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:''For other meanings, see Purana (disambiguation).'' The word Puranas (, ', ;〔("Purana" ). ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.〕) literally means "ancient, old",〔Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, ISBN 0-877790426, page 915〕 and it is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics particularly myths, legends and other traditional lore.〔Greg Bailey (2001), Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy (Editor: Oliver Leaman), Routledge, ISBN 978-0415172813, pages 437-439〕 Composed primarily in Sanskrit, but also in regional languages,〔〔Gregory Bailey (2003), The Study of Hinduism (Editor: Arvind Sharma), The University of South Carolina Press, ISBN 978-1570034497, page 139〕 several of these texts are named after major Hindu deities such as Vishnu, Shiva and Devi.〔Ludo Rocher (1986), The Puranas, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN 978-3447025225, pages 1-5, 12-21〕 The Puranas genre of literature is found in both Hinduism and Jainism.〔John Cort (1993), Purana Perennis: Reciprocity and Transformation in Hindu and Jaina Texts (Editor: Wendy Doniger), State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0791413821, pages 185-204〕 The Puranic literature is encyclopedic,〔 and it includes diverse topics such as cosmogony, cosmology, genealogies of gods, goddesses, kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, folk tales, pilgrimages, temples, medicine, astronomy, grammar, minerology, humor, love stories, as well as theology and philosophy.〔〔〔 The content is highly inconsistent across the Puranas, and each Purana has survived in numerous manuscripts which are themselves inconsistent.〔 The Hindu Puranas are anonymous texts and likely the work of many authors over the centuries; in contrast, most Jaina Puranas can be dated and their authors assigned.〔 There are 18 ''Maha Puranas'' (Great Puranas) and 18 ''Upa Puranas'' (Minor Puranas),〔 with over 400,000 verses.〔〔 The first versions of the various Puranas were likely composed between the 3rd- and 10th-century CE.〔 The Puranas do not enjoy the authority of a scripture in Hinduism,〔Cornelia Dimmitt (2015), Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the Sanskrit Puranas, Temple University Press, ISBN 978-8120839724, page xii, 4〕 but are considered a Smriti.〔Greg Bailey (2001), Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy (Editor: Oliver Leaman), Routledge, ISBN 978-0415172813, page 503〕 They have been influential in the Hindu culture, inspiring major national and regional annual festivals of Hinduism.〔Ludo Rocher (1986), The Puranas, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN 978-3447025225, pages 12-13, 134-156, 203-210〕 Their role and value as sectarian religious texts and historical texts has been controversial,〔Ludo Rocher (1986), The Puranas, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN 978-3447025225, pages 21-24, 104-113, 115-126〕 and the sectarian religious practices included in them are considered ''Vaidika'' (congruent with Vedic literature).〔Dominic Goodall (1996), Hindu Scriptures, University of California Press, ISBN 978-0520207783, page xxxix〕 The Bhagavata Purana has been among the most celebrated and popular text in the Puranic genre, and is of non-dualistic tenor.〔〔Dominic Goodall (1996), Hindu Scriptures, University of California Press, ISBN 978-0520207783, page xli〕 The Puranic literature wove with the Bhakti movement in India, and both Dvaita and Advaita scholars have commented on the underlying Vedantic themes in the ''Maha Puranas''.〔BN Krishnamurti Sharma (2008), A History of the Dvaita School of Vedānta and Its Literature, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120815759, pages 128-131〕 ==Etymology== Douglas Harper states that the etymological origins of ''Puranas'' is from Sanskrit ''Puranah'', literally "ancient, former," from ''pura'' "formerly, before," cognate with Greek ''paros'' "before," ''pro'' "before," Avestan ''paro'' "before," Old English fore, from proto-Indo-European '' *pre-'', from root '' *per-''."〔Douglas Harper (2015), (Purana ), Etymology Dictionary〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Puranas」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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