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40-537: According to the Vishnu Purana , Shaunaka was the son of Gritsamada and invented the system of the four levels of human life. Sūta mahamuni narrated mythological stories to a group of sages headed by Shaunaka maha muni. Ṛgveda-Prātiśākhya is attributed to Shaunaka who taught it to others in a satra-yajna (a 12-day very large scale collective yajna) held in Naimisha according to Vishnumitra of Champa town,

80-435: A conversation between sage Maitreya and his Guru , Parashara , with the sage asking, "What Is The Nature Of This Universe And Everything That Is In It?" The first Amsha (part) of Vishnu Purana presents cosmology, dealing with the creation, maintenance and destruction of the universe. The mythology, states Rocher, is woven with the evolutionary theories of Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy . The Hindu god Vishnu

120-565: A version of Vishnu Purana existed by about 1000 CE, but it is unclear to what extent the extant manuscripts reflect the revisions during the 2nd millennium. Vishnu Purana like all Puranas has a complicated chronology. Dimmitt and van Buitenen state that each of the Puranas including the Vishnu Purana is encyclopedic in style, and it is difficult to ascertain when, where, why and by whom these were written: As they exist today,

160-588: Is an important Pancharatra text in the Vaishnavism literature corpus. The manuscripts of Vishnu Purana have survived into the modern era in many versions. More than any other major Purana , the Vishnu Purana presents its contents in Pancalaksana format – Sarga ( cosmogony ), Pratisarga ( cosmology ), Vamsa ( genealogy of the gods and goddesses, sages and kings and queens), Manvantara (cosmic cycles), and Vamsanucarita (legends during

200-575: Is composed in metric verses or sloka , wherein each verse has exactly 32 syllables, of which 16 syllables in the verse may be free style per ancient literary standards. The Vishnu Purana is an exception in that it presents its contents in Vishnu worship-related Pancalaksana format – Sarga ( Cosmogony ), Pratisarga ( Cosmology ), Vamsa (Mythical genealogy of the gods, sages, and kings), Manvantara (Cosmic Cycles), and Vamsanucaritam (Legends During The Times Of Various Kings and Queens). This

240-489: Is presented as the central element of this text's cosmology, unlike some other Puranas where Shiva or Brahma or the Tridevi are offered prominence. The reverence and the worship of Vishnu is described in 22 chapters of the first part as the means for liberation, along with the profuse use of the synonymous names of Vishnu such as Hari , Janardana , Madhava, Achyuta, Hrishikesha and others. The chapters 1.16 through 1.20 of

280-418: Is rare, state Dimmitt and van Buitenen, because just 2% of the known Puranic literature corpus is about these five Pancalaksana items, and about 98% is about diverse range of encyclopedic topics. Who Is Vishnu? Out Of Vishnu This Universe Has Arisen, In Him Its Exists, He Is The One Who Governs Its Existence And Destruction, He Is The Universe. — Vishnu Purana , 1.14 Vishnu Purana opens as

320-432: Is the shortest, with 8 chapters. The first part of the sixth book asserts that Kali Yuga is vicious, cruel and filled with evilness that create suffering, yet "Kali Yuga is excellent" because one can refuse to join the evil, devote oneself to Vishnu and thus achieve salvation. The last chapters, from 6.6 to 6.7 of the text discusses Yoga and meditation, as a means to Vishnu devotion. Contemplative devotion, asserts

360-731: The Dharmasutra literature. Rajendra Hazra, in 1940, assumed that Vishnu Purana is ancient and proposed that texts such as Apasthamba Dharmasutra borrowed text from it. Modern scholars such as Allan Dahlaquist disagree, however, and state that the borrowing may have been in the other direction, from Dharmasutras into the Purana. Other chapters, particularly those in book 5 and 6 of the Vishnu Purana have Advaita Vedanta and Yoga influences. The theistic Vedanta scholar Ramanuja , according to Sucharita Adluri, incorporated ideas from

400-572: The Lord Vishnu . The word " Brihada " or romanised form " Bṛhat " is an adjective which means large or great. Thus the literal meaning of the text " Brihada Vishnu Purana " or " Bṛhat Viṣṇu Purāṇa " is " Larger Vishnu Purana ". In the text Brihada Vishnu Purana, the Vedic sage Parashara is the Guru as well as speaker of the text and the sage Maitreya is the disciple as well as the listener of

440-576: The Sun and the Moon . Four Chapters (2.13 to 2.16) of the second book of the text present the legends of King Bharata , who abdicates his throne to lead the life of a Sannyasi , which is similar to the legends found in section 5.7 to 5.14 of the Bhagavata Purana . The geography of Mount Mandara is east of Mount Meru, presented in this book and other Puranas, states Stella Kramrisch, may be related to

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480-591: The Vishnu Purana to identify the Brahman concept in the Upanishads with Vishnu, thus providing a Vedic foundation to the Sri Vaishnava tradition. Brihada Vishnu Purana Brihada Vishnu Purana ( Sanskrit : बृहद विष्णु पुराण) also known as Brihat Vishnu Purana ( Romanised : Bṛhat Viṣṇu Purāṇa ) or Vrihadda Vishnu Purana is a Sanskrit religious text in the tradition of Hinduism dedicated to

520-473: The Vishnu Purana presents the legend of compassionate and Vishnu devotee Prahlada and his persecution by his demon king father Hiranyakashipu , wherein Prahlada is ultimately saved by Vishnu when Vishnu as Narasimha disimbowels and kills Hiranyakashipu. This story is also found in other Puranas. Vishnu is described in the first book of Vishnu Purana as, translates Wilson, all elements, all matter in

560-508: The Yugas (eras), with Parikshita is a current king. The text includes the legends of numerous characters such as Shaubhri, Mandhatri , Narmada , Kapila , Rama , Nimi , Janaka , Satyavati , Puru , Yadu , Krishna , Devaka, Pandu , Kuru , Bharata , Bhishma , and others. The fifth book of the Vishnu Purana is the longest, with 38 chapters. It is dedicated to the legend of Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu. The book begins with

600-561: The British India colonial era, some in the 19th century. The scholarship on Vishnu Purana , and other Puranas, has suffered from cases of forgeries, states Ludo Rocher , where liberties in the transmission of Puranas were normal and those who copied older manuscripts replaced words or added new content to fit the theory that the colonial scholars were keen on publishing. The extant text comprises six amsas (parts) and 126 adhyayas (chapters). The first part has 22 chapters,

640-702: The Legend Of Vishnu, through Mayamoha , helping the Devas and Devis win over Asuras and Asuris by teaching the Asuras and Asuris heretical doctrines that deny the Vedas, who declare their contempt for the Vedas, which makes them easy to identify and all are killed. The fourth book of the text, in 24 long chapters, presents royal dynasties, starting with Brahma and Sarasvati, followed by solar and lunar , fire and snake dynasties, then those on earth over

680-412: The Puranas are a stratified literature. Each titled work consists of material that has grown by numerous accretions in successive historical eras. Thus, no Purana has a single date of composition. It is as if they were libraries to which new volumes have been continuously added, not necessarily at the end of the shelf, but randomly. Many of the extant manuscripts were written on palm leaf or copied during

720-539: The Sanskrit edition. It is: The Critical Edition of the Visnupuranam , edited by M. M. Pathak, 2 vols., Vadodara: Oriental Institute , 1997, 1999. All scholars citing translations of Sanskrit texts are expected to refer to the Sanskrit original, because translations are inexact. From 1999 onward, anyone citing the Vishnu Purana will be expected to refer to this Sanskrit critical edition. A translation of

760-426: The commentator of Uvaṭa 's commentary of Ṛgveda-Prātiśākhya The Ṛgvidhāna, a Vidhāna text on the use of Rigvedic mantras, is also attributed to Shaunaka. Shaunaka had a prominent role in the epic Mahābhārata . The epic Mahābhārata was narrated to Shaunaka by a storyteller named Ugrasrava Sauti during a conclave of sages headed by Shaunaka in a forest named Naimisha. Shaunaka also consoled Yudhishthira on

800-458: The country of Bharata ) along with its numerous rivers and diverse people . The seven continents are named Jambu , Plaksha , Salmala , Kusha , Krauncha , Saka, and Pushkara , each surrounded by different types of oceans ( saltwater , freshwater , wine , sugarcane juice , ghrita , yogurt , and milk ). This part of the Vishnu Purana describes spheres above the Earth , Planets ,

840-527: The critical edition was published in 2021 under the title, The Vishnu Purana: Ancient Annals of the God with Lotus Eyes. Vishnu Purana is one of the 18 major Puranas, and these text share many legends, likely influenced each other. The fifth chapter of the Vishnu Purana was likely influenced by the Mahabharata. Similarly, the verses on rites of passage and ashramas (stages) of life are likely drawn from

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880-407: The current age belong to the seventh. In each age, asserts the text, the Vedas are arranged into four, it is changed, and this has happened twenty eight times already. Each time, a Vyasa appears and he diligently organizes the eternal knowledge, with the aid of his students. After presenting the emergence of Vedic schools, the text presents the ethical duties of the four Varnas in chapter 2.8,

920-569: The earth, the Vaishya should engage in commerce and farming, while the Shudra should subsist by profits of trade, service other varnas and through mechanical labor. The text asserts the ethical duties of all Varnas is to do good to others, never abuse anyone, never engage in calumny or untruth, never covet another person's wife, never steal another's property, never bear ill-will towards anyone, never beat and kill anyone wrongfully. Be diligent in

960-572: The four Ashrama (Stages) of the life of each human being in chapter 2.9, the rites of passage including wedding rituals in chapters 2.10 through 2.12, and Shraddha (Ancestral rites) in chapters 2.13 through 2.16. The Vishnu Purana asserts that the Brahmana should study the Shastras , worship deities and perform libations on behalf of others, the Kshatriya should maintain arms and protect

1000-442: The four stages of life as Brahmacharya (Student), Grihastha (Householder), Vanaprastha (Retirement) and Sannyasa (Renunciation, Mendicant). The text repeats the ethical duties in this chapter, translates Wilson. The chapters on Shraddha (Rites For Ancestors) describe the rites associated with a death in family, the preparation of the dead body, its cremation and the rituals after the cremation. The third book closes with

1040-516: The ideas in it, like other Puranas, are premised on the Vedic beliefs and ideas. Vishnu Purana , like all major Puranas, attributes its author to be sage Vyasa . The actual author(s) and date of its composition are unknown and contested. Estimates of its composition range from 400 CE to 900 CE. The text was likely composed and rewritten in layers over a period of time, with roots possibly in ancient 1st-millennium BCE texts that have not survived into

1080-458: The latter abridged the version in former, or both depended on the Harivamsa estimated to have been composed sometime in the 1st millennium CE. Soul and Prakriti This soul is of its own nature, pure, composed of happiness and wisdom. The properties of pain, ignorance and impurity, are those of Prakriti , not of soul. — Vishnu Purana , 6.7 The last book of the Vishnu Purana

1120-562: The modern era. The Padma Purana categorizes Vishnu Purana as a Sattva Purana (Purana that represents goodness and purity). The composition date of Vishnu Purana is unknown and contested, with estimates widely disagreeing. Some proposed dates for the earliest version of Vishnu Purana by various scholars include: Rocher states that the "date of the Vishnu Purana is as contested as that of any other Purana". References to Vishnu Purana in texts such as Brihadvishnu whose dates are better established, states Rocher, suggest that

1160-428: The nature of suffering after the latter was exiled. This Hinduism-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Vishnu Purana Divisions Sama vedic Yajur vedic Atharva vedic Vaishnava puranas Shaiva puranas Shakta puranas The Vishnu Purana is one of the eighteen Mahapuranas , a genre of ancient and medieval texts of Hinduism . It

1200-451: The presumptions and premises about what Puranas may have been. The Vishnu Purana is among the shorter Purana texts, with about 7,000 verses in extant versions. It primarily centers around the Hindu god Vishnu and his avataras such as Rama and Krishna , but it praises Brahma and Shiva and says that they are dependent on Vishnu. The Purana, states Wilson, is pantheistic and

1240-412: The second part consists 16 chapters, the third part comprises 18 chapters and the fourth part has 24 chapters. The fifth and the sixth parts are the longest and the shortest part of the text, comprising 38 and 8 chapters respectively. The textual tradition claims that the original Vishnu Purana had 23,000 verses, but the surviving manuscripts have just a third of these, about 7,000 verses. The text

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1280-450: The service of the deities, sages and gurus , asserts the Purana, and seek the welfare of all creatures, one's own children and of one's own soul. Anyone, regardless of their varna or stage of life, who lives a life according to the above duties is the best worshipper of Vishnu and Lakshmi, says the Vishnu Purana . Similar statements on ethical things of people are found in other parts of Vishnu Purana. The text describes in chapter 2.9,

1320-546: The story of Krishna's birth, his childhood pranks and plays, his exploits, and killing the demon-tyrant king of Mathura , named Kamsa . The Krishna story in the Vishnu Purana is similar to his legend in the Bhagavata Purana , in several other Puranas and the Harivamsa of the Mahabharata . Scholars have long debated whether the Bhagavata Purana expanded the Krishna Legend in the Vishnu Purana , or whether

1360-549: The text Brihada Vishnu Purana is available and preserved. It was later translated in Maithili , Hindi and Nepali languages. Vijayakanta Mishra in his text " Cultural Heritage of Mithila " mentioned the text Brihada Vishnu Purana which provides the twelve names of the ancient Mithila . In the texts Ekamra-Purana and Laghubhāgavatāmṛta , the Brihada Vishnu Purana is mentioned as Brihad-Vaishnava in

1400-595: The text asserts itself to be an "imperishable Vaishnava Purana". A Critical Edition of the Sanskrit text of the Visnu-purana was published in two large volumes, 1997 and 1999. A critical edition is prepared by comparing a number of different manuscripts , recording their variant readings in notes, and choosing the best readings to constitute the text of the critical edition. This is a real , large-scale critical edition, in which 43 Sanskrit manuscripts were gathered and collated, and 27 were chosen from which to prepare

1440-410: The text, is the union with the Brahman (supreme soul, ultimate reality), which is only achievable with virtues such as compassion, truth, honesty, disinterestedness, self-restraint and holy studies. The text mentions five Yamas , five Niyamas , Pranayama and Pratyahara . The pure and perfect soul is called Vishnu, states the text, and absorption in Vishnu is liberation. The final chapter 6.8 of

1480-562: The text. It is said that the original text of the Brihada Vishnu Purana has been lost. The information about the Brihada Vishnu Purana is found from the references of the other Hindu texts available. According to the author Dharmanath Sharma of the text Brihadvishnupuranie Mithila Mahatmya, the information of the entire Brihad Vishnu Purana is nowhere available. It is said that only the Mithila Mahatmya part of

1520-453: The times of various kings and queens). Some manuscripts of the text are notable for not including sections found in other major Puranas, such as those on Mahatmyas and tour guides on pilgrimage, but some versions include chapters on temples and travel guides to sacred pilgrimage sites. The text is also notable as the earliest Purana to have been translated and published in 1840 CE by HH Wilson , based on manuscripts then available, setting

1560-417: The word Mandiram ( Hindu Temple ) and the reason of its Design, Image, Aim and Destination. The initial chapters of the third book of the Vishnu Purana presents its theory of Manvantaras , (each 306.72 Million Years Long ). This is premised upon the Hindu belief that everything is Cyclic, and even Yugas (Eras) start, complete and then end. Six manvantaras, states the text, have already passed, and

1600-444: The world, the entire universe, all living beings, as well as Atman (Inner Self, essence) within every living being, nature, intellect, ego, mind, senses, ignorance, wisdom, the four Vedas, all that is and all that is not. The second part of the text describes the story of earth , the seven continents and seven oceans . It describes Mount Meru , Mount Mandara and other major mountains , as well as Bharatavarsha (Literally,

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