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TheShiva Purana (original Sanskrit title: Śivapurāṇa (शिवपुराण) and Śivamahāpurāṇa (शिवमहापुराण) is one of eighteen major texts of thePurana genre ofSanskrit texts inHinduism, and part of theShaivism literature corpus.[1] It primarily revolves around the Hindu godShiva and goddessParvati, but references and reveres all gods.[2][3][4]
The Shiva Purana, like other Puranas in Hindu literature, was likely a living text, which was routinely edited, recast and revised over a long period of time.[5][6] TheShiva Purana asserts that it once consisted of 100,000 verses set out in twelveSamhitas (Books); however, the Purana adds that it was abridged by Sage Vyasa before being taught to Romaharshana.[1] The surviving manuscripts exist in many different versions and content,[7] with one major version with seven books (traced to South India), another with six books, while the third version traced to the medievalBengal region of theIndian subcontinent with no books but two large sections calledPurva-Khanda (Previous Section) andUttara-Khanda (Later Section).[1][8] The two versions that include books, differ in how they title the books.[1] The oldest manuscript of surviving texts was likely composed, estimatesKlaus Klostermaier, around 10th- to 11th-century CE.[9][4] Some chapters of currently surviving Shiva Purana manuscripts were likely composed after the 14th-century.[8]
TheShiva Purana contains chapters with Shiva-centeredcosmology, mythology, and relationship between gods, ethics,yoga,tirtha (pilgrimage) sites, bhakti, rivers and geography, and other topics.[10][2][11] The text is an important source of historic information on different types and theology behind Shaivism in early 2nd-millennium CE.[12] The oldest surviving chapters of the Shiva Purana have significantAdvaita Vedanta philosophy,[8] which is mixed in with theistic elements ofbhakti.[13]
In the 19th and 20th century, theVayu Purana was sometimes titled asShiva Purana, and sometimes proposed as a part of the completeShiva Purana.[14] With the discovery of more manuscripts, modern scholarship considers the two texts as different,[1] withVayu Purana as the more older text composed sometime before the 2nd-century CE.[12][15][16] Some scholars list it as aMahapurana, while some state it is anUpapurana.[8][17]
The date and authors of Shiva Purana are unknown. No authentic data is available. Scholars such as Klostermaier as well as Hazra estimate that the oldest chapters in the surviving manuscript were likely composed around the 10- to 11th-centuries CE, which has not stood the test of carbon dating technology hence on that part we must rely on the text itself which tells when it was composed.[9][4] Certain books and chapters in currently surviving Shiva Purana manuscripts were likely composed later, some after the 14th-century.[8] The Shiva Purana, like other Puranas in Hindu literature, were routinely edited, recast and revised over the centuries.[5][6]
Hazra states that the Bombay manuscript published in the 19th-century is rarer, and is likely older than other versions published from eastern and southern India.[18]
Shiva isatman (soul)
A pathologist diagnoses correctly,
and cures illness through medicines.
Similarly, Shiva is called the physician of the world,
by those who know the nature of the principles.
Shiva is the great atman,
because he is the atman of all,
he is forever endowed with the great qualities,
there is no greater atman than him.
Severalrecensions of this text exist. The Bombay 1884 manuscript recension published by the Vangavasi Press,Calcutta in 1896 consists of sixsamhitas (sections):[20]
| # | Samhita (Section) | Adhyayas (Chapters) |
|---|---|---|
| I | Jnana Samhita | 78 |
| II | Vidyesvara Samhita | 16 |
| III | Kailasa Samhita | 12 |
| IV | Sanatkumara Samhita | 59 |
| V | Vayaviya Samhita: i.Purvabhaga ii.Uttarabhaga | 30 30 |
| VI | Dharma Samhita | 65 |
| Total: | 290 | |
The second manuscript of Shiva Purana published in 1906, reprinted in 1965, by the Pandita Pustakalaya,Kashi consists of sevenSamhitas:[20]
| # | Samhita (Section) | Adhyayas (Chapters) |
|---|---|---|
| I | Vidyesvara Samhita | 25 |
| II | Rudra Samhita: i.Srstikhanda ii.Satikhanda iii.Parvatikhanda iv.Kumarakhanda v.Yuddhakhanda | 20 43 55 20 59 |
| III | Satarudra Samhita | 42 |
| IV | Kotirudra Samhita | 43 |
| V | Uma Samhita | 51 |
| VI | Kailasa Samhita | 23 |
| VII | Vayaviya Samhita: i.Purvabhaga ii.Uttarabhaga | 35 41 |
| Total: | 457 | |
%2c_folio_3_from_the_Shiva_Purana%2c_c._1828.jpg)
According to a passage found in the first chapters ofVidyesvara Samhita andVayaviya Samhita of these recensions the original Shiva Purana comprised twelveSamhitas, which included five lostSamhitas:Vainayaka Samhita,Matr Samhita (orMatrpurana Samhita),Rudraikadasa Samhita,Sahasrakotirudra Samhita andDharma Samhita (orDharmapurana Samhita). The number of verses in these sections were as follows:[20]
Several otherSamhitas are also ascribed to theSiva Purana. These are theIsana Samhita, theIsvara Samhita, theSurya Samhita, theTirthaksetramahatmya Samhita and theManavi Samhita.[20]
Haraprasad Shastri mentioned in the Notices of Sanskrit MSS IV, pp. 220–3, Nos, 298–299 about another manuscript of theSiva Purana, which is divided into Two Khandas (Parts), thePurvakhanda and theUttarakhanda. ThePurvakhanda consists 3270slokas in 51 chapters written in Nagari script and theUttarakhanda has 45 chapters written in Oriya script. It was preserved in Mahimprakash Brahmachari Matha inPuri. ThePurvakhanda of this manuscript is same as theSanatkumara Samhita of the Vangavasi Press Edition.[citation needed]
Like theLinga Purana and other Shaivism-related Puranas, the Shiva Purana dedicates chapters to Shaiva-Advaita philosophy, advocating it as a system formoksha.[22] The text also presents the Brahman assatcitananda theme, with masculine and feminine Shiva-Shakti as a unity, and perception of plurality-discrimination as a form of nescience.[22] Love-Driven Devotionalism (Bhakti), asserts the text, leads to knowledge, and such love combined with knowledge leads to attracting saintly people andguru, and with them one attains liberation, states the Shiva Purana.[22] These ideas, states Klaus Klostermaier, are similar to those found in Devi-related Puranas and Shakti Literature.[22]
The Vidyesvara Samhita (also called Vighnesa Samhita or Vidyasara Samhita) appears in both the six and seven section versions, and is dedicated to describing the greatness and the bhakti of Shiva, particularly through thelinga.[18] This section is also notable for mentioning both ShaivaAgamas and Tantric texts, along with frequently quoting from theVedas and asserting that the text is the essence of the Vedic teaching andVedanta.[18] The chapters of this section in different versions of the Shiva Purana include a description of India's geography and rivers from north and south India so often and evenly that Hazra states it is difficult to gauge if this part was composed in north or south India.[18]
The Jnanasamhita in one manuscript shares content with Rudrasamhita of the other manuscript, presents cosmology and history, and is notable for its discussion ofsaguna andnirguna Shiva.[23]
The text discusses goddesses and gods, dedicates parts of chapters praising Vishnu and Brahma, as well as those related to avatars such as Krishna.[24] It asserts that one must begin with karma-yajna, thereon step by step with tapo-yajna, then self study, then regular meditation, ultimately to jnana-yajna and yoga to achievesayujya (intimate union) with Shiva within.[24]
This section notes the Vedas as the highest authority, but Shiva communicated them to Vishnu.[25]
The Shiva Purana offers various explanations for the etymology ofpranava.[26]
There are translations of this Sanskrit texts in English and Tamil language. One important translation in Tamil language with commentary is done by "Dravidācārya" Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇan Svāmīji ofShastra Nethralaya.. The following is a list of translations:
Quote: Though the basic tenor of those sections of Shiva Purana is Advaitic, the theistic elements of bhakti, gurupasati and so forth are mixed with it.
- The CHANDAMAMA MAGAZINE In Telugu and the various translations into various languages also have the details Shiva Purana directly translated into Telugu from the Sanskrit original, by Telugu writer KODAVATIGANTI KUTUMBARAO way back in the ‘70s which is highly authentic
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