The Brahmanda Purana is a Hindu book written in Sanskrit and one of the eighteen main Puranas. In virtually all anthologies, it is classified as the eighteenth Maha-Purana. The book is called after one of Hinduism's cosmological ideas, the "cosmic egg."
Although the Brahmanda Purana is one of the oldest Puranas, the composition of its initial core remains unknown. V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar, an early 20th-century Indian scholar, dated this Purana to the 4th century BCE. The majority of modern scholarship dates this work to the fourth to sixth centuries CE. According to Ludo Rocher, the book is thought to have reached its current structure about 1000 CE. After the 10th century, the text underwent continual changes, with new parts likely replacing older ones.Large portions of the then-existing Brahmanda Purana were quoted by the 13th-century Yadava dynasty scholar Hemadri, but these parts are not found in currently surviving versions of the same text, implying that the 13th-century version of this Purana was different in many ways from extant manuscripts. The Adhyatma-ramayana, the most important embedded collection of chapters in the existing copies of the Purana, is credited to Ramananda, the Advaita philosopher and founder of the Ramanandi Sampradaya, Hinduism's and Asia's biggest monastic organisation in contemporary times.As a result, the Adhyatma-ramayana was eventually added to this Purana, and it is a significant text in Hinduism's Rama-related history. In the mid-nineteenth century, colonial-era Dutch academics unearthed a Javanese Brahmanda palm-leaf manuscript in Indonesia, along with other Puranas. These are either missing or have yet to be discovered in Sanskrit. The Dutch Sanskrit scholar Jan Gonda transcribed the Javanese Brahmanda and compared it to Sanskrit writings discovered in India.
This Purana was dated to the 4th century BCE by Ramachandra Dikshitar. The majority of modern scholarship dates this work to the fourth to sixth centuries CE. According to Ludo Rocher, the book is thought to have reached its current structure about 1000 CE.
The Lalita Sahasranamam (a stotra glorifying Goddess as the ultimate entity in the cosmos) is included in the Brahmanda Purana, and it is one of the early Hindu writings found in Bali, Indonesia, also known as the Javanese-Brahmanda.
The Brahmanda Purana has three Bhagas in
the published copy (parts). The first section is split into two Pada
(sub-parts), but the remaining two sections each have only one Pada. The first
Bhaga is divided into 38 Adhyaya (chapters), the second is divided into 74
chapters, and the third and final Bhaga is divided into 44 chapters. There are
156 chapters in all in this published work.According to Rocher, there are more
unpublished versions of the texts in other libraries. The structure of these
varies. The Nasiketopakhyana narrative, which is buried inside this Purana, for
example, appears in two versions, one with 18 chapters and the other with 19
chapters, in a form that MorizWinternitz described as a "wonderful old
legend" of Nachiketa contained in the ancient Katha Upanishad.
The Brahmanda Purana is said to have contained 12,000 verses according to tradition and other Puranas, however the published Venkateshwar Press version of the manuscript has 14,286 verses.The Indonesian version of the Brahmanda Purana is significantly shorter, removes unnecessary adjectives but retains all necessary material, and lacks the prophecy-related chapters included in the published Indian edition. This implies that earlier copies of the Indian text were smaller, in a different style, and omitted passages about prophecy, despite tradition to the contrary (an even larger source)
The first Bhaga is divided into 38 Adhyaya (chapters), the second is divided into 74 chapters, and the third and final Bhaga is divided into 44 chapters. There are 156 chapters in all in this published work. According to Rocher, there are more unpublished versions of the texts in other libraries.
The text is comprehensive. It is
nonsectarian and worships all gods and goddesses, including Brahma, Vishnu,
Shiva, Ganesha, Surya, and Shakti, among others. The portions of the Quran that
condemn all animal sacrifices are particularly noteworthy. The text's
philosophy is a mix of Hindu philosophy's Vedanta, Samkhya, and Yoga schools,
with Bhakti and Tantra elements weaved throughout.
The Lalitopkhyna is the second half of the
Uttarabhga, which includes chapters 5–44 of the third section (narrative of
Lalita). It describes Goddess Lalita (an incarnation of Parashakthi), poems on
her devotion as well a discussion of Tantra. This section is presented in the
form of a conversation between Hayagriva and the sage Agastya.After the king of
gods Indra worshipped Devi, Goddess Lalita emerged from the flames (Goddess
representing the supreme reality). It details her battle with Asura Bhanda and
her ultimate victory.
• A detailed explanation of the origin of
the cosmos, a study of time as a dimension, and descriptions of Kalpa and Yuga
are among the portions of this Purana.
• Aspects of sacred geography, include
descriptions of Jambudvipa and Bharata-varsha, as well as the vedangas and the
Adi Kalpa; and various other sites labelled as islands and landmasses, such as
Anudvipa and Ketumaala-varsha.
• Lalitopkhyna is the subject of around
20% of the chapters, emphasising goddess theology and her fundamental role.
• The Adhyatma Ramayana, an Advaita Vedanta treatise with over 65
chapters and 4,500 verses, accounts for approximately 35% of the text's
chapters.
•
Another roughly 30% of the chapters, or 47 chapters, are
geographical Mahatmyas to various regions in India, such as contemporary
Kashmir, Odisha, and Tamil Nadu. Geography-related Mahatmyas are pilgrimage
travel guides that describe rivers, temples, and sights to see.
The Adhyatma Ramayana is a text with around 4500 verses split into 65 chapters and seven kandas. The Nasiketopkhyana, an 18-chapter work, the Pinakinimahatmya, a 12-chapter text, the Virajakshetramahatmya, and the Kanchimahatmya, a 32-chapter text, are all included.
Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd.; 1st edition (1 January
2014)
1528 pages
Books For All (An Imprint of Low Price Publications)
(26 August 2016)
54 pages
MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD.
PAGES: 1548
The tradition and other Puranas assert that the Brahmanda Purana had 12,000 verses, but the published Venkateshwar Press version of manuscript contains 14,286 verses.
20 x 14 x 4 cm
Sanskrit, English
The Puranas, literally ''ancient'' writings, function as one part of scripture for the Hindu tradition. These texts were written over a long period of time from about the fourth century BCE to the eleventh century and were ascribed to Vyasa, the Hindu sage who is also credited with writing the famous epic Mahabharata.
Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd.; 1st edition (1 January
2014)
Books For All (An Imprint of Low Price Publications)
(26 August 2016)
MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD.
Wendy Doniger dates the Brahmanda Purana to have
been composed between 4th to 10th century CE, but she adds that this is approximate
and any attempt to firmly date Puranic texts is a flawed
"chimerical pursuit". The text is generally assumed, states Ludo
Rocher, to have achieved its current structure about 1000 CE.
1 January 2014
26 August 2016