Vyasa, the narrator of the Mahabharata, is traditionally considered the compiler of the Puranas.

[4] However, the earliest written versions date from the time of the Gupta Empire (third-fifth century CE) and much material may be dated, throu gh historical references and other means, to this period and the succeeding cent uries. The texts were probably written all over India.[citation needed] The date of the production of the written texts does not define the date of orig in of the Puranas.[5] On one hand, they existed in some oral form before being w ritten[5] while at the same time, they have been incrementally modified well int o the 16th century.[5][6] An early reference is found in the Chandogya Upanishad (7.1.2). (circa 500 BCE). The Brhadaranyaka Upanishad refers to purana as the "fifth Veda",[7] itihasapur a?a? pacama? vedana?, reflecting the early religious importance of these facts, w hich over time have been forgotten and are considered myths, presumably then in purely oral form. Importantly, the most famous form of itihasapura?a? is the Mah abharata. The term also appears in the Atharvaveda 11.7.24.[8][9] According to Pargiter,[8] the "original Purana" may date to the time of the fina l redaction of the Vedas. Gavin Flood connects the rise of the written Purana hi storically with the rise of devotional cults centring upon a particular deity in the Gupta era: the Puranic corpus is a complex body of materials that advance t he views of various competing cults.[10] Wendy Doniger, based on her study of in dologists, assigns approximate dates to the various Puranas. She dates Markandey a Purana to c. 250 CE (with one portion dated to c. 550 CE), Matsya Purana to c. 250 500 CE, Vayu Purana to c. 350 CE, Harivamsa and Vishnu Purana to c. 450 CE, B rahmanda Purana to c. 350 950 CE, Vamana Purana to c. 450 900 CE, Kurma Purana to c. 550 850 CE, and Linga Purana to c. 600 1000 CE.[11] Common ideas are found throughout the corpus but it is not possible to trace the lines of influence of one Purana upon another so the corpus is best viewed as a synchronous whole.[10] The All India Kashiraj Trust, formed under Vibhuti Narayan Singh, the Maharaja o f Kashi, dedicated itself to publishing editions of the Puranas.[12] Content[edit] Part of a series on Hindu scriptures Om Vedas[show] Vedangas[show] Upanishads[show] Puranas[show] Itihasa[show] Other scriptures[show] Scripture classification[show] Timeline[show] v t e According to Matysa Purana,[13] they are said to narrate five subjects, called P ancha Lakshana pacalak?a?a ("five distinguishing marks", though some scholars hav e suggested that these are shared by other traditional religious scriptures):[14 ][15] Sarga: the creation of the universe. Pratisarga: secondary creations, mostly recreations after dissolution. Vamsa: genealogy of the gods and sages. Manvatara: the creation of the human race and the first human beings. The epoch o f the Manus' rule, 71 celestial Yugas or 308,448,000 years. Vamsanucaritam: the histories of the patriarchs of the lunar and solar dynasties . The Puranas also lay emphasis on keeping a record of genealogies, as the Vayu Pu rana says, "to preserve the genealogies of gods, sages and glorious kings and th e traditions of great men."[16] The Puranic genealogies indicate, for example, t hat Sraddhadeva Manu lived 95 generations before the Bharata war.[17] In Arrian' s Indica, Megasthenes is quoted as stating that the Indians counted from "Dionys

os" (Shiva) to "Sandracottus" (Chandragupta Maurya) "a hundred and fifty-three k ings over six thousand and forty-three years."[18] The list of kings in Kalhana' s Rajatarangini goes back to the 19th century BCE.[19] Texts[edit] Mahapuranas[edit] Of the many texts designated 'Puranas' the most important are the Mahapura?as. T hese are always said to be eighteen in number, divided into three groups of six, though in fact they are not always counted in the same way. Combining the vario us lists Cornelia Dimmitt and J. A. B. van Buitenen have collated twenty names, totalling 429,000 verses:[20] Purana name Verses number Comments Agni 15,400 verses Contains details of Vastu Shastra and Gemology. Bhagavata 18,000 verses Indologist Ludo Rocher considers it to be the mo st celebrated and popular of the Puranas,[21][22] telling of Vishnu's ten Avatar s. Its tenth and longest canto narrates the deeds of Krishna, introducing his ch ildhood exploits, a theme later elaborated by many Bhakti movements.[23] Bhavishya 14,500 verses Contains a record of prophecies. This book have many later insertion. Portions of the extant text are drawn from the law book of Manu.[24] Brahma 10,000 verses Describes the Godavari and its tributaries. Brahmanda 12,000 verses Includes Lalita Sahasranamam, a text some Hindus recite as prayer. Brahmavaivarta 17,000 verses Describes ways to worship Devis, Krishna and Gan esha. Garuda 19,000 verses Describes death and its aftermaths. Harivamsa 16,000 verses Is considered to be itihasa (epic poetry). Kurma 17,000 verses Linga 11,000 verses Describes the magnificence of Lingam, symbol of Shiva, a nd origin of the universe. It also contains many stories of Lingam one of which entails how Agni Lingam solved dispute between Vishnu and Brahma. Markandeya 09,000 verses The Devi Mahatmya, an important text for the Sha ktas, is embedded in it. Matsya 14,000 verses Narrates the story of Matsya, the first of ten major Ava tars of Vishnu. It also contains genealogical details of various dynasties.[25] Narada 25,000 verses Describes the greatness of Vedas and Vedangas. Padma 55,000 verses Describes the greatness of Bhagavad Gita. Hence, it is a lso known as gitamahatmya (lit. the majesty of Gita). Shiva 24,000 verses Describes the greatness of Shiva, greatness in worshipin g Shiva and other stories about him. Skanda 81,100 verses Describes the birth of Skanda (or Karthikeya), second so n of Shiva. The longest Purana, it is an extraordinarily meticulous pilgrimage g uide, containing geographical locations of pilgrimage centers in India, with rel ated legends, parables, hymns and stories. Many untraced quotes are attributed t o this text.[26] Vamana 10,000 verses Describes areas around Kurukshetra in North India. Varaha 24,000 verses Describes various forms prayer and devotional observance s to Vishnu. Many illustrations also involve Shiva and Durga.[27] Vayu 24,000 verses Another name of Shiva Purana Vishnu 23,000 verses Describes the many deeds of Vishnu and various ways to w orship him.[28] Classification[edit] Puranas are classified according to qualification of persons who can understand them: "Pura?as are supplementary explanations of the Vedas intended for differen t types of men. All men are not equal. There are men who are conducted by the mo de of goodness, others who are under the mode of passion and others who are unde r the mode of ignorance. The Pura?as are so divided that any class of men can ta ke advantage of them and gradually regain their lost position and get out of the hard struggle for existence."[29] The Mahapuranas are frequently classified according the three aspects of the div

ine Trimurti:[2] Vai??ava Puranas: Vishnu Purana, Bhagavata Purana, Naradeya Purana, Garuda Purana, Padma Purana, Varaha Purana, Vamana Purana, Kurma Purana, Matsya Purana , Kalki Purana Brahma Puranas: Brahma Purana, Brahmanda Purana, Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Markand eya Purana, Bhavishya Purana, Saiva Puranas: Shiva Purana, Linga Purana, Skanda Purana, Agni Purana, Vayu Pur ana [30] The Padma Purana, Uttara Khanda (236.18-21),[31] itself a Vaishnava Purana, clas sifies the Puranas in accordance with the three gunas or qualities; truth, passi on, and indifference: