Vol. 3 · pages 266–270

253 LITERATURE OF BRAHMINISM assumed the form of a third edition, it was again, like the Mahabharata, made a repository of legends, knowledge, learning, philosophy and other arts and sciences. With regard to the date of the composition of the Ramayana, one proposition is well established namely that the episode of Rama is older than the episode of the Pandus. But that the composition of the Ramayana has gone on peripassu along with the composition of the Mahabharata. Portions of Ramayana may be earlier than the Mahabharata. But there can be no doubt that a great part of the Ramayana was composed after a great part of the Mahabharata had already been composed. 1 PURANAS The Puranas 2 today number 18. This is however not the original number. According to traditions, there is no reason to doubt, there was only one Purana to start with. Tradition alleges that this Purana was older than the Vedas. The Atharva Veda refers to this Purana and the Bramhanda Puran says that it is more ancient than the Vedas. It was a lore which the King was expected to know for the Satapada. Bramhana says the Adhvaryu was required to recite the Purana to the ‘King on the 10th day of the Yajna. The origin of the 18 Puranas is attributed to Vyas who it is said recast the original single Purana and by additions and substractions made 18 out of one. The making of the 18 Puranas is thus the second stage in the evolution of the Puranas. The edition of each of these 18 Puranas as published or uttered by Vyas is called the Adi 3 Purana i.e. the original edition as brought out by Vyas. After Vyas composed these 18 Puranas, he taught them to his disciple Romaharsana. Romaharsana prepared his own edition of the Puranas and taught it to his six disciples. Romaharsana’s edition of the Puranas thus becamethe third edition of the Puranas. Of the six disciples of Romaharsana, three: Kasyapa, Savarni and Vaisampayana, made three separate editions which may be called the fourth edition of the Puranas which we call by their names. According to the Bhavishya Purana, the Puranas came to be revised sometime during the reign of King Vikramaditya. 4 1See the Appendix A to Hopkins “The Great Epic of India” for Parallel phrases in the two epics. 2For the account of the Puranas which follows I have drawn upon Kale’s Purananirikshana (Marathi) and Partigar’s Ancient Indian Historical Tradition. 3 Adi Purana does not mean a separate Purana of that name. It means the first edition of each of the 18 Puranas. 4 Who is Vikramaditya ? No one can say.

254 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES As to the subject matter of the Puranas. The Purana from the oldest time is a recognised department of knowledge. For instance it was distinguished from Itihas or history. By Itihas what was understood was past occurances connected with a ruling king. By Akhyana was meant the recital of an event the occurance of which one had witnessed. By Upakhyana was meant the recital of something one has heard. Gathas meant songs about dead ancestors and about nature and universe. Kalpashudhi1 are ancient ways of acting regarding Shraddha and Kalpa. 2 The Purana was distinguished from all these branches of knowledge. The Purana was concerned with five subjects. (1) Sarga (2) Prati Sarga (3) Vamsha (4) Manvantar and (5) Vamshacharitra. Sarga means creation of the universe, Pratisarga means the dissolution of the Universe. Vamsha means Geneology, Manvantar means the Ages of the different Manus, particularly the fourteen successive Manus who were the progenitors or sovereigns of the Earth. Vamshacharitra means the account of royal dynasties. There has been a considerable addition made in the scope and subject matter of the Puranas. For the Puranas which we have are no longer confined to these subjects. In addition to these subjects they contain other subjects which fall entirely outside their prescribed scope. Indeed there has been such a change in the fundamental notion I regarding the scope of the Puranas so that some of them do not contain any treatment of the regular subjects but deal wholly with the new or extra subjects. The extra subjects include the following main topics: (I) Smriti Dharma which include discussion of: (1) Varnashrama-dharma, (2) Achara, (3) Ahnika, (4) Bhashyabhasya, (5) Vivaha, (6) Asaucha, (7) Shradha (8) Dravya-Suddhi (9) Pataka, (10) Prayaschitta, (11) Naraka, (12) Karma Vipaka and (13) Yuga Dharma. (II) Vrata Dharma—Observance of holy vows and holy days (III) Kshetra Dharma—Pilgrimages to holy places and (IV) Dana Dharma—Gifts to holy persons. In addition to this, there are two other topics the new subject matter with which one finds the Puranas to be deeply concerned. The first of these two topics relates to sectarian worship. The Puranas are votaries of a particular deity and advocate the cause of 1 Mr. Hazara speaks of Kalpajokti (instead of Kalpashudhi) which means lore that has come down through ages—see chronology of Puranas p. 4. 2 The word Kalpa is used in various senses. (1) Practicable. (2) Proper (3) Able, Competent. The word Kalpa is else used in various senses (1) A Sacred rule (2) A prescribed alternative (3) Made of performing religious rites (4) End of the world, Universal destruction. (5) A day of the Brahma Yuga (6) Medical treatment of the sick and (7) One of the six Vedangas: that which lays down the ritual and prescribes rules for ceremonies and sacrificial acts.

255 LITERATURE OF BRAHMINISM a particular deity and the sect devoted to his worship. Five 1 Puranas advocate worship of Vishnu, Eight 2 worship of Shiva, One 3 worship of Brahma, One 4 worship of Surya, Two worship of Devi and One worship of Genesh. The second topic which the Puranas have made a part of their subject matter is the history of the Avatars of the God. The Puranas make a distinction between identification of two Gods and the incarnation of a God. In the case of identification, the theory is that the God is one although he has two names. In the case of an incarnation, God becomes another being of the man or brute and does something miraculous. In reading this history of incarnations the fruitful source is Vishnu. For it is only Vishnu who has taken Avatars from time to time and done miraculous deeds and we find in the Puranas this new topic discussed in all its elaborate details. It is no wonder if by the addition of these new subjects, the Puranas have been transformed out of recognition. There is one other matter regarding the authorship of the Puranas which is noteworthy. It relates to the change in the authorship of the Puranas. Among the ancient Hindus, there were two separate sections among the literary class. One section consisted of the Brahmins and another section called Sutas who were non-Bramhins. Each was in charge of a separate department of literature. The Sutas had the monopoly of the Puranas. The Brahmins had nothing to do with the composition or the reciting of the Puranas. It was exclusively reserved for the Sutas and the Brahmins had nothing to do with it. Though the Sutas had specialized themselves in the making and the reciting of the Puranas, although they had acquired a hereditary and a prescriptive right to compose and recite the Puranas, there came a time when the Sutas were ousted from this profession by Brahmins who took it into their own hands and made a monopoly of it in their own favour. Thus there was a change in the authorship of the Puranas. Instead of the Sutas, it is the Brahmins who became their authors.5 It is probably when the Puranas fell into the hands of the Brahmins that the Puranas have been finally edited and recast to make room for the new subjects. The editing and recasting has been of a very daring character. For in doing so they have added fresh chapters, substituted new chapters for old chapters and written new chapters with old names. So that by this process some Puranas retained their earlier 1 (1) Vishnu (2) Bhagwat (3) Narada (4) Vaman and (5) Garuda. 2 (1) Shiva (2) Brahma (3) Linga (4) Varaha (5) Skanda (6) Matsya (7) Kurma (8) Bramhanda 3 Padma. 4 Agni. 5 Partiger.

256 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES materials, some lost their early materials, some gained new materials and some became totally new works. The determination of the date of the composition of the Puranas is a problem which has hardly been tackled.All history written by the Brahmins is history without dates and the Puranas are no exception. The date of the Puranas has to be determined by circumstantial evidence corelated with events the dates of which are well settled. The dates of the composition of the different Puranas have not been examined as closely as those of the other parts of the Brahminic literature. Indeed scholars have paid no attention to the Puranas at all certainly nothing like what they have done in the matter of the Vedic literature. Mr, Hazara’s is the only work I know of in which an attempt is made in the matter of determining the date of the composition of the Puranas. I give below the dates of the Puranas as found by him. Puranas Date of Composition 1. Markendeya .. .. Between 200 and 600 A. D. 2. Vayu .. .. Between 200 and 500 A. D. 3. Bramhanda .. .. Between 200 and 500 A. D. 4. Vishnu .. .. Between 100 and 350 A. D. 5. Matsya .. .. Part about 325 A. D. Part about 1100 A. D. 6. Bhagwat .. .. Between 500 and 600 A. D. 7. Kurma .. .. Between 550 and 1000 A. D. 8. Vamana .. .. Between 700 and 1000 A. D. 9. Linga .. .. Between 600 and 1000 A. D. 10. Varaha .. .. Between 800 and 1500 A. D. 11. Padma .. .. Between 600 and 950 A. D. 12. Brahanaradiya .. .. Between 875 and 1000 A. D. 13. Agni .. .. Between 800 and 900 A. D. 14. Garuda .. .. Between 850 and 1000 A. D. 15. Bramha .. .. Between 900 and 1000 A. D. 16. Skanda .. .. After 700 A. D. 17. Bramha Vaivrata .. .. After 700 A. D. 18. Bhavishya .. .. After 500 A. D. No more precise date can be fixed for the Puranas at any rate for the present. New research in the field may narrow the higher and lower limits of their composition. The difference will only be a difference of degree. It will not be one of subversion of Eras.

257 LITERATURE OF BRAHMINISM This short survey is enough to remove any doubt as to the age of this literature that it is post-Buddhistic. The survey establishes one more point of great significance. This literature arose during the period subsequent to the triumph of Brahmins under the leadership of Pushyamitra. The survey brings out one other point. Vyas writes Mahabharata. Vyas tells Bhagwat Gita, and Vyas also writes the Puranas. Mahabharata contains 18 Parvas, the Gita has 18 Adhyayas and the Puranas number 18. Is all this an Accident ? Or is it the result of a design planned and worked out in concert ? We must wait and see. III THE VEDANTA SUTRAS The vedanta Sutras of Badarayana as has been pointed out already constitute a department of study on the same line as the Karma Sutras of Jaimini. It is natural to ask how the founders of these two schools of thought comfort themselves towards each other. When one begins to inquire into the matter one comes across facts which are revealing. In the first place as Prof. Belvalkar 1 points out, ‘the Vedanta Sutras are very closely modelled upon the Karma Sutras.’ In the matter of methodology and terminology, Badarayana almost slavishly follows Jaimini. He accepts Jaimini rules of interpreting the text of the Shruti. He uses Jaimin’s technical terms in the sense in which they have been used by Jaimini. He uses the very illustrations which are employed by Jaimini. This is a matter for small wonder. But what is not a matter for small wonder is the attitude of the two schools towards each other in the matter of doctrine. Let me give an illustration. Badarayana gives the following Sutras2 as illustrative of the position of Jaimini towards the Vedanta. 2. Because (the Self) is supplementary (to sacrificial acts), (the fruits of the knowledge of the Self) are mere praise of the agent, even as in other cases; thus says Jaimini. “According to Jaimini the Vedas merely prescribe acts to attain certain purposes including Liberation, and nothing more. He argues that the knowledge of the Self does not yield any independent results, as Vedanta holds, but is connected with the acts through the agent. No one undertakes a sacrificial act unless he is conscious of the fact that he is different from the body and that after death he 1 Basu Mallick Lectures, p. 152. 2 Swami Vireswarananda—Brahma Sutras (Advaita Ashram Edition 1936), pp. 408-411.