- Yuga Purana
The "Yuga Purana" ("Story of the Ages") is an ancient Indian text, part of the larger
Puranas literature. It is considered as one of the oldest Purana, written before around 250 CE. The Yuga Purana consist in two chapter, within the larger text of the "Garga Samhita" (Narrations of Garga), also called "Vriddha GargiyaJyotisha " (Astrology of the Sage Garga). It is the most extensive Indian text to describe the invasion of the country by foreign rulers (Indo-Greek s andIndo-Scythian s) during the 2nd and 1st century BCE.:"The Yuga-Purana is unique in being the only Indian text that refers in any detail to
Indo-Greek andIndo-Scythian incursions intoCentral India . It also contains what is almost certainly the earliest account of the four Yugas—the ages of man—in a form that was later adopted by both theMahabharata and thePuranas . It is thus a key text for the study of both a period of early Indian history and the evolution of Indian ideas of time." (Jacket of the English translation, The Yuga Purana, 2002 edition)Narrative style
Although the Yuga Purana was written during the 1st- 2nd century CE, the text itself is written in the past tense for the parts referring to the ages previous to the
Kali Yuga age, and then in the future tense from the beginning of Kali Yuga (around3000 BCE ). This is because its content is supposed to have been revealed, and all subsequent historical events predicted, at the time when Kali Yuga began. ["The account is composed partly in the past tense, and partly in the future tense. This latter use of the future tense constitutes the style which is also generally found in passages speaking of the Kali Yuga in the Epics and thePuranas : the reason for this being that such passages - as indeed theMahabharata and the Puranas in general- profess to have been uttered or revealed around the start of the Kali Yuga, whence their descriptions of the Kali Yuga are phrased in the form of prophecies." (The Yuga Purana, Mitchener, 2002 edition)]Translations
The Yuga Purana has been fully translated into English by Dr. James Mitchiner, who was British Deputy High Commissioner in
Kolkata .Contents of the Yuga Purana
A. Janamejaya Pariksit.
B.
Udayin and the founding ofPataliputra .C. Salisuka in Pataliputra.
D. The
Yavana incursion.The invasion of the Yavana (
Indo-Greek s) is described in a rather detailed account::"After having conqueredSaketa , the country of thePanchala and theMathura s, the Yavanas, wicked and valiant, will reach Kusumadhvaja ("The town of the flower-standard",Pataliputra ). The thick mud-fortifications at Pataliputra being reached, all the provinces will be in disorder, without doubt. Ultimately, a great battle will follow, with tree-like engines (siege engines)." ("Gargi-Samhita" Paragraph 5, "Yuga Purana".):"The Yavanas (Greeks) will command, the Kings will disappear. (But ultimately) the Yavanas, intoxicated with fighting, will not stay in Madhadesa (the Middle Country); there will be undoubtedly a civil war among them, arising in their own country (Bactria ), there will be a terrible and ferocious war." (Gargi-Samhita, Yuga Purana chapter, No7).E. Seven kings of
Saketa .After the departure of the Yavana, the Yuga Purana explains that seven kings ruled in the area of Saketa.
F. Anarchy and
Amrata in Pataliputra.G. The rule of the Agnivesya kings.
H. The reign of king Satuvara.
I. The Saka incursion and defeat.
The Yuga Purana describes a powerful Saka king raiding Pushpanama (
Pataliputra ), where he kills a quarter of the population. He is later killed by the king ofKalinga Shata and a group of Sabalas (Savaras).J. Regions in which men will survive and prosper.
Notes
References
"The Yuga Purana/edited by John E. Mitchiner". Reprint. Kolkata, The Asiatic Society, 2002, xviii, 160 p., ISBN 81-7236-124-6
External links
* [http://www.boloji.com/history/027.htm The Yuga Purana: "A gap in Puranic history bridged"]
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