- Kurma Purana
The Kurma Purana, one of the major eighteen
Puranas , is aHindu religious text. It is believed to have been directly narrated by the LordVishnu to the sageNarada , and it contains the details about theKurma avatara . Narada is believed to have stated the contents of this Puranas to Suta, who narrated this Purana to an assembly of great sages.The contents
The printed editions of this text are divided into two IAST|bhāgas (parts), the IAST|Pūrvabhāga and the IAST|Uttarabhāga. The IAST|Pūrvabhāga has 53 chapters and the IAST|Uttarabhāga has 46 chapters.
According to the tradition, the IAST|Kūrma Purāṇa originally consisted of four IAST|saṁhitās (sections): the IAST|Brāhmī Saṁhitā, the IAST|Bhāgavatī Saṁhitā, the IAST|Saurī Saṁhitā and the IAST|Vaiṣṇavī Saṁhitā. The extant text would correspond to the IAST|Brāhmī Saṁhitā.
The IAST|
Nārada Purāṇa (I.106. 1-22) gives a brief overview of these four sections. According to this work, the IAST|Brāhmī Saṁhitā consisted of 6,000 IAST|śloka s (verses) and its contents agrees completely with the extant IAST|Kūrma Purāṇa. The IAST|Bhāgavatī Saṁhitā consisted of 4,000 IAST|ślokas and was divided into five IAST|pādas (sub-sections). It was also known by the sobriquet the IAST|Pañcapadī. This section had dealt with the duties of theBrahmin s,Kshatriya s,Vaishya s,Shudra s and the mixed castes. The IAST|Saurī Saṁhitā had 2,000 IAST|ślokas and was divided into six IAST|pādas. This section had dealt with the six magic acts: IAST|śānti, IAST|vaśīkaraṇa, stambhana, IAST|vidveṣaṇa, IAST|uccāṭana and IAST|Māraṇa. The IAST|Vaiṣṇavī Saṁhitā had 5,000 IAST|ślokas and was divided into four IAST|pādas dealing with IAST|mokṣa dharma. [Hazra, R.C. (1962). "The Puranas" in S. Radhakrishnan ed. "The Cultural Heritage of India", Vol.II, Calcutta: Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, ISBN 81-85843-03-1, p.259]References
Further reading
*Mani, Vettam. "Puranic Encyclopedia". 1st English ed. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1975.
External links
* [http://www.sub.uni-goettingen.de/ebene_1/fiindolo/gret_utf.htm#KurmaP GRETIL etext]
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