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TheNaradiya Purana (Sanskrit:नारदीय पुराण,Naradiya Purana) orNarada Purana (Sanskrit:नारद पुराण), are twoVaishnavism texts written in Sanskrit language. One of the texts is termed as a Major Purana, also called aMahapurana, while the other is termed as a Minor Purana (Upapurana), also referred asBrihannaradiya Purana.[1][2]
Unlike most Puranas that are encyclopedic, the Brihannaradiya text is focussed almost entirely onVishnu worship, while the Naradiya text is a compilation of 41 chapters (20%) on Vishnu-worship and rest of the chapters (80%) cover a wide range of topics including a large compilation ofMahatmya (travel guides)[3] to temples and places along the riverGanges and neighbouring regions.[2][4]
TheNaradiya Purana is notable for dedicating eighteen chapters on other Puranas, one entire chapter summarizing each Major Purana.[5] It is also notable for its verses extollingBuddha in chapter 1.2.[6]
Manuscripts of nearly all the major puranas acknowledge the existence of a major purana named either Narada or Naradiya, suggesting it was an important text in Hindu mythology.[8] Yet, unlike other Puranas which either appear in the major or minor purana lists, the Naradiya text appears in both lists.[8] This caused significant confusion to 19th and early 20th century Indologists.[8] The confusion was compounded by the fact that the content of the text manuscripts they found seemed to follow similar scope and focus, except that theBrihannaradiya Purana text with about 3,500 verses was slightly bigger than the other with about 3,000 verses.[8][9]
Later discovered manuscripts and scholarship established that the Narada or Naradiya is the major purana, Brihannaradiya is theUpapurana.[10] TheNaradiya Purana consists of twobhagas (parts), with the first calledPurvabhaga and second calledUttarabhaga.[8] ThePurvabhaga has fourpadas with the total of 125 chapters.[1] TheUttarabhaga has 82 chapters, which embeds theRukmangada-carita.[8][11]
TheBrihannaradiya Purana has no parts or padas, and a total of 38adhyayas (chapters).[8]
TheNaradiya Purana texts, like other Puranas, exist in numerous versions, but with less variation than other Puranas.[2][12] Wilson states that both texts are of likely recent composition, probably 16th or 17th century, because the five manuscripts he reviewed had verses mentioning certain events after Islamic invasion and control of the Indian subcontinent.[5][9] The other unusual part of the manuscripts he examined, states Wilson, is that the descriptions of ritual worship of Vishnu in the text are "puerile inventions, wholly foreign to the more ancient" ideas in the Purana genre of Hindu texts.[9]
Rajendra Hazra, in contrast, states that the core verses of the texts were likely first composed over various centuries, as follows: he dates the Vishnu-bhakti focussed textBrihannaradiya Purana to the 9th-century; he places the first 41 chapters ofPurvabhaga and the first 37 chapters ofUttarabhaga to have been composed before the 11th century; and, the rest he states is of likely a comparatively later origin.[5][1][13] TheNaradiya Purana, states Hazra, was likely composed after theBrihannaradiya Purana.[14] It is unknown, adds Hazra, whether the extant manuscripts of the Naradiya Puranas are same as the 9th and 10th-century originals,[15] but we know that the verses quoted in medieval Hindu Smriti texts with these texts cited as source, are missing from the currently surviving manuscripts.[16]
Rocher states that the composition date of each Purana remains unclear.[17][18] Dimmitt and van Buitenen state that it is difficult to ascertain when, where, why and by whom the major and minor Puranas were written:[19]
As They Exist Today, The Puranas Are A Stratified Literature. Each Titled Work Consists Of Material That Has Grown By Numerous Accretions In Successive Historical Eras. Thus, No Purana Has A Single Date Of Composition. (...) It Is As If They Were Libraries To Which New Volumes Have Been Continuously Added, Not Necessarily At The End Of The Shelf, But Randomly.
— Cornelia Dimmitt andJ.A.B. van Buitenen,Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the Sanskrit Puranas[19]
ThePadma Purana categorizes Naradiya Purana as aSattva Purana (which represents goodness and purity).[20] Scholars consider theSattva-Rajas-Tamas classification as "entirely fanciful" and there is nothing in this text that actually justifies this classification.[21]
TheBrihannaradiya Purana (alsoBrihannarada Purana) is focussed onbhakti (devotion) towardsVishnu.[5] It describes the festivals and ritual ceremonies ofVaishnavism.[5] Many chapters of the text are part of theMahatmya, glorifying the river Ganges, pilgrimage and travel centers such as thePrayāga (the confluence of the rivers Yamuna and Ganges), andKashi (a sacred city).[5] The text also includes chapters on ethics and duties of members of variousvarnas andashramas,vratas, and summaries on thesamskaras.[5]
TheNarada Purana (alsoNaradiya Purana) follows the style of theBrihannaradiya Purana in the first 41 chapters ofPurvabhaga, but the rest of the first part and second part are encyclopedic covering a diverse range of topics.[5] The encyclopedic sections discuss subjects such as the sixVedangas,moksha,dharma,adhyatma-jnana (monastic life),Pashupata philosophy, a secular guide with methods of worship ofGanesha,Narasimha,Hayagriva,Rama,Krishna,Hanuman,Shiva, andLakshmi.[5] The text also glorifies goddessRadha as themulaprakriti, one whose soul and love manifests all other Hindu goddesses.[1][22]
The text's secular description and verse of praises are not limited to different traditions of Hinduism, but also other traditions. For example, chapter 1.2 extolsBuddha.[6] This contrasts withKurma Purana which is disdainful ofBuddhism without mentioningBuddha,[23] but similar to the praise of Buddha in other major Puranas such as chapter 49 of theAgni Purana, chapter 2.5.16 of theShiva Purana, chapter 54 of theMatsya Purana and various minor Puranas.[24]
Chapters 92 through 109 ofPurvabhaga are notable for summarizing the 18 major Puranas, one entire chapter dedicated to each.[5] This has been an important benchmark in comparison studies, and as evidence that the Puranas were revised after the composition ofNaradiya Purana, since the summary in these 18 chapters is significantly different from the extant manuscripts of the major Puranas.[25][26] Other topics covered in the verses of Uttarabhaga include flora and fauna, food, music, dance, dress, jewellery, weapons, and theories on war.[27]
TheNaradiya Purana also containsRukmangadacarita, a legend of king namedRukmangada, whose belief in Vishnu is repeatedly tested by an enchantress in the form of anapsara named Mohini,[28] one that became subject of plays and dance arts in Indian culture.[5][1] AfterRukmangadacarita, the text predominantly is a compilation of geographicMahatmyas or travel guides for pilgrimage along river Ganges starting withHaridwar,[4] throughBanaras (Kashi) towardsBengal, and nearby regions such asGaya in Bihar and Nepal.[5][1]
Radha is said to be produced from half of Krishna's body and she manifest as Mulaprakriti Isvari, the Primordial Goddess Prakriti.
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