Linga Purana was very interesting to read. Compared to the other Puranas that I have read; this Purana comes at number 3. This Purana concentrates more on the creation and destruction of the Universe. It also talks a lot about the geography of the Earth. The Linga Purana has less stories and most of them have been mentioned in other Puranas. In a few stories, there is a twist which is added to glorify Shiva. It was nice reading this Purana. I have also reviewed it on my blog.

[this is included in our January 2018 edition of eGranth, our monthly books newsletter]


© 2018, Anika Agarwal. All rights reserved.

Skanda Purana - review

Skanda Purana, translated by Bibek Debroy

This is the thirteenth Purana that I am reviewing. I realized that there were only a few Puranas left for me to review. I decided to do one part at a time. I thought that I would first review the tamsik puranas that were left (3 now 2), then I would review the satvik puranas left (2) and then the rajsika puranas left (2). So, here I am writing a tamsik purana, the Skanda Purana. The Skanda Purana is the longest Purana. It is more that eighty-one thousand shlokas long. It is huge. I also found out something. It comes thirteenth in the list of Mahapuranas and this is my thirteenth purana review! It was a coincidence which I didn’t realize until I started writing the review. Let us get into the review now.
There are seven sections or khandas in the Purana. They are:

1. Maheshwara khanda – the khanda related to Shiva.
2. Vishnu khanda - the khanda related to Vishnu.
3. Brahma khanda – the khanda related to Brahma
4. Kashi khanda – the khanda talking about the city of Kashi.
5. Avanti khanda - the khanda talking about the city of Avanti.
6. Nagara khanda – the khanda elating to cities.
7. Prabhasa khanda – the khanda talking about the city Prabhasa.

Bhavishya Purana - Review

Bhavishya Purana (abridged), translated by Bibek Debroy, Dipavali Debroy

This is the twelfth Purana that I am reviewing. Woah! I didn’t realize that I had read so many Puranas. The Bhavishya Purana is a rajasik purana, a purana that glorifies Brahma. It comes ninth in the list of Mahapuranas. This Purana is actually quite short. It has only fourteen thousand shlokas. These shlokas are divided into five sections. They are the:

1. Brahma parva
2. Vaishnava parva
3. Rudra parva
4. Soura parva
5. Pratisarga parva

One day, a disciple of Vedavyasa named Shatanika was asked to recite something about the righteous forms of good conduct. However, he had not learnt this. He asked Vedavyasa what should he do. The great rishi asked him to go to Sumantu, another one of his disciples and gain that knowledge from him. Sumantu and Shatanika had a long discussion and the Bhavishya Purana was also related in this discussion.
Let us get into the review now

Brahmanda Purana - Review

Brahmanda Purana, translated by Bibek Debroy

Kindle IN, Kindle US

This is the eleventh Purana that I am reviewing which you can probably guess is the Brahmanda Purana. The Brahmanda Purana comes at the last, in the eighteenth position in the list of Mahapuranas. It is a rajasik Purana, a purana that glorifies Brahma. It is not too long or too short. It is medium-sized in length with eighteen thousand shlokas. These eighteen thousand shlokas are divided into 3 parts, purva bhaga, madhyama bhaga and uttara bhaga. These 3 sections are further divided into chapters. There are a total of seventy-one chapters.
I shall give a bit more of introduction and then start the review
This Purana was originally recited by Vayu the wind god on the insistence of some sages in the namisharanya forest after a yagna.
We’re done with the introduction so let us now go into the review.

Markandeya Purana - Review

Markandeya Purana, by Bibek Debroy

This is the tenth Purana that I am reviewing. Its name is the Markandeya Purana as you know. It is actually the shortest Purana. It has only nine thousand shlokas. I noticed that the last three Purana reviews that I had written were all satvik puranas, puranas that glorified Vishnu. I decided that it was time to move on to another type of Purana. I felt I had not written about rajasik puranas, puranas that glorify Brahma apart from the Brahma Purana. Between the rajsik puranas I decided to review the Markandeya Purana. This Purana was actually narrated by four birds to the sage Jaimini. Well, how did this happen and who were these birds who could talk.

There was once a rishi named Drona who married a woman named Tarkshi. One day, Tarkshi went to Kurukshetra when the great war between the Pandavas and Kauravas was happening. Arjuna and Bhagadatta were fighting when one of Arjuna’s arrows hit Tarkshi in the stomach. She died but four eggs fell out of her stomach. Bhagadatta’s elephant had a bell around his neck. A stray arrow sliced it off and it fell over the eggs protecting them till the end of the war. After the war ended a sage called Shamika found the birds and took care of them. They learnt to fly and speak. They bowed to Shamika and asked him to teach them the true knowledge. They then went to live at Mount Vindhya.

Bhagavata Purana - Review

Bhagavata Purana, translated by Bibek Debroy

This is the ninth Purana that I am reviewing. Wow! I never knew I had read so many Puranas. This is the Bhagavata Purana as you know. It is the fifth Purana in the list of Mahapuranas. It is a satvik purana, a purana that glorifies Vishnu. It is not too lengthy. It is medium sized and has eighteen thousand shlokas. It is then split up In twelve sections(skandhas) which are further split up into many chapters. The tenth skandha is the longest and talks about Krishna. Let us move on now.

This Purana has been narrated by Romaharshan alias Suta. He was called Suta because his father was a charioteer who are often called sutas. The sages in the Namisharanya forest wanted to know more about Krishna and the shastras so they asked Romaharshana to recite a Purana that had all these things. The Bhagavata Purana was the one that fit the description best so it was recited.

Garuda Purana - Review

Garuda Purana (Great Epics of India: Puranas Book 17)

Translated by Bibek Debroy

This is the eighth purana that I am reviewing. It is easy for anyone to guess the name as at the start of the review it is given the “Garuda Purana”. This Purana is the seventeenth Purana in the list of Mahapuranas. In my Vishnu Purana review I had mentioned that I was taking a break from tamsik puranas and would be reviewing satvik puranas instead. The Garuda Purana is also a satvik purana. It is the third satvik purana that I am reviewing. This Purana is not very long. It has only nineteen thousand shlokas. These shlokas are divided into two parts – the purva khanda and the Uttara khanda. These parts are further divided into chapters. The purva khanda has two hundred and thirty-four chapters and the Uttara khanda has forty-five chapters.

I think this much introduction is enough so let us move on.

Vishnu Purana - Review

Vishnu Purana (Great Epics of India: Puranas Book 3)

Translated by Bibek Debroy
This is the seventh Purana that I am reviewing. The name of the Purana is obvious since the title says, “Vishnu Purana”. The Vishnu Purana is third in the list of Mahapuranas and is an important Purana. I decided to do the Vishnu Purana because it was a satvik purana, a purana that glorifies Vishnu. If you go to my blog you will see that recently I have written three continuous tamsik puranas, puranas that glorify Shiva, so this time I decided to have a break and switch to another type of Purana. Well here I am writing a satvik purana’s review. There are five other satvik Puranas. They are:

1. Bhagavata Purana
2. Padma Purana {reviewed this one}
3. Narada Purana
4. Varaha Purana
5. Garuda Purana

This Purana has twenty-three thousand shlokas and these are divided into six sections. The last section is shorter than the rest. The Vishnu Purana is a medium sized Purana. As you must have read in my Shiva Purana review I have said that Vedavyasa has composed all the eighteen Mahapuranas. Well, when I read the Vishnu Purana I found that was not completely true. Vedavyasa had composed most of the Puranas except the Vishnu Purana. The Vishnu Purana was composed by Parashara, Vedavyasa’s father. Well I think this much introduction is enough. If you want a bit more information on what is a Purana read my first Purana review, the Shiva Purana Read its first and second paragraphs for information. Let us move on.

Vayu Purana - Review

Vayu Purana, translated by Bibek Debroy

This is the sixth Purana that I am reviewing. The name of the Purana as you can probably guess from the title is the Vayu Purana. The Vayu Purana has a bit of confusion surrounding it when you come to the list of Mahapuranas. This is because some people believe the Vayu Purana is fourth in the list of Mahapuranas whereas others believe the Shiva Purana is the fourth purana. However, the Vayu Purana is an important Purana.

This purana is a tamsik purana, a purana that glorifies Shiva. This Purana is a medium sized Purana and it has twenty-four thousand shlokas in all. These shlokas are divided into two parts. They are then further divided into one hundred and twelve chapters. There is just one last point before I start the review. The Vayu Purana is so named because it is believed that Vayu himself recited it.

Enough of introduction. Now, I would like to summarize and tell you my favourite story from this Purana. I am also sure that this is a story that very few would have heard.

Matsya Purana, translated by Bibek Debroy - Review

Matsya Purana - Translated by Bibek Debroy

This time I am reviewing the Matsya Purana. This is the fifth Purana that I am reviewing, that has been written by Bibek Debroy. The Matsya Purana comes sixteenth in the list of Mahapuranas. The Matsya Purana has fifteen thousand couplets. It is a medium sized Purana. There are fourteen thousand shlokas which are divided into two hundred and ninety-one chapters. You might get a bit confused at this point because I earlier mentioned fifteen thousand shlokas but in the fifth line I mentioned the division of only fourteen thousand shlokas. The book doesn’t mention the division of the last thousand shlokas. Well, that must means that the last thousand shlokas have not been divided into chapters at all. The Matsya Purana is a tamsik Purana, a Purana that glorifies Shiva. Lomaharshana is the narrator of the Puranas to some sages in the namisharanya forest.
This Purana was originally recited to Manu by Lord Vishnu in his Matsya avatar. It is also considered as the most holy of Puranas because it was recited by Vishnu himself. Well, the question now is how and when did Manu hear the Matsya Purana? It so happened that Manu was meditating at the foothills of Mount Malaya. A pleased Brahma appeared and asked Manu what he wanted. Manu replied that he wanted to be the one to save the world from destruction in the current era. Brahma granted the boon and disappeared. Soon, the time of destruction dawned. As promised, Manu got a boat and collected all the great rishis and animals in the boat. However, before all this had happened, Manu had found a fish that had kept growing size. It became so large that it was too big for the whole ocean. Well that same fish came back and helped Manu steer the boat in the tossing and turning waves that were engulfing the entire Universe. The fish was none other than Vishnu in his Matsya avatar. Manu asked many questions, and the answers of the fish were written down in the Matsya Purana.

Linga Purana, by Bibek Debroy

Linga Purana, translated by Bibek Debroy

This time I am reviewing the Linga Purana. This is the fourth Purana that I have read and am reviewing. The Linga Purana is number 11 in the list of the eighteen Mahapuranas. This Purana is a tamasik Purana, a Purana that glorifies Shiva. The Linga Purana is a comparatively short Purana because it is just eleven thousand shlokas long. It is divided into two parts. The first part is known as Purva bhaga and has one hundred and eight chapters. The second part is known as Uttara bhaga and has fifty-five chapters.
This Purana like most other Puranas is narrated by Sauti or Lomaharshana, a disciple of Vedvyasa to some sages living in the Namisharanya forest.
There were many interesting stories in the Purana but I would like to narrate one very interesting story.

One story

I’m sure that most of you might have heard about this amazing tirtha named Sthaneshwara tirtha. This tirtha is known as the place where wonderful things happen. I would like to share the story of this tirtha with you.
Once there lived a sage named Dadhichi. He had a friend named Kshupa. Dadhichi was a of the Brahmin class while Kshupa was of the kshatriya class. One day both the friends started arguing about the superiority of brahmins over kshatriyas and vice versa. Kshupa believed kshatriyas were superior while Dadhichi said that brahmins were superior. Soon they had argued as to come to blows. The sage hit Kshupa with his fist on his head. Kshupa had the Vajra {Indra’s thunderbolt} in his position at the time. Using the Vajra, he struck Dadhichi and killed him. Before dying he called out to Shukracharya, the guru of the asuras. Shukracharya knew the art of bringing the dead back to life. He resurrected Dadhichi. Shukracharya then asked Dadhichi to learn the art of bringing dead back to life from Shiva. The sage began immense tapasya and managed to please Shiva. He got three boons. They were:

1. He would be prosperous.
2. His bones would be as hard as the Vajra.
3. No one could kill him.

After obtaining these boons Dadhichi went and kicked Kshupa. Kshupa hurled the Vajra at Dadhichi but the sage was not hurt due to Shiva’s boons. Kshupa started praying to Vishnu to get stronger. Finally, Vishnu appeared and Kshupa desired to be able to kill Dadhichi. Vishnu was unable to do so as Dadhichi was fortified by Shiva’s boon but promised to try. Vishnu went to Dadhichi in the guise of a brahmin. Dadhichi immediately saw through the disguise. Vishnu asked Dadhichi to tell Kshupa he was scared. However, when Kshupa came Dadhichi did not say what Vishnu asked him to say instead he said why should he be scared if Shiva was there. An angry Vishnu hurled the sudarshan chakra at him but of no avail. Then Vishnu threw the Brahma Astra but even that had no effect. Other gods came to help Vishnu in his fight but they too were defeated. Dadhichi took a handful of straw and threw it at the gods. Almost magically the straws turned into burning tridents and burnt everyone. Finally, even Vishnu gave up and Kshupa accepted that brahmins were superior. The place where all of this happened is known as Sthaneshwara tirtha.

The Linga Purana is the fourth Purana that I have read and was interesting to read. Compared to the other Puranas that I have read, this Purana comes at number 3. This Purana concentrates more on the creation and destruction of the Universe. It also talks a lot about the geography of the Earth. The Linga Purana has less stories and most of them have been mentioned in other Puranas. In a few stories, there is a twist which is added to glorify Shiva. The story of Sthaneshwara was the only story that I had not read before.
The other Puranas that I have read and reviewed are the Padma, Shiva and Brahma Puranas. The reviews are all available on my blog.

Book info: Kindle India

Brahma Purana, by Bibek Debroy

Brahma Purana

Translated by Bibek Debroy

This time I am reviewing the Brahma Purana. This Purana is the first Purana in the list of Mahapuranas. The Brahma Purana is a rajasik purana, a purana that glorifys Brahma. The Brahma Purana has nineteen thousand shlokas. It is an average Purana in length, if compared to the Skanda Purana that has eighty one thousand shlokas and Markandeya Purana that has nine thousand shlokas. The shlokas in the Brahma Purana are divided into 245 chapters [adhyays].

The Brahma Purana is not only the first Mahapurana in the list but it is also believed to be one of the first to be composed. Due to this it is also reffered. to as the adi purana. The current version of the Brahma Purana is not that old. The Purana also mentions the famous Konarka Sun temple that was not constructed before 1241 A.D. The current text of the Brahma Purana has been reconstructed from material in the Mahabharata, Harivamsha, the Vayu Purana, the Vishnu Purana and the Markandeya Purana.

This Purana has been recited by Romaharshana, a disciple of Vedavyasa to some sages who were performing a yagna.

I would like to tell a story in the Brahma Purana that I found very nice.

Once there lived a cruel hunter. He used to kill birds, animals, sages and brahmanas. One day he caught a female dove. It was raining and it was very cold that day. He took shelter under a tree. That same tree was the home of the female dove’s mate. He was mourning for the female dove as she had not come back. The latter heard him from inside the cage and told the male dove that she was trapped. The male dove wanted to free her but the female dove said that the hunter had taken refuge at their home so it was their duty to serve him. Since the hunter was suffering from cold the female dove asked the male dove to light a fire. Soon the fire was lit. The male dove immolated himself in the fire so that the hunter would have food to eat. The grief stricken female dove asked the hunter to be freed. The hunter did so and the female dove to hurled herself into the fire. The hunter had heard everything and was amazed. The female and male doves were taken to heaven for their selfless acts. The hunter repented for his misdeeds. He was told by the doves to bathe in Goutami Ganga for 15 days and all his deeds would be forgiven. So great was the river Goutami Ganga. The place where the dove immolated themselves is known as kapotatirtha as kapota means dove.

The Brahma Purana talks a lot about the Goutami Ganga. There are many such stories in which the Purana praises this great river. The Goutami Ganga is supposed to be very sacred as it cleanses the sins of a person who bathes in it.

I would now like to enlighten you about the four classes and the four stages of life.
The 4 classes are brahmana, kshatriya, vaishya and shudra.
Brahmanas have to donate alms, study the shastras, perform yagnas and be well versed in the Vedas. They have to earn a living by teaching and becoming priests at sacrifices.
Kshatriyas have to bear arms, protect the Earth, donate alms and study the shastras.
Vaishyas should donate alms, perform sacrifices and study the shastras. They have to earn a living by trade, animal husbandry and agricultural business.
Shudras have to serve brahmanas. They have to earn a living by being shopkeepers and artisans.

Now let me tell you about the four phases of life.
The first phase {brahmacharya} – This phase is the student hood of life. The individual spends his days studying under his/her teacher.

The second phase {grahasthya} – This phase is the householder stage of life. The individual gets married and has children. He has to serve the gods, guests and ancestors well. It is the householders that provide alms for the sages. Due to this the householder stage is very important.

The third phase {vanaprastha} – This stage is the forest life phase. The individual retires to the forest. He detaches his mind from earthly things. He must eat fruits, berries and leaves. He must wear clothes of bark and skin. He is not allowed to cut and shave his hair.

The fourth phase {sannyasa} – This is the stage in which a brahmana completely detaches himself from things. He gets food from begging

The Brahma Purana talks a lot about the classes and phases of life so I decided to even include it in my review. This Purana is slightly different because it concentrates a lot on some things. Such as:

• The creation and destruction of the Universe.
• The river Goutami Ganga
• Tirthas and sacred places.
• The geography of the Earth.
• Time division, the classifications in people and their life.

I found this different because most Puranas don’t concentrate a lot on a particular subject or topic. They just relate stories and the answers to questions on lots of topics.

I hope you liked and enjoyed reading my review. This is the third book I am reviewing that is written by Bibek Debroy. He has a very nice style of writing and I really enjoy reading his books.
I will soon come back again with another amazing review on another Purana.

• Review of Padma Purana 
• Review Shiva Purana

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Preview:

Padma Purana, Translatd by Bibek Debroy

Padma Purana (Great Epics of India: Puranas Book 2)

Translated by by Bibek Debroy, Dipavali Debroy

Last time I had written about the Shiva Purana. This time I have decided to write about the Padma Purana. The Padma Purana comes second in the list of Puranas after the Brahma Purana. All 18 Mahapuranas share 4 lakh shlokas between them but they are not equal in length. The Padma Purana is the second longest Purana. It is fifty-five thousand couplets long, second only to the Skanda Purana which is eighty-one lakh couplets long. The shlokas in this Purana are divided into 5 sections. They are:

• Shrishti khanda
• Bhumi khanda
• Svarga khanda
• Patala khanda
• Uttara khanda

The Puranas usually glorify all three main Hindu gods, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva but sometimes they devote more attention towards one god. The Padma Purana is a satvik Purana, a Purana that glorifies Vishnu and describes his avatars in more detail.

Each Purana is believed to be composed in a different kalpa. A kalpa is one of Brahma’s days. At the end of the kalpa the universe is destroyed and at night evil prevails. The next kalpa again starts with the creation of the Universe. The Padma Purana was composed in a kalpa known as the Padma kalpa. It is also agreed that the final form of the Puranas were composed between 300 A.D and 1000 A.D but the earlier sections of the Puranas could have been composed around 500 B.C. Bibek Debroy decides to describe the Bhumi khanda in his version of this Purana.

The Puranas have been recited by Lomaharshana on a request by some sages. I am going to tell you a story which I found very interesting.

One day during the Dvapara yuga there lived a petty and mean thief called Dandaka. He stole from Brahmans, lied, ate beef and drank wine. Dandaka once decided to steal from the temple of Vishnu. His feet were muddy so he wiped it on the threshold before coming in. This action of his had a very unexpected result. Dandaka entered the main chamber of the temple. He thought that the statue was not of use to him but there were other gold and silver objects in the room that he proceded to take. Some objects fell down and awoke some people. Dandaka ran but he stepped on a sleeping snake and died of snake bite. Yama’s servants came to take him to hell for his various crimes but Vishnu’s messengers stopped them. Vishnu’s messengers explained that when Dandaka had wiped his feet, the threshold was dirty. Some dust was brushed away when Dandaka wiped his feet. Due to this all his sins were forgiven and he was taken straight to Vishnuloka. Such are the effects of cleaning Vishnu’s temples.

I really liked this story because it taught me a new fact and was very interesting.
Each of the Mahapuranas is connected with a part of Vishnu’s body. They are as follows:

• Brahma Purana – The head
• Padma Purana – The heart
• Vishnu Purana – The right arm
• Shiva Purana – The left arm
• Bhagvata Purana – The thighs
• Narada Purana – The navel
• Markandeya Purana – The right foot
• Agni Purana – The left foot
• Bhavishya Purana – The right knee
• Brahmavaivarta Purana – The left knee
• Linga Purana – The right calf
• Varaha Puana – The left calf
• Skanda Purana – The body hair
• Vamana Purana – The skin
• Kurma Purana – The back
• Matsya Purana – The fat of the body
• Garuda Purana – The marrow
• Brahmanda Purana – The bones

If we hear the recital of one shloka from the Padma Purana all our sins that have been committed in a single day are washed away. We can obtain lot of punya by donating thousand cows but the same amount of punya can be obtained by hearing the recital of one chapter of the Padma Purana. An enormous amount of punya can be obtained by performing the asvamedha yagna but an equivalent amount of punya can be obtained by hearing the recital of the whole Padma Purana. It is better to hear the recital of texts than performing yagnas.

I enjoyed this Purana of Bibek Debroy’s also. He has used the same pattern and used simple and understandable English. This Purana had many interconnecting stories so you had to remember all the stories to understand the Purana.

I hope all the Puranas are like this and it has been really nice experience reading this Purana too.


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© 2017, Anika Agarwal. All rights reserved.

Shiva Purana by Bibek Debroy

Shiva Purana (Great Epics of India: Puranas Book 4)

Translated by Bibek Debroy, Dipavali Debroy

This book is about a Purana. Well, what is a Purana? A Purana is a sacred text. There are many Puranas. It is believed that Vedvyasa or Krishna Dvaipayana had written them. The word Vedvyasa is just a title. It means the person who compiled the Vedas. Vedvyasa first divided the Vedas into 4 parts. The Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, the Sama Veda and the Atharva Veda. After this he wrote the Mahabharata. Mahabharata has one lakh shlokas. Still feeling unsatisfied he wrote the Puranas. The Puranas together make one crore shlokas. Since this number was too much for mere mortals to read, he summarized it to 4 lakh shlokas. The truth is that no one person wrote the Puranas. Many people wrote them. The eighteen main ones are the ones that Vedvyasa wrote. They are:

• Brahma Purana
• Padma Purana
• Vishnu Purana
• Shiva Purana/ Vayu Purana
• Bhagwata Purana
• Narayana Purana
• Markandeya Purana
• Agni Purana
• Bhavishya Purana
• Brahma vaivarta Purana
• Linga Purana
• Varaha Purana
• Skanda Purana
• Vamana Purana
• Kurma Purana
• Matsya Purana
• Garuda Purana
• Bhramanda Puarana

These eighteen Puranas are known as Mahapuranas. Every Mahapurana should have 5 things:

• The creation of the universe [sarga]
• The periodical destruction and recreation [pratisarga]
• The solar dynasty [surya vansha] and the lunar dynasty [Chandra vansha]
• The fourteen different eras [manvantaras]
• The royal genealogies [vamshanucharita]

If a purana does not have these 5 things, then it is not a Mahapurana. There is some confusion about the Shiva Purana. Some people say the fourth Mahapurana is the Shiva Purana. While others say the fourth Mahapurana is the Vayu Purana. All the Mahapuranas are mostly concentrated on the three main Hindu Gods. Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Brahma is considered the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer. The Vishnu concentrated Puranas are called the ‘satvik puranas’. The Brahma concentrated Puranas are called the ‘rajsik puranas’. The Shiva concentrated Puranas are called the ‘tamsik puranas.'

The Shiva Purana is 24,000 shlokas long. It has been told to some sages by Romaharshana alias Lomaharshana, who was a disciple of Vedvyasa. Romaharshana also describes all the 12 Jyotirlingas. They are:

• Somnath
• Mallikarjuna
• Mahakala
• Kedara
• Omkara
• Bhimashankara
• Vishvanatha
• Vaidyanatha
• Nagesha
• Rameshvara
• Tryambaka
• Ghushnesha

I like the story in which Romaharshana describes the curses of the ketaki and champak flower, due to which they are not used to worship Shiva.

The ketaki flower has a unique story from the Ramayana on why it is not used to worship Shiva. The story takes place in the forest where Ram, Lakshmana and Sita were spending their exile. They had just received the news of Dasharatha’s death. Ram as the eldest decided to perform the funeral rights in the forest. He sent Lakshmana to get the required materials. Lakshmana did not return for a long time so Ram set out to find him. It was nearing afternoon and both Ram and Lakshmana had not returned. Sita decided to do the funeral rites herself. Two disembodied hands appeared and claimed to be Dashratha. They accepted the offering. Sita said that Ram and Lakshmana would not believe her. The hands said that the river Phalgu, the fire, a cow standing nearby and a ketaki flower would be the witnesses. Ram and Lakshman returned and did not believe her. Sita asked all 4 witnesses and all of them denied it. Ram and Lakshmana performed the rites and a voice from heaven explained that Sita had already completed it. The Sun God confirmed it. Sita was angry that the witnesses lied. She cursed the Phalgu river that it would only flow underground. The fire would consume all things irrespective of what it was. The cow’s mouth would become impure because it had lied through that. Lastly the ketaki flower would never be used to worship Shiva.

I liked the story because it was a new thing to me and it has not been described in most versions of the Ramayana. The twelve Jyotirlingas also have a different and unique story about them. It is said that at those 12 places Lord Shiva is always there. At those 12 places people did great tapasya and got a boon, with which they asked Shiva to always be there.

The Purana also describes the different types of hell for a person according to their sin. I am also sure the Shiv Purana is a Mahapurana because it has all 5 components needed for a Mahapurana.

If we hear or read the Shiv purana all our sins our forgiven. If we repeatedly read the Shiv Purana, Shiva himself will come to bless the devotees. If one donates the Shiv Purana with a bull and gold gets to live in Shivaloka forever.

It has been a nice experience reading this book and I hope all the other Puranas are the same. Bibek Debroy has used simple English that is easy and understandable.

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© 2017, Anika Agarwal.