The Key to the Kurma Purana

I WILL START ON A new Purana now— the Kurma Purana. I have said this before, but it was said such a long time ago, that it bears repetition. The word “Purana” means old and the Puranas are old texts, mentioned in conjunction with Itihasa (Ramayana and Mahabharata). After composing the Mahabharata, Krishna Dvaipayana Vedavyasa is believed to have composed 18 major Puranas, known as Mahapuranas. He may have composed one original Purana Samhita, which expanded into 18 over time. The texts, as we have them today, were by no means the original texts. In a process of oral transmission, there were embellishments. Writing came much later. We are told Vedavyasa classified the Vedas into four and taught them to his four disciples— Paila, Vaisampayana, Jaimini and Sumantu. He taught Itihasa-Purana to a fifth disciple, Suta Romaharshana or Lomaharshana. In addition to being charioteers, Sutas were bards, minstrels and raconteurs. This Suta Romaharshana or Lomaharshana got such a name because the body-hair of the listeners stood up when they heard his narration. There are many types of Puranas. Some are known as Sthala Puranas, describing the greatness and sanctity of a specific geographical place. Some are known as Upa-Puranas, minor Puranas. The listing of Upa-Puranas has regional variations and there is no countrywide consensus about the list of Upa- Puranas, though it is often accepted there are 18.

But I have in mind Mahapuranas. There are 18 of these and the list is pretty much standard throughout the country. They are: (1) Agni (15,400); (2) Bhagavata (18,000); (3) Brahma (10,000); (4) Brahmanda (12,000); (5) Brahmavaivarta (18,000); (6) Garuda (19,000); (7) Kurma (17,000); (8) Linga (11,000); (9) Markandeya (9,000); (10) Matsya (14,000); (11) Narada (25,000); (12) Padma (55,000); (13) Shiva (24,000); (14) Skanda (81,100); (15) Vamana (10,000); (16) Varaha (24,000); (17) Vayu (24,000); and (18) Vishnu (23,000). The Harivamsha is sometimes loosely described as a Purana, but strictly speaking, it is not a Purana. It is more like an addendum to the Mahabharata. Bhavishya (14,500) is sometimes mentioned, with Vayu excised from the list. However, the Vayu Purana exhibits many more Purana characteristics than Bhavishya Purana does. There are references to a Bhavishyat Purana that existed, but that may not necessarily be the Bhavishya Purana as we know it today. That’s true of some other Puranas too. Texts have been completely restructured hundreds of years later. It is not just a question of Bhavishya Purana and Vayu Purana. In the lists given in some Puranas, Vayu is part of the 18, but Agni is knocked out. In some others, Narasimha and Vayu are included, but Brahmanda and Garuda are knocked out. When one uses the term “Bhagavata”, does one mean Bhagavata Purana or does one mean Devi Bhagavata Purana? The numbers within brackets indicate the number of shlokas each of these Puranas has, or is believed to have. The range is from 9,000 in Markandeya to a mammoth 81,100 in Skanda. The aggregate is a colossal 4,09,500 shlokas. To convey a rough idea of the orders of magnitude, the Mahabharata has, or is believed to have, 1,00,000 shlokas. It’s a bit difficult to convert a shloka into word counts in English, especially because Sanskrit words have a slightly different structure. However, as a very crude approximation, one shloka is roughly 20 words. Thus, 100,000 shlokas become two million words and 4,00,000 shlokas, four times the size of the Mahabharata, amounts to eight million words.

There are two ways these 18 Puranas are classified. The trinity has Brahma as the creator, Vishnu as the preserver and Shiva as the destroyer. Therefore, Puranas where creation themes feature prominently are identified with Brahma (Brahma, Brahmanda, Brahmavaivarta, Markandeya). Puranas where Vishnu features prominently are identified as Vaishnava Puranas (Bhagavata, Garuda, Kurma, Matysa, Narada, Padma, Vamana, Varaha, Vishnu). Puranas where Shiva features prominently are identified as Shaiva Puranas (Agni, Linga, Shiva, Skanda, Vayu). While there is a grain of truth in this, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are all important and all three feature in every Purana. Therefore, beyond the relative superiority of Vishnu vis-à-vis Shiva, the taxonomy probably doesn’t serve much purpose. The second classification is even more tenuous and is based on the three gunas of sattva (purity), rajas (passion) and tamas (ignorance). For example, the Uttara Khanda of the Padma Purana has a few shlokas along these lines, recited by Shiva to Parvati. According to this, the Puranas characterised by sattva are Bhagavata, Garuda, Narada, Padma, Varaha and Vishnu. Those characterised by rajas are Bhavishya, Brahma, Brahmanda, Brahmavaivarta, Markandeya and Vamana. Those characterised by tamas are Agni, Kurma, Linga, Matysa, Skanda and Shiva.

Within a specific Purana text, there are earlier sections, as well as later ones. That makes it difficult to date a Purana, except as a range. Across Purana texts, there are older Puranas, as well as later ones. Extremely speculatively, the dating will be something like the following: (1) Agni (800– 1100CE); (2) Bhagavata (500–1000CE); (3) Brahma (700– 1500CE); (4) Brahmanda (400–600CE); (5) Brahmavaivarta (700–1500CE); (6) Garuda (800–1100CE); (7) Kurma (600– 900CE); (8) Linga (500–1000CE); (9) Markandeya (250– 700CE); (10) Matsya (200–500CE); (11) Narada (900–1600CE); (12) Padma (400–1600CE); (13) Shiva (1000–1400CE); (14) Skanda (600–1200CE); (15) Vamana (450–900CE); (16) Varaha (1000– 1200CE); (17) Vayu (350–550CE); (18) Vishnu (300BCE to 450CE); and (19) Bhavishya (500–1900CE). Reiterating once again that there is no great precision in these ranges, by this reckoning, the Vishnu Purana is the oldest and some parts of the Bhavishya Purana are as recent as the 19th century. To state the obvious, within the same Purana, there may be older sections and newer ones.

In Puranas where Shiva is relatively more important, Pashupata doctrines will be a recurrent theme. Kurma is one of Vishnu’s avatars

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Let me now be specific about Kurma Purana. It is dated to between 600 and 900CE. As I have said earlier, it is identified with Vishnu and classified as a tamas Purana. The word samhita means a collection or compilation. The text of Kurma Purana tells us it originally had four samhitas— Brahmi, Bhagavati, Souri and Vaishnavi. But the Bhagavati, Souri and Vaishnavi samhitas have been lost down the years. The Brahmi Samhita alone survives, divided into a first part (purvarddha) and a second part (uttararddha). The Kurma Purana is supposed to have 17,000 shlokas. But today, it has slightly less than 6,000 shlokas. The others have been lost. There was a school and practice of devotion to Vishnu known as Pancharatra. Similarly, there was a school and practice of devotion to Shiva, known as Pashupata. In Puranas where Vishnu is relatively more important, Pancharatra doctrines will be a recurrent theme. Similarly, in Puranas where Shiva is relatively more important, Pashupata doctrines will be a recurrent theme. Kurma is one of Vishnu’s avatars. As with every Purana, there are layers within layers, and the account is not recited by a single person. The basic template is of course the standard one of Suta reciting the Purana to sages who have assembled for a sacrifice in the Naimisha forest. But there is a core template that is behind this, that of Kurma reciting the Purana to the Brahmana Indradyumna. Right at the end of the text, we are given lines of transmission, from Narayana to the sages, from Brahma to Panchashikha and from Sanatkumara to Suta. But that apart, in Vishnu’s Kurma avatar, Kurma is narrating the Purana to Indradyumna. You would expect this Purana to be full of Pancharatra doctrines and Vishnu.

Your expectations will be wrong. Despite the name, it is full of Shiva and Durga. The original Pancharatra doctrines exist, but they have been overlaid (clearly, later) with Pashupata doctrines. With today’s text, it is impossible to separate out these two elements. Suffice to say, throughout Kurma Purana, there is the overwhelming presence of Shiva, synthesised and identified with Vishnu, Surya and Brahma.

Every Purana adheres to a certain template. To be classified as a Purana, a Purana has to possess five attributes—pancha Lakshmana. That is, five topics must be discussed—sarga, pratisarga, vamsha, manvantara and vamshanucharita. The clearest statement of this is in the Matsya Purana. Sarga means the original or primary creation. The converse of sarga is universal destruction and dissolution, or pralaya. Within that original cycle, there are secondary cycles of creation and destruction, known as pratisarga. Manvantara is the period ruled over by a Manu. For instance, our present Manu is Vaivasvata Manu. Vamsha is about the lineages of the devas and rishis, while vamshanucharita is about solar and lunar dynasties (surya vamsha and chandra vamsha). Every Purana satisfies the pancha Lakshmana characteristics, and Kurma Purana is no different. When reading one Purana and comparing it to another, there is often the feeling that accounts are repetitive. This is partly true, but there is more to it than that. Even when the same incident is narrated, each Purana has its own twists and nuances. Having said that and having covered that familiar terrain, each Purana has something special, something that is specific and incremental to it. For Kurma Purana, that will be the sections on Devi, Ishvara Gita and Vyasa Gita, the last covering topics usually identified with the Dharmashastras. This should be enough of an introduction to Kurma Purana.

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Bibek Debroy

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