According to Ludo Rocher, the Markandeya Purana is likely one of the earliest in the Purana genre of Hindu literature, as well as one of the most intriguing and important. The Devi Mahatmya, the oldest known treatise on Devi (goddess) as the Supreme Truth and creator of the cosmos, is included inside it.
The Markandeya Purana (, IAST: Mrkaeya Pura) is a Hindu book written in Sanskrit and is one of the eighteen main Puranas. The title of the work, Markandeya, relates to a Hindu guru who appears in two stories, one related to Shiva and the other to Vishnu.
Wendy Doniger claims that the Markandeya Purana dates from around 250
CE, with the Devi Mahatmya dating from around 550 CE. Parts of this Purana may
have existed by the third century, according to other researchers. Nileshvari
Desai, on the other hand, believes that the earliest existing text is from the
7th century CE.
According to Ludo Rocher, the Markandeya Purana is likely one of the
earliest in the Purana genre of Hindu literature, as well as one of the most
intriguing and important. The Devi Mahatmya, the oldest known treatise on Devi
(goddess) as the Supreme Truth and creator of the cosmos, is included inside
it.
The Bhavishya Purana is divided into five sections (parvans) in
certain manuscripts, although the printed copies only include four (Brhma,
Madhyama, Pratisarga, and Uttara). The content and dates of these four pieces
are unique.
The Brahmaparvan has 215 chapters, while the Madhyamaparvan has three parts totaling 62 chapters, the Pratisargaparvan has four sections totaling 7, 35, 32, and 26 chapters, and the Uttaraparvan has 208 chapters. Some text copies lack these Parvans and have a different number of chapters. The Tantra-related first part, Madhyamaparvan, is a Tantra-related work, whereas the "prophecy"-related third portion, Pratisargaparvan, is most likely a 19th-century work.Bhaviyat Pura is another name for the text. It is included in the rajas category of the Padma Purana, which includes puranas on Brahma. Scholars believe the Sattva-Rajas-Tamas categorization to be "completely fictitious," and nothing in the text really supports this classification.Bhaviyat Pura is another name for the text. It is included in the rajas category of the Padma Purana, which includes puranas on Brahma. Scholars believe the Sattva-Rajas-Tamas categorization to be "completely fictitious," and nothing in the text really supports this classification.
The Devi Mahatmya is comprised of chapters
81 through 93 of the Purana. The book begins with Jaimini, the creator of the
Mimamsa, seeking answers from sage Markandeya to several concerns posed by the
Mahabharata but never answered in it. Markandeya insists on performing some
Vedic rites and advises that Jaimini meet up with four wise birds who reside in
the Vindhya mountains. The birds encounter Jaimini. The birds respond to his
queries in the Markandeya Purana's chapters 4 to 45.This debate incorporates
moral lessons from works such as the Mahabharata and the Gautama Dharmasutras,
as well as mythology, the idea of Karma, Samsara, Dharma, and Shraddha verses.
In chapters 39 to 43, the book offers its
Yoga philosophy, asserting that it is the route to self-knowledge and
liberation (Moksha), therefore conquering previous Karma. According to
Rigopoulos, the yoga debates, Dattatreya's depiction, and his yoga teachings in
the Markandeya Purana are basically Jnana yoga, and Dattatreya's emphasis on
Jnana within a nondual (Advaita Vedanta) framework defines Dattatreya
throughout the text.
According to Sahasrabudhe, the Markandeya
Purana, along with the Vishnu, Vayu, Narada, and Kurma Puranas, include
"unmistakably Advaita" (non-dualistic) premises, which presumably
represent the Advaita tradition prior to Adi Shankara's time.
The birds and the sage Markandeya converse
in the following chapters as well, although the sage is the major speaker in
chapters 45-80 and 94-137. Scholars believe that this shift in style is due to
the fact that this section of the Purana is older. This section contains
genealogies, manvantaras, geography, and Surya-honoring chapters (Sun god).
The Devi Mahatmya, which spans chapters 81
to 93 of the Markandeya Purana, literally means "glorification or praises
of the Goddess." It is the most important bhakti scripture for people who
worship Durga or Chandi as Shakti. This text is sometimes referred to as
Saptasati, Chandi-mahatmya, or Chandipatha, and is studied on its own. It's
very popular in India's eastern states, such as West Bengal and Odisha.
The Devi Mahatmya begins with the stories
of King Suratha, who was vanquished in war and banished, and Samadhi, a
merchant who was driven away for his money by his wives and children.They
eventually meet in the woods. Nonetheless, the book claims that the two find
that they share a concern about people that pushed them away. They are perplexed
as to why they are still concerned. They seek answers from sage Medhas
(Sumedha). The sage responds that this is the nature of existence; simply see
hungry birds collecting seeds, which, despite their hunger, put the seeds into
their offspring' beaks. This is the Goddess's strength, manifested in nature
and everywhere, says the text, one who promotes attachments while also
empowering release. The two gentlemen are curious about this Goddess.The Devi
Mahatmya portion of this Purana describes the Goddess with theological
and philosophical premises focussed on the feminine.
The work covers a wide range of subjects,
such as society, religion, and mythology. Family, marriage, social life, dress,
food, customs, ceremonies, weights and measures, social conventions, women's
position, cosmogony, eschatology, geography, flora and fauna known and
considered important in ancient Indian society, as well as mythology and
theology, are all covered in its chapters.
According to Louis E. Fenech and W. H. McLeod, the
ChandiCharitarUkati Bilas in DasamGranth — a secondary Sikhism text – is based
on the Markandeya Purana.
The Devi-mahatmya section
of the book is chanted at India's Durga temples during the Durga Puja festival.
Penguin Classics (31 October 2019)
560 pages
The extant manuscripts of this Purana have 137
chapters, of which chapters 81 through 93 is the Devi Mahatmya. Tradition and
some medieval era texts assert that the Markandeya Purana has
9,000 verses, but surviving manuscripts have about 6,900 verses. 2,100 verses
were transferred to Devi Bhagavatam.
19 cm x 28 cm
Because it occurs in such completely developed form in the book, John Lochtefeld believes that the concept of Goddess as supreme existed before the 6th century, much before the creation period of Devi Mahatmya. The Markandeya Purana, like all the Puranas, has a convoluted chronology.
Geeta Press Gorakhpur. Publication date. 1 January 2015.
With the exception of the Devi Mahatmya, which she dates to around
550 CE, she dates everything to 250 CE. Parts of this Purana may have existed
by the third century, according to other researchers. Nileshvari Desai, on the
other hand, believes that the earliest existing text is from the 7th century
CE.
31 October 2019
1 January 2015