The Brahma, Brahmaanda, Brahmavaivarta, Bhavishyat, Markandeya and Vamana which extol Brahma are classified as rajaisakpuraNa s.
The Brahma
Purana (Sanskrit: ब्रह्मपुराण or ब्राह्मपुराण; Brahma-Purana)
is one of the eighteen major Puranas collections of Hindu texts
in Sanskrit Language. It is listed as the first Maha-Purana in all the
anthologies, and therefore also called Adi Purana. Another title for this
text is Saura Purana, because it includes many chapters related to Surya or the
Sun God. The Brahma Purana is actually just a compilation of geographical
Mahatmya (Travel Guides) and sections on diverse topics.
The text is notable for
dedicating over 60% of its chapters on description of geography and holy sites
of Godavari River Region, as well as places in and around modern Odisha, and tributaries of Chambal River in Rajasth-an, these travel guide-like sections are non-sectarian,
and celebrates sites and temples related to Vishnu, Shiva, Devi and Surya. The
coverage of Jagan-nath (Krishna, Vishnu-Related) temples, however, is larger than the
other three, leading scholars to the hypothesis that the authors of extant
manuscripts may have been authors belonging to Vaishnavism. Its presentation of the Konark Sun Temple is notable.
The Brahmanda
Purana (Sanskrit: ब्रह्माण्ड पुराण, Brahmanda
Purana) is a Sanskrit text and one of the eighteen major Puranas, a genre of Hindu texts. It
is listed as the eighteenth Maha-Purana in almost all the anthologies. The text
is also referred in medieval Indian literature as the Vayaviya Purana or
Vayaviya Brahmanda, and it may have been same as the Vayu Purana before these texts
developed into two overlapping compositions.
The
text is named after one of the cosmological theories of Hinduism, namely the
"Cosmic Egg" (Brahma-Anda). It
is among the oldest Puranas, the earliest core of text maybe from 4 century CE,
continuously edited thereafter over time and it exist in numerous versions. The
Brahmanda Purana manuscripts are encyclopedic in their coverage, covering
topics such as Cosmogony, Sanskara
(Rite Of Passage), Genealogy, Chapters On Ethics And Duties (Dharma), Yoga,
Geography, Rivers, Good Government, Administration, Diplomacy, Trade,
Festivals, A Travel Guide To Places Such As Kashmir, Cuttack, And Kanchipuram, And Other Topics.
The
Brahmanda Purana is notable for including the Lalita Sahasranamam (A Stotra Praising The Goddess Lalita As The Supreme Being In The
Universe), and being one of the early Hindu texts found in Bali,
Indonesia, also called the Javanese-Brahmanda. The text is also notable
for the Adhyatma Ramayana,
the most important embedded set of chapters in the text, which philosophically
attempts to reconcile Rama-Bhakti with Advaita Vedanta over 65 chapters and
4,500 verses.
The
text is encyclopedic, it is non-sectarian and reveres all gods and god-desses, including Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Ganesha, Surya and Shakti. The text's philosophy is a
blend of the Vedanta, Samkhya and Yoga schools
of Hindu Philosophy,
woven in with Bhakti and some tantra themes.
The
second part, which comprises chapters 5–44 of the third section, the
Uttarabhaga is the Lalitopakhyana (Narrative Of Lalita). It describes the
Goddess Lalita (An Incarnation Of Adi Parashakti) and her worship as well a
discussion of Tantra. This part is written as a dialogue between Hayagriva and sage Agastya on the Goddess Lalita's
emergence out of fire after which the king of gods Indra worshipped Devi (The
Goddess Representing The Supreme Reality). It includes her war with the Asura Bhanda
and her final triumph.
The Brahmavaivarta
Purana (Sanskrit: ब्रह्मवैवर्त पुराण; Brahmavaivarta
Purāṇa) is a voluminous Sanskrit text and a major Purana (Maha-purana) of Hinduism. It is an
important Vaishnavism text.
This Purana majorly centers around the Hindu deities Radha and Krishna.
Although
a version may have existed in late 1st millennium CE, its extant version was
likely composed in the Bengal region of
Indian subcontinent. Later, it was likely revised somewhere in South
India. Numerous versions of this Purana exist and are claimed
to be the part of manuscripts of the Brahmavaivarta Purana or
the Brahmakaivarta Purana.
The
text is notable for identifying Krishna as the supreme reality and
asserting that all gods such as Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, Ganesha are one and the same and in
fact, all are the incarnations of Krishna. Goddesses like Radha, Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati and Savitri are asserted to be equivalent
and are mentioned as the incarnations of Prakruti in this text, with legends
similar to those found in the Devi-Bhagavata
Purana and the Devi Mahatmya. The text is also
notable for glorifying the feminine aspect of god through Radha and
its egalitarian views that all women are manifestations of the divine female,
co-creators of the universe, and that any insult to a woman is an insult to
goddess Radha.
The
mythology and stories of Brahmavaivarta Purana, along with Bhagavata Purana, have been influential to
the Krishna-related Hindu traditions, as well as to dance and performance arts
such as the Rasa Lila.
In this
Purāna, Radha (or Rādhikā), who is inseparable from Krishna, appears as the
main goddess. She is the personification of the Mūlaprakriti, the "Root nature",
that original seed from which all material forms evolved. In the company of
the Purusha ("Man",
"Spirit", "Universal soul") Krishna, she is said to inhabit
the Goloka, which is a world of cows and
cowherds far above the Vishnu's Vaikuntha. In this divine world, Krishna
and Radha relate to one another in the way body relates to soul. (4.6.216).
The
'Bhavishya Purana' (Bhaviṣya Purāṇa) is one of the eighteen major
works in the Purana genre of Hinduism, written in Sanskrit. The title Bhavishya means
"future" and implies it is a work that contains prophecies regarding
the future.
The Bhavishya
Purana exists in many inconsistent versions, wherein the content as
well as their subdivisions vary, and five major versions are known. Some
manuscripts have four Parvam (parts), some two, others don't
have any parts. The text as it exists today is a composite of material
ranging from medieval era to the modern era. Those sections of the surviving manuscripts
that are dated to be older, are partly borrowed from other Indian texts such
as Brihat Samhita and Shamba Purana. The
veracity and authenticity of much of the Bhavishya Purana has
been questioned by modern scholars and historians, and the text is considered
an example of "constant revisions and living nature" of Puranic genre
of Hindu literature.
The
first 16 chapters of the first part of the Bhavisya Purana is
called Brahmaparvam. It shows similarities to, and likely borrowed
verses from some version of the Manusmriti. However, some
of the caste-related
and women's rights related discussion in the Bhavishya Purana is
egalitarian and challenge those found in the 19th-century published manuscripts
of the Manusmriti. The second part of the text, called Madhyamaparvan,
is a Tantra-related work. The "prophecy"-related
third part Pratisarga-parvan includes sections on
Christianity, Islam, Bhakti movement, Sikhism, Sultanate history, Mughal
history, British rule, and others. This part is considered by scholars as a
18th– to 19th-century creation. The fourth part of the text called Uttaraparvam,
is also known as Bhavishyottara Purana. This last part describes
festivals related to various Hindu gods and goddesses and their Tithis (dates
on lunar calendar), as well as mythology and a discussion of Dharma particularly vrata (vow)
and dana (charity). The text also has many Mahatmya chapters
on geography, travel guide and pilgrimage to holy sites such as Uthiramerur, and is one of the Tirtha-focussed
Puranas.
The
available versions of Bhavishya Purana are based on a printed
text published during the British colonial era.
The Markandeya
Purana (Sanskrit: मार्कण्डेय पुराण; IAST: Mārkaṇḍeya
Purāṇa) is a Sanskrit text
of Hinduism, and one of the eighteen
major Puranas. The text's title Markandeya refers to a sage in Hindu History,
who is the central character in two legends, one linked to Shiva and
other to Vishnu. The Markandeya text is one of
the Puranas that lacks a sectarian presentation of ideas in favor of any
particular god, and it is rare to read any deity being invoked or deity
prayers in the entire text.
The
Markandeya Purana is probably one of the oldest in Purana genre of Hindu Literature, among the most
interesting and important, states Ludo Rocher. It is famous
for including the Devi Mahatmya within
it, the oldest known treatise on Devi (Goddess)
as the Supreme Truth and Creator Of The Universe. The text is
considered as a central text of the Hindu Goddess-related Shaktism tradition, with an
extraordinary expression of reverence for the feminine. The Markandeya
Purana's Devi Mahatmya is often ranked in some Hindu traditions to be as
important as the Bhagavad Gita.
The
extant manuscripts of this Purana have 137 chapters, of which chapters 81
through 93 is the Devi Mahatmya. Tradition and some medieval era texts
assert that the Markandeya Purana has 9,000 verses, but surviving Manuscripts have about 6,900 verses.
2,100 verses were transferred to Devi Bhagavatam. The text presents
a diverse range of topics, with socio-cultural information and symbolism
for Vedic ideas and Metaphysical Thought.
The Vamana
Purana (Sanskrit: वामन पुराण, IAST: Vāmana
Purāṇa), is a medieval era Sanskrit text and one of the eighteen
major Puranas of Hinduism. The text is
named after one of the incarnations of Vishnu and probably was a Vaishnava text in its origin. However,
the modern surviving manuscripts of Vamana Purana are more
strongly centered on Shiva, while containing
chapters that revere Vishnu and other Hindu gods and goddesses. It
is considered a Shaiva text.
Further, the text hardly has the character of a Purana, and is
predominantly a collection of Mahatmyas (travel guides) to
many Shiva-related places in India with legends and mythology woven in.
The
extant manuscripts of Vamana Purana exist in various versions,
likely very different from the original, and show signs of revision over time
and regions. It has been published by All India Kashiraj Trust in two
rounds. The first round had 95 chapters, while the critical edition (edited by Anand
Swarup Gupta, and published by the All-India Kashiraj Trust, Varanasi)
published in the second round has 69 chapters plus an attached Saro-mahatmya with
28 chapters dedicated to temples and sacred sites in and around modern Haryana. Both these versions lack
the Brhad-vamana with four samhitas, which is mentioned in the text,
but is believed to have been lost to history.
The
text is non-sectarian, and its first version was likely created by the 9th to
11th century CE.
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