Tamil
Traditional Puranas
PREMA NANDAKUMAR
ASHTAA DHASA PURANAMENUM PATHINEN PURANANGAL: Kizhkovalavedu Krishnamachariar; Narmada Pathippagam, 10, Nana Street, Pondy Bazaar, T. Nagar, Chennai-600017. Rs. 500.
A COMMENDABLE attempt to present the gist of the 18 traditional Puranas in a single volume, Pathinen Puranangal is welcome as an array of legends that sound quite relevant to our century. In the enormous treasury of Indian literature, the Puranas are a phenomenon of great value as linkages with the past and the future. Tradition speaks of 18 Puranas beginning with the Vishnu Purana (3rd century A.D.). The others are Naradiya, Padma, Garuda, Varaha, Bhagavata, Brahmanda, Brahmavaivarta. Markandeya, Bhavishya, Vamana, Brahma, Matsya, Kurma, Linga, Siva, Skanda and Agni. Krishnamachariar has added the Vayu Purana also in deference to the count given by the ancient narrator, Romaharshana. He has been selective and naturally we miss many familiar accounts like the Kandikya-Kesidhwaja discussion in the Vishnu Purana. This hardly matters, because what we do have here is a rich treasure-trove to form one's base in Indian culture.
Though the mundane and the diabolical are aplenty in the narratives, the virtue of ethical instruction is what makes them important for the present generation.
The author has done well to avoid repetition though he has indicated the several versions of chosen legends in appropriate places. Produced with the special flair of the publications, this volume is a golden book with the added bonus of pleasant line drawings of several Puranic incidents. But who is the artist of this sacral album?
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