{"id":1177,"date":"2014-08-31T23:57:34","date_gmt":"2014-08-31T23:57:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/?p=1177"},"modified":"2014-09-01T00:37:07","modified_gmt":"2014-09-01T00:37:07","slug":"critical-editions-of-the-pura%e1%b9%87as","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/critical-editions-of-the-pura%e1%b9%87as\/","title":{"rendered":"Critical Editions of the Pur\u0101\u1e47as"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the post dated May 5, 2012, attention was called to the critical edition of the Vi\u1e63\u1e47u-pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em>, edited by M. M. Pathak, and published in two volumes, 1997 and 1999 (Vadodara: Oriental Institute). A comment on that post called attention to three previously published critical editions of pur\u0101\u1e47as: The V\u0101mana Pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em> (1967), The K\u016brma Pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em> (1971), and The Var\u0101ha Pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em> (2 vols., 1981), all edited by Anand Swarup Gupta, and published by the All-India Kashiraj Trust, Varanasi. Two more critical editions of pur\u0101\u1e47as have been published, the Bh\u0101gavata-pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em> and the M\u0101rka\u1e47\u1e0deya-pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em>. Their bibliographic data is:<\/p>\n

The Bh\u0101gavata<\/em> [\u015ar\u012bmad Bh\u0101gavata Mah\u0101pur\u0101\u1e47a]: Critical Edition<\/em>, edited by H. G. Shastri, et al., 4 vols. in 6 parts, Ahmedabad: B. J. Institute of Learning and Research, 1996-2002 (vol. 1, skandhas 1-3, ed. by H. G. Shastri, 1996; vol. 2, skandhas 4-6, ed. by Bharati K. Shelat, 1999; vol. 3, skandhas 7-9, ed. respectively by H. G. Shastri, B. K. Shelat, and K. K. Shastree, 1998; vol. 4, part 1, skandha 10, ed. by K. K. Shastree, 1997; vol. 4, part 2, skandhas 11-12, ed. by K. K. Shastree, 1998; vol. 4, part 3, Epilogue, by K. K. Shastree, 2002).<\/p>\n

The Critical Edition of the M\u0101rka\u1e47\u1e0deyapur\u0101\u1e47am<\/em>, edited by M. L. Wadekar, 2 vols., Vadodara: Oriental Institute, 2011 (vol. 2, adhy\u0101yas 76-88, is the Dev\u012bm\u0101h\u0101tmyam<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Besides these critical editions of six of the eighteen major pur\u0101\u1e47as, three volumes (in four parts) of a critical edition of an earlier and more original version of the massive Skanda-pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em> have been published (to be completed in about ten volumes):<\/p>\n

The Skandapur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em>, vol. I, adhy\u0101yas 1-25, edited by Rob Adriaensen, Hans T. Bakker, and Harunaga Isaacson, 1998; vol. IIa, adhy\u0101yas 26-31.14, ed. by Hans T. Bakker and Harunaga Isaacson, 2005; vol. IIb, adhy\u0101yas 31-52, ed. by Hans T. Bakker, Peter C. Bisschop, and Yuko Yokochi, 2014; vol. III, adhy\u0101yas 34.1-61, 53-69, ed. by Yuko Yokochi, 2013. Supplement to the Groningen Oriental Studies, Groningen: Egbert Forsten, and Leiden: Brill.<\/p>\n

An earlier and more original version of the Agni-pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em> has also been published, although not in a critical edition. Its discovery was announced by R. C. Hazra in his 1956 article, \u201cDiscovery of the Genuine \u0100gneya-Pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/a>\u201d (attached). It was published as:<\/p>\n

Vahni-Pur\u0101\u1e47am, also referred to as \u0100gneya-Pur\u0101\u1e47am<\/em>, edited by Anasuya Bhowmik. Bibliotheca Indica Series, no. 336. Kolkata: The Asiatic Society, 2012 (includes as an Introduction the extensive 2-part article by Rajendra Chandra Hazra titled, \u201cStudies in the Genuine \u0100gneya-Pur\u0101\u1e47a alias Vahni-Pur\u0101\u1e47a,\u201d originally published in 1953 and 1954).<\/p>\n

Additionally, we have a critical edition of the Hariva\u1e43\u015ba<\/em>, a pur\u0101\u1e47a-like supplement to the Mah\u0101bh\u0101rata<\/em>. It was edited by Parashuram Lakshman Vaidya, and published in 1969, with an additional large volume of Appendices in 1971 (Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute).<\/p>\n

We anxiously await the publication of the critical edition of the V\u0101yu-pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em>, which is underway at the Oriental Institute, Vadodara. The V\u0101yu-pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em> is, by general consensus, considered to be the oldest of the extant pur\u0101\u1e47as. It, too, like all the others, has undergone revision and alteration, additions and subtractions. But it retains more of the core, presumably the original Pur\u0101\u1e47a-sa\u1e43hit\u0101<\/em>, than the other extant pur\u0101\u1e47as do (see the post, \u201cCreation Stories: The Cosmogony Account from the Pur\u0101\u1e47as, Part 1. On the Original Pur\u0101\u1e47a-sa\u1e43hit\u0101<\/em>,\u201d dated Aug. 14, 2012).<\/p>\n

For purposes of research on the original Pur\u0101\u1e47a-sa\u1e43hit\u0101<\/em>, the V\u0101yu-pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em> is of most importance. Of similar importance is its twin, somewhat more expanded version, the extant Brahm\u0101\u1e47\u1e0da-pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em>. Of the thousands of verses shared in common between these two pur\u0101\u1e47as, hundreds have been found in the extant Matsya-pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em>, and in the Hariva\u1e43\u015ba<\/em>. The contents of these verses are often found in the extant Vi\u1e63\u1e47u-pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em> and Bh\u0101gavata-pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em>, but condensed and re-written. Thus, the traces of Prakrit found in the Sanskrit of these ancient verses have disappeared in these re-written condensations, even though the basic information remains. Besides these pur\u0101\u1e47as containing ancient material, the archaic character of the extant M\u0101rka\u1e47\u1e0deya-pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em> has been noted since the beginning of pur\u0101\u1e47a studies by Western investigators, and has been fully confirmed by the investigations of pur\u0101\u1e47a specialist, Rajendra Chandra Hazra.<\/p>\n

In his still standard 1940 book, Studies in the Pur\u0101nic Records on Hindu Rites and Customs<\/em>, R. C. Hazra took a different approach than the historical approach taken by F. E. Pargiter and S. P. L. Narasimhaswami. Hazra carefully evaluated the authenticity of the major pur\u0101\u1e47as on the basis of quotations from them found in the sm\u1e5bti-nibandhas, works on Hindu rites and customs, and on the basis of descriptions of their contents found in the other pur\u0101\u1e47as. He found that only seven of the now extant pur\u0101\u1e47as can legitimately claim to be the major pur\u0101\u1e47as known to the sm\u1e5bti-nibandha writers and described in the other pur\u0101\u1e47as, while the remaining eleven of the eighteen major pur\u0101\u1e47as are either extensive alterations or complete substitutions. The seven more or less authentic extant major pur\u0101\u1e47as are the M\u0101rka\u1e47\u1e0deya<\/em>, V\u0101yu<\/em>, Brahm\u0101\u1e47\u1e0da<\/em>, Vi\u1e63\u1e47u<\/em>, Matsya<\/em>, Bh\u0101gavata<\/em>, and K\u016brma<\/em>, while the eleven erstwhile major pur\u0101\u1e47as that must now be regarded as minor pur\u0101\u1e47as are the extant V\u0101mana<\/em>, Li\u1e45ga<\/em>, Var\u0101ha<\/em>, Padma<\/em>, N\u0101rad\u012bya<\/em>, Agni<\/em>, Garu\u1e0da<\/em>, Brahma<\/em>, Skanda<\/em>, Brahma-vaivarta<\/em>, and Bhavi\u1e63ya<\/em>. He also regards the extant \u015aiva-pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em>, usually classed as one of the eighteen (or nineteen) major pur\u0101\u1e47as, as a minor pur\u0101\u1e47a, based on its content. Hazra\u2019s findings agree with the findings of previous investigators as to which are the oldest pur\u0101\u1e47as now extant, adding to these only the K\u016brma-pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em>, and that with considerable qualifications (see his book, pp. 57-75).<\/p>\n

There are, then, seven extant pur\u0101\u1e47as that are of much importance for research on the original Pur\u0101\u1e47a-sa\u1e43hit\u0101<\/em>. These are the V\u0101yu<\/em>, Brahm\u0101\u1e47\u1e0da<\/em>, Matsya<\/em>, M\u0101rka\u1e47\u1e0deya<\/em>, Vi\u1e63\u1e47u<\/em>, Bh\u0101gavata<\/em>, and K\u016brma<\/em>. Similarly important is the pur\u0101\u1e47a-like supplement to the Mah\u0101bh\u0101rata<\/em>, the Hariva\u1e43\u015ba<\/em>. Of these eight texts, we now have critical editions of five: the Hariva\u1e43\u015ba<\/em> (1969-1971), the K\u016brma-pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em> (1971), the Bh\u0101gavata-pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em><\/em> (1996-2002), the Vi\u1e63\u1e47u-pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em>, (1997-1999), and the M\u0101rka\u1e47\u1e0deya-pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em> (2011). Once the critical edition of the V\u0101yu-pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em> is published, we will be in a position to undertake research on the original Pur\u0101\u1e47a-sa\u1e43hit\u0101<\/em> with the hope of reasonably reliable results.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the post dated May 5, 2012, attention was called to the critical edition of the Vi\u1e63\u1e47u-pur\u0101\u1e47a, edited by M. M. Pathak, and published in two volumes, 1997 and 1999 (Vadodara: Oriental Institute). A comment on that post called attention to three previously published critical editions of pur\u0101\u1e47as: The V\u0101mana Pur\u0101\u1e47a (1967), The K\u016brma Pur\u0101\u1e47a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-noteworthy-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1177"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1181,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1177\/revisions\/1181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/prajnaquest.fr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}