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The Pahlavas are a people mentioned in ancient Indian texts. According to Patrick Carnegy, a Raj-era ethnographer, the 4th-century BCE Vartika of Katyayana mentions the Sakah-Parthavah , demonstrating an awareness of these Saka-Parthians, probably by way of commerce. Knowledge of the Pahlavas is distilled from the literary references in texts like the Manu Smriti , various Puranas , the Ramayana , the Mahabharata , and the Bṛhat Saṃhitā .

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28-830: Pahlavas are referenced in various Puranic texts such as Vayu Purana , the Brahmanda Purana , the Markandeya Purana , the Matsya Purana , and the Vamana Purana . Kirfel 's list of Uttarapatha countries of the Bhuvanakosha locates the Pahlavas along with the Tocharians (or Tusharas ), Chinas , Angalaukikas, Barbaras, Kambojas , Daradas , Bahlikas and other countries of

56-416: 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. The Asiatic Society , Calcutta published this text in two volumes in 1880 and 1888, as a part of their Bibliotheca Indica series. It was edited by Rajendralal Mitra . The Venkateshvara Press, Bombay edition was published in 1895. It

84-654: Is notable for the numerous references to it, in medieval era Indian literature, likely links to inscriptions such as those found on the Mathura pillar and dated to 380 CE, as well as being a source for carvings and reliefs such as those at the Elephanta Caves – a UNESCO world heritage site. The Vayu Purana is mentioned in chapter 3.191 of the Mahabharata, and section 1.7 of the Harivamsa , suggesting that

112-489: The Brahmanda Purana . The Vayu Purana , according to the tradition and verses in other Puranas, contains 24,000 verses ( shlokas ). However, the surviving manuscripts have about 12,000 verses. The text was continuously revised over the centuries, and its extant manuscripts are very different. Some manuscripts have four padas (parts) with 112 chapters, and some two khandas with 111 chapters. Comparisons of

140-524: The Brahman , Delighting in the Atman Alert and pure. Such are the ones who master Yoga. — Vayu Purana 16.22-16.23 The Vayu Purana exists in many versions, structured in different ways, For example: The Vayu Purana discusses its theories of cosmology , genealogy of gods and kings of solar and lunar dynasties, mythology, geography, manvantaras , the solar system and the movements of

168-577: The Mahabharata and other Hindu texts, which has led scholars to propose that the text is among the oldest in the Puranic genre. Vayu and Vayaviya Puranas do share a very large overlap in their structure and contents, possibly because they once were the same, but with continuous revisions over the centuries, the original text became two different texts, and the Vayaviya text came also to be known as

196-832: The Skanda Purana , says Juergen Neuss, but he adds that the manuscripts attest the Revakhanda containing 232 chapters belongs to the Vayu Purana and was wrongly included in the Skanda Purana by Veṅkateśvara Steam Press in 1910 and all publications of the Skanda after it. The one belonging to the Skanda Purana has 116 chapters. Sakas Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include

224-548: The Uttarapatha (Udichyas) including the Pahlavas, Paradas, Gandharas, Sakas, Yavanas, Tusharas, Kambojas, Khasas, Lampakas, Madhyadesis, Vindhyas, Aprantas, Dakshinatyas, Dravidas, Pulindas, Simhalas, would be proceeded against and annihilated by Kalki in Kali Yuga . And they are stated to have been annihilated by king Pramiti at the end of Kali age as per Puranic evidence. According to Vayu Purana and Matsya Purana ,

252-583: The Vayu Purana , sometime before the 15th century. Vayu Purana, like all Puranas, has a complicated chronology. Dimmitt and van Buitenen state that each of the Puranas is encyclopedic in style, and it is difficult to ascertain when, where, why and by whom these were written: As they exist today, the Puranas are stratified literature. Each titled work consists of material that has grown by numerous accretions in successive historical eras. Thus, no Purana has

280-482: The "Udichya" (Sanskrit: "northern") division of ancient India: ete desha udichyastu Kambojashchaiva Dardashchaiva Barbarashcha Angaukikah Chinashchaiva Tusharashcha Pahlava dhayata narah The Vayu Purana , Brahmanda Purana and several other Puranas mention the Pahlavas with the tribes of Uttarapatha or north-west. The 6th-century CE text Markandeya Purana lists the Pahlavas, Kambojas, Daradas, Bahlikas, Barbaras, Tusharas, Paradas, Chinas, Lampakas, as

308-562: The Gupta king Vikramaditya ( Chandragupta II ) had "unburdened the sacred earth of the barbarians" like the Shakas, Mlecchas, Kambojas, Yavanas, Tusharas, Parasikas, Hunas, by annihilating these "unrighteous people" completely. The 10th century Kavyamimamsa of Pt Raj Shekhar still lists the Sakas, Tusharas, Vokanas, Hunas, Kambojas, Bahlikas, Pahlavas, Tangana, Turukshas, together and states them as

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336-763: The Kshatriyas'). The Balakanda of the Ramayana groups the Pahlavas with the Sakas, Kambojas, Yavanas, Mlechhas and the Kiratas and refers to them as military allies of sage Vasishtha against Vedic sage king Vishwamitra . The Kiṣkindhā Kāṇda of the Ramayana associates the Pahlavas with the Yavanas , Shakas , Kambojas , Paradas (Varadas), Rishikas and the Uttarakurus , and locates them all in

364-660: The Pahlavas, Sakas, Paradas, Kambojas were also located in western India near Saurashtra - Maharashtra . The Pahlavas along with the Sakas, Kiratas, Yavanas, amongst others, joined Saradwat's son Kripacharya, the high-souled and mighty bowman, and took up their positions at the northern point of the army. The Manusmriti states that the Pahlavas and several other tribes like the Sakas , Yavanas , Kambojas , Paradas , Daradas , Khasas . were originally noble Kshatriyas, but later, due to their non-observance of valorous Kshatriya codes and neglect of chivalry, they had gradually sunken to

392-667: The barbaric tribes of Uttarapatha . But the Udyoga-Parva of Mahabharata groups the Pahlavas with the Sakas , Paradas and the Kambojas - Rishikas and locates them all in or around Anupa region in western India. Mahabharata reads: These kings of the Shakas, Pahlavas and Daradas (i.e. the Paradas) and the Kamboja Rshikas, these are in the western riverine (Anupa) area. This epic reference implies that sections of

420-494: The celestial bodies. In addition to these, the text has chapters which were inserted in the later centuries into the older version of the Vayu Purana, such as chapters 16-17 which discuss duties of the Varna (caste or class) and duties of a person during various ashrama , chapter 18 which discusses penances for sannyasi (monks, yati ), chapters 57–59 on dharma , chapters 73 to 83 on sanskaras (rites of passage), and chapter 101 on

448-614: The countries of Udichya division (Uttarapatha). However, the 58th chapter of the Markandeya Purana also refers to yet other settlements of the Pahlavas and the Kambojas and locates them both specifically in the south-west of India as neighbors to the Sindhu , Sauvira and Anarta (north Saurashtra ) countries. The 6th-century Bṛhat Saṃhitā of Varāhamihira also locates the Pahlavas and Kamboja kingdoms in south-west India, around Gujarat -Saurashtra. Puranas like Vayu also state that

476-409: The diverse manuscripts suggest that the following sections were slipped, in later centuries, into the more ancient Vayu Purana : chapters on geography and temples-related travel guides known as Mahatmya , two chapters on castes and individual ashramas , three chapters on Dharma and penances, eleven chapters on purity and Sanskara (rite of passage) and a chapter on hell in after-life. The text

504-438: The earliest version of the text is likely from the 300 to 500 CE period, and broadly agreed that it is among the oldest Puranas. The text, like all Puranas, has likely gone through revisions, additions and interpolations over its history. Rajendra Hazra, as well as other scholars, for example, consider Gaya-mahatmya , which is an embedded travel guide to Gaya , as a later addition. The Gaya-mahatmya replaced older sections of

532-524: The river Chakshu ( Oxus or Amu Darya ) flowed through the countries of Pahlavas, Tusharas , Lampakas, Paradas and the Sakas . Puranas associate the Pahlavas with the Kambojas, Sakas, Yavanas and Paradas and brands them together as Panca-ganah (five hordes). These five hordes were military allies of the Haihaya or Taljunga Kshatriyas of Yadava line and were chiefly responsible for dethroning king Bahu of Kosala. Later, king Sagara, son of king Bahu,

560-602: The status of Mlechchas. The Buddhist drama Mudrarakshasa by Visakhadutta and the Jaina works Parishishtaparvan refer to Chandragupta 's alliance with Himalayan king Parvatka. This Himalayan alliance gave Chandragupta a powerful composite army made up of the frontier martial tribes of the Shakas , Kambojas , Yavanas , Pahlavas, Bahlikas, which he utilized to expanded his Mauryan Empire in northern India. The Brihat-Katha-Manjari of Kshmendra relates that around 400,

588-580: The text existed in the first half of the 1st-millennium CE. The 7th-century Sanskrit prose writer Banabhatta refers to this work in his Kadambari and Harshacharita . In chapter 3 of the Harshacharita Banabhatta remarks that the Vayu Purana was read out to him in his native village. Alberuni (973 -1048), the Persian scholar who visited and lived in northwest Indian subcontinent for many years in early 11th century, quoted from

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616-629: The theory of hell in after-life. The text shares a large number of verses with the Brahmanda Purana , and the two texts originated most likely from the same core text. The comparison of the two texts and specifics within the texts suggests, states Hazra, that the split into two texts could not have happened before 400 CE. The chapters which were slipped into the Vayu Purana are missing in many versions of Vayu and in Brahmananda manuscripts. Chapter 18 on penances for those in monastic life,

644-543: The trans- Himalayan territories, that is, in the Sakadvipa. Mahabharata attests that Pandava-putra Nakula had defeated the Pahlavas in the course of his western expedition. The kings of Pahlava were also present at the Rajasuya sacrifice of king Yudhishtra . The Mahabharata also associates the Pahlavas with the Sakas , Yavanas , Gandharas , Kambojas , Tusharas , Sabaras, Barbaras, and addresses them all as

672-401: The tribes located in the Uttarapatha division. Vayu Purana Divisions Sama vedic Yajur vedic Atharva vedic Vaishnava puranas Shaiva puranas Shakta puranas The Vayu Purana ( Sanskrit : वायुपुराण , Vāyu-purāṇa ) is a Sanskrit text and one of the eighteen major Puranas of Hinduism . Vayu Purana is mentioned in the manuscripts of

700-425: The version of Vayu Purana that existed during his visit. The various mentions of the Vayu Purana in other texts have led scholars to recognize it as one of the oldest. The early 20th-century scholar Dikshitar, known for his dating proposals that push many texts as very ancient and well into 1st millennium BCE, stated that the Vayu Purana started to take shape around 350 BCE. Later scholarship has proposed that

728-578: Was able to defeat the Haihayas or Taljungas together with these five-hordes. According to Puranic accounts, king Sagara had divested the Paradas and other members (the Sakas, Yavanas, Kambojas and Pahlavas) of the well-known Pānca-gana of their Kshatriyahood and turned them into the Mlechchas. Before their defeat at the hands of king Sagara, these five-hordes were called Kshatriya-pungava ('foremost among

756-819: Was followed by the publication of another edition by the Anandashrama (Anandashrama Sanskrit Series 49), Poona . In 1910, the Vangavasi Press, Calcutta published an edition along with a Bengali translation by Panchanan Tarkaratna, the editor of the text. In 1960 Motilal Banarsidass published an English translation as part of its Ancient Indian Traditions and Mythology series. The Yogin The Yogin possesses these attributes, Self-restraint , Quiescence, Truthfulness, Sinlessness, Silence, Straightforwardness towards all, Knowledge beyond simple perception, Uprightness, Composed in mind, Absorbed in

784-825: Was likely inserted before the 14th century. The travel guide to Gaya, Bihar was likely inserted before the 15th-century, because the Gaya-mahatmya was referenced many times by the 15th-century Vacaspatimisra (not to be confused with 9th-century Advaita scholar of the same name). The text also contains chapters on music, various shakhas of the Vedas , Pashupata - Yoga , and geographic Mahatmya (travel guides) particularly about Gaya in Bihar . The Vayu Purana also features other topics such as those dealing with construction of mountain top Hindu temples . The Revakhanda of Vayu Purana since 1910 has been wrongly attributed to

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