Upapurana
Encyclopedia
The Upapuranas are a genre of Hindu
religious texts consisting of a large number of compilations differentiated from the Mahapuranas
by styling them as secondary Puranas by using a disparaging prefix Upa (secondary). Though, only a few of these compilations originated earlier than most of the extant Mahapuranas, some of these texts are extensive and important.
s that the Upapuranas are also eighteen in number, though while making such claims some of the texts like the Brihaddharma Purana
give evidence of their knowledge of the existence of a larger number of the Upapuranas. But, unlike the case of the Mahapuranas, the different lists of eighteen Upapuranas seldom agree with one another with regard to the names of these texts. Lists of eighteen Upapuranas occur in a number of texts, which include the Kurma Purana
, the Garuda Purana
, the Brihaddharma Purana, the Devi Bhagavata, the Ekamra Purana, Hemadri's Caturvargacintamani and Ballal Sena
's Dana Sagara. In spite of the mention of a paritcular Upapurana in different lists under different names, these lists altogeher provide us the names of much more than eighteen texts as the Upapuranas. In fact, by examining all the Sanskrit texts which mention the names of these texts, the actual number of the Upapuranas are found to be near a hundred, including those mentioned in the different lists. But, it can not be denied that a large number of these texts have been lost altogether without leaving any trace.
(Purvabhaga, 1.17-20) provides the following names:
provides a list of the following eighteen:
, the Narasimha Purana
, the Brihannaradiya Purana and the Kriyayogasara.
The extant Narasimha Purana comprises 68 chapters. The extant Vishnudharma Purana comprises 105 chapters.
The extant Kalika Purana comprises 98 chapters.
, the Saura Purana
, the Shivadharma Purana, the Shivadharmottara Purana, the Shivarahasya Purana
, the Ekamra Purana, the Parashara Upapurana, the Vasishthalainga Upapurana and the Vikhyada Purana.
The extant Saura Purana comprises 69 chapters. The extant Parashara Upapurana consists 18 chapters. The extant Shivadharma Purana (not yet published) comprises 12 chapters and deals only with the religious rites and duties of the worshippers of Shiva
. It mentions itself as a shastra
or dharmashastra.
. It comprises 84 chapters.
and the Ganesha Purana
.
and the Brihaddharma Purana
.
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
religious texts consisting of a large number of compilations differentiated from the Mahapuranas
Puranas
The Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...
by styling them as secondary Puranas by using a disparaging prefix Upa (secondary). Though, only a few of these compilations originated earlier than most of the extant Mahapuranas, some of these texts are extensive and important.
The extent
Similar to the case of the Mahapuranas, a claim has been made in a number of Puranas and SmritiSmriti
Smriti literally "that which is remembered," refers to a specific body of Hindu religious scripture, and is a codified component of Hindu customary law. Smṛti also denotes non-Śruti texts and is generally seen as secondary in authority to Śruti. The literature which comprises the Smrti was...
s that the Upapuranas are also eighteen in number, though while making such claims some of the texts like the Brihaddharma Purana
Brihaddharma Purana
The Brihaddharma Purana is a Hindu religious text, which classified itself as the last of the 18 Upapuranas. The extant text comprises three khaņḑas : pūrvakhaņḑa, madhyakhaņḑa and uttarakhaņḑa...
give evidence of their knowledge of the existence of a larger number of the Upapuranas. But, unlike the case of the Mahapuranas, the different lists of eighteen Upapuranas seldom agree with one another with regard to the names of these texts. Lists of eighteen Upapuranas occur in a number of texts, which include the Kurma Purana
Kurma Purana
-Contents:The printed editions of this text are divided into two s , the and the . The has 53 chapters and the has 46 chapters.According to the tradition, the originally consisted of four s : the , the , the and the . The extant text would correspond to the .The gives a brief overview of...
, the Garuda Purana
Garuda Purana
Garuda Purana is one of the Puranas which are part of the Hindu body of texts known as smriti. It is a Vaishnava Purana and its first part contains a dialog between Vishnu and Garuda, the King of Birds...
, the Brihaddharma Purana, the Devi Bhagavata, the Ekamra Purana, Hemadri's Caturvargacintamani and Ballal Sena
Ballal Sena
Ballal Sen was the second ruler of the Sen dynasty of Bengal. Son and successor of Vijay Sen, Ballal Sen is known from the extant Kuljigranthas to have introduced social reforms in Bengal, especially the system of Kulinism.-See also:* Prithvi Raj Chauhan* List of rulers of Bengal* History of...
's Dana Sagara. In spite of the mention of a paritcular Upapurana in different lists under different names, these lists altogeher provide us the names of much more than eighteen texts as the Upapuranas. In fact, by examining all the Sanskrit texts which mention the names of these texts, the actual number of the Upapuranas are found to be near a hundred, including those mentioned in the different lists. But, it can not be denied that a large number of these texts have been lost altogether without leaving any trace.
The Kurma Purana list
The list found in the Kurma PuranaKurma Purana
-Contents:The printed editions of this text are divided into two s , the and the . The has 53 chapters and the has 46 chapters.According to the tradition, the originally consisted of four s : the , the , the and the . The extant text would correspond to the .The gives a brief overview of...
(Purvabhaga, 1.17-20) provides the following names:
- Adya Purana (Sanatkumara)
- Narasimha PuranaNarasimha PuranaNarasimha Purana is one of the Upapuranas. R.C. Hazra in his Studies in the Upapuranas came to the conclusion that the original text was written in the later part of the 5th century, though several portions of it were added much later. This work was translated into Telugu about 1300.-Contents:The...
- Skanda Purana
- Shivadharma Purana
- Durvasa Purana
- Naradiya Purana
- Kapila PuranaKapila PuranaThe Kapila Purana is a Hindu religious text. The text is considered as one of the 18 Upapuranas. It contains 21 chapters which mostly narrate glories about the puņyakṣetras of Utkala. It subsequently describes the greatness of Purusottama Kshetra, Viraja Kshetra, Maiterya Vana, and Ekamra...
- Vamana Purana
- Aushanasa Purana
- Brahmanda Purana
- Varuna Purana
- Kalika Purana
- Maheshvara Purana
- Samba PuranaSamba PuranaThe Samba Purana is one of the Saura Upapuranas. This text is dedicated to Surya. The recension of the text found in the printed editions has 84 chapters. Chapters 53-68 of this text are also divided into 15 s...
- Saura PuranaSaura PuranaThe Saura Purana is one of the Shaiva Upapuranas, a genre of Hindu religious texts. The printed editions of this text have 69 chapters. The chapter colophons of this text mention it as a part of the Brahma Purana...
- Parashara Purana
- Maricha Purana
- Bhargava Purana
The Brihadddharma Purana list
The Brihaddharma PuranaBrihaddharma Purana
The Brihaddharma Purana is a Hindu religious text, which classified itself as the last of the 18 Upapuranas. The extant text comprises three khaņḑas : pūrvakhaņḑa, madhyakhaņḑa and uttarakhaņḑa...
provides a list of the following eighteen:
- Adi Purana
- Aditya Purana
- Brihannaradiya Purana
- Naradiya Purana
- Nandishvara Purana
- Brihannandishavara Purana
- Samba PuranaSamba PuranaThe Samba Purana is one of the Saura Upapuranas. This text is dedicated to Surya. The recension of the text found in the printed editions has 84 chapters. Chapters 53-68 of this text are also divided into 15 s...
- Kriyayogasara
- Kalika Purana
- Dharma Purana
- Vishnudharmottara PuranaVishnudharmottara PuranaThe Vishnudharmottara Purana is a Hindu text, encyclopedic in nature. Along with the narratives, it also deals with cosmology, cosmogony, geography, astronomy, astrology, division of time, pacification of unfavourbale planets and stars, genealogies , manners and customs, penances, duties of...
- Shivadharma Purana
- Vishnudharma Purana
- Vamana Purana
- Varuna Purana
- Narasimha PuranaNarasimha PuranaNarasimha Purana is one of the Upapuranas. R.C. Hazra in his Studies in the Upapuranas came to the conclusion that the original text was written in the later part of the 5th century, though several portions of it were added much later. This work was translated into Telugu about 1300.-Contents:The...
- Bhargava Purana
- Brihaddharma PuranaBrihaddharma PuranaThe Brihaddharma Purana is a Hindu religious text, which classified itself as the last of the 18 Upapuranas. The extant text comprises three khaņḑas : pūrvakhaņḑa, madhyakhaņḑa and uttarakhaņḑa...
Sectarian divisions
Unlike the Mahapuranas, most of the Upapuranas have been able to preserve their older materials along with their distinctive sectarian character. All extant Upapuranas can be broadly divided into six groups according to the sectarian views found in these texts: Vaishnava, Shakta, Shaiva, Saura, Ganapatya and non-sectarian.The Vaishnava Upapuranas
The most significant texts among the Vaishnava Upapuranas are the Vishnudharma Purana, the Vishnudharmottara PuranaVishnudharmottara Purana
The Vishnudharmottara Purana is a Hindu text, encyclopedic in nature. Along with the narratives, it also deals with cosmology, cosmogony, geography, astronomy, astrology, division of time, pacification of unfavourbale planets and stars, genealogies , manners and customs, penances, duties of...
, the Narasimha Purana
Narasimha Purana
Narasimha Purana is one of the Upapuranas. R.C. Hazra in his Studies in the Upapuranas came to the conclusion that the original text was written in the later part of the 5th century, though several portions of it were added much later. This work was translated into Telugu about 1300.-Contents:The...
, the Brihannaradiya Purana and the Kriyayogasara.
The extant Narasimha Purana comprises 68 chapters. The extant Vishnudharma Purana comprises 105 chapters.
The Shakta Upapuranas
Among the Shakta Upapuranas, the most important extant texts are the Devi Purana, the Kalika Purana, the Mahabhagavata Purana, the Devi Bhagavata, the Bhagavati Purana, the Candi Purana (or Candika Purana), and the Sati Purana.The extant Kalika Purana comprises 98 chapters.
The Shaiva Upapuranas
The notable Shaiva Upapuranas are the Shiva PuranaShiva Purana
The Shiva Purana is one of the s, a genre of Hindu religious texts dedicated to Shiva. According to a tradition which is stated in the of this text, the original text was known as the ....
, the Saura Purana
Saura Purana
The Saura Purana is one of the Shaiva Upapuranas, a genre of Hindu religious texts. The printed editions of this text have 69 chapters. The chapter colophons of this text mention it as a part of the Brahma Purana...
, the Shivadharma Purana, the Shivadharmottara Purana, the Shivarahasya Purana
Shivarahasya Purana
Shivarahasya Purana is one of the 'Shaiva Upapuranas' or ancillary Purana regarding Shiva and Shaivite worship and is also considered 'Indian epic poetry' .Its origins are acclaimed to be over 7000 years old.It is one of the first few works of the acclaimed Saint Ribhu, who was taught by Shiva...
, the Ekamra Purana, the Parashara Upapurana, the Vasishthalainga Upapurana and the Vikhyada Purana.
The extant Saura Purana comprises 69 chapters. The extant Parashara Upapurana consists 18 chapters. The extant Shivadharma Purana (not yet published) comprises 12 chapters and deals only with the religious rites and duties of the worshippers of Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
. It mentions itself as a shastra
Shastra
' is a Sanskrit term used to denote rules in a general sense. The word is generally used as a suffix in the context of technical or specialized knowledge in a defined area of practice; e.g., Bhautika Shastra , Rasayana Shastra , Jeeva Shastra , Vastu Shastra , Shilpa Shastra , Artha Shastra ' is a...
or dharmashastra.
The Saura Upapuranas
The only extant text which can be called an exclusive Saura Upapurana is the Samba PuranaSamba Purana
The Samba Purana is one of the Saura Upapuranas. This text is dedicated to Surya. The recension of the text found in the printed editions has 84 chapters. Chapters 53-68 of this text are also divided into 15 s...
. It comprises 84 chapters.
The Ganapatya Upapuranas
Only two extant Upapuranas profess the views of the Ganapatya sect. These are the Mudgala PuranaMudgala Purana
The Mudgala Purana is a Hindu religious text dedicated to the Hindu deity Ganesha . It is an that includes many stories and ritualistic elements relating to Ganesha. The Ganesha Purana and the Mudgala Purana are core scriptures for devotees of Ganesha, known as Ganapatyas...
and the Ganesha Purana
Ganesha Purana
The Ganesha Purana is a Hindu religious text dedicated to the Hindu deity Ganesha . It is an that includes many stories and ritualistic elements relating to Ganesha. The Ganesha Purana and the Mudgala Purana are core scriptures for devotees of Ganesha, known as Ganapatyas...
.
The non-sectarian Upapuranas
The Upapuranic works, which do not profess any particular sectarian views are the Bhavishyottara Purana,Kapila PuranaKapila Purana
The Kapila Purana is a Hindu religious text. The text is considered as one of the 18 Upapuranas. It contains 21 chapters which mostly narrate glories about the puņyakṣetras of Utkala. It subsequently describes the greatness of Purusottama Kshetra, Viraja Kshetra, Maiterya Vana, and Ekamra...
and the Brihaddharma Purana
Brihaddharma Purana
The Brihaddharma Purana is a Hindu religious text, which classified itself as the last of the 18 Upapuranas. The extant text comprises three khaņḑas : pūrvakhaņḑa, madhyakhaņḑa and uttarakhaņḑa...
.