How old are our Puranas?

[prasad1]

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I do not know as to the best fit for this topic. So it is GD section.

‘’ If our religion has survived many vicissitudes in the past, it is because of our temples and the festivals associated with them. The spiritual, moral, and ethical principles expounded by the Vedas have survived and spread through the Puranas. They teach the basic truths in a manner, which appeal to the heart. Let us not, therefore, be indifferent to these great works of religious literature, but treasure them, study them, conduct researches in them, and thereby benefit ourselves and the world’’—Kanchi Shankaracharya on February 4, 1958. From ‘Acharya’s Call’, Madras Discourses 1957-1960.

Puranas (Hindu mythological stories) are dated to Gupta period by the scholars on the basis of the genealogical tables in them. Ancient scholars who wanted to update the Puranas included the latest kings which misled the scholars. Actually Puranas are older than Gupta period i.e. 4th century AD. Vishnu Purana is the oldest of the eighteen Puranas.

Manikkavasagar, one of the four famous Saivite saints, praised Lord Shiva as a God ‘’older than the oldest and newer than the newest’’.

Puranas are copious. It contains 400,000 slokas/couplets. They contain lot of interesting stories. All the ancient seers of India are listed there. Names like Agastya, Vishwamitra and Vashista also misled many a scholar because several seers had the same name. Since they are Gotra (clan or group) names, all the Rishis or seers born in the family were called with the same name. Those who do research into Puranas must take all the above factors into account. Pargiter tried a make a historical list of kings out of the Puranas ( Pargiter’s ‘Dynasties of the Kali Age’, 1913). Though his attempt was appreciated by later day scholars, his list was not without errors. But one may take it as a starting point and improve upon it.

Oldest Purana: Vishnu Purana: (in the present form -300 AD)

How old are our Puranas?

www.speakingtree.in

 

[prasad1]

They are late descriptions of ancient legends and consist of history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography. They are colored with superstitions and also represent a corrupt form of Hindu Philosophy. 18 major Puranas.

Purana – GKToday

They are late descriptions of ancient legends and consist of history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and

www.gktoday.in

 

[prasad1]

There are traditionally 18 Puranas, but there are several different lists of the 18, as well as some lists of more or fewer than 18. The earliest Puranas, composed perhaps between 350 and 750 CE, are the Brahmanda, Devi, Kurma, Markandeya, Matsya, Vamana, Varaha, Vayu, and Vishnu. The next earliest, composed between 750 and 1000, are the Agni, Bhagavata, Bhavishya, Brahma, Brahmavaivarta, Devibhagavata, Garuda, Linga, Padma, Shiva, and Skanda. Finally, the most recent, composed between 1000 and 1500, are the Kalika, Kalki, Mahabhagavata, Naradiya, and Saura.

All the Puranas are strongly sectarian—some devoted to Shiva, some to Vishnu, and some to a goddess. But even those officially devoted to a particular god often pay considerable attention to other gods. By far the most popular Purana is the Bhagavata-purana, with its elegant treatment of the childhood and early life of Krishna. There are also 18 “lesser” Puranas, or upa-puranas, which treat similar material, and a large number of sthala-puranas (“local Puranas”) or mahatmyas (“magnifications”), which glorify temples or sacred places and are recited in the services at those temples.

Purana | Hindu Mythology, Legends & Texts | Britannica

Purana, in the sacred literature of Hinduism, any of a number of popular encyclopaedic collections of myth, legend, and genealogy, varying greatly as to date and origin. Puranas were written almost entirely in narrative couplets, in much the same easy flowing style as the two great Sanskrit epic

www.britannica.com

 

[prasad1]

Hinduism or Santana Dharma may be ancient, but what is practiced today as Hinduism is very much recently.
It only evolved during the Gupta period. That is about AD 300.

 

[Jaykay767]

Agree, I would put our current civilisation around 5000 yrs old.

Of course, some practices and rituals could have come prior to it. But a large portion of it was developed and codified in the last 5000 yrs.

 

[OKO]

Hinduism or Santana Dharma may be ancient, but what is practiced today as Hinduism is very much recently.
It only evolved during the Gupta period. That is about AD 300.

I think today's Hinduism is far more recent. The evolution and solidification of the Smartha traditions (from the smrithis not referring to advaita) is what we practice at present at large.

This is true for the North and especially for Hindus who have recently converted or whose families have kind of drifted away and the temple-centric culture that has formed (primarily due to the popularity of the ISKON temples). By temple-centric, I am referring to the fact that going to temples is seen as the religious exercise undertaken as opposed to the typical yoga mudra yantra approach (yoga and mudra practiced by most today are mostly for momentary clarity of thought or for physical wellness and not from a spiritual or religious side and definitely not to the extent as they used to by large), a more Abrahamic approach if I may.

The denomination of Vedic Hindus are decreasing drastically, and new rules have been put in place. This may be a good thing or may not be, depending on the circumstance. (This is only a generalisation of Hindus by large, think 80-20 where 80% are as described as above)