Talk:Saurapurāṇa
By Swami Harshananda
Saurapurāṇa literally means ‘the purāṇa concerning Surya or the Sun-god’.
Classification of Purāṇas[edit]
The purāṇas are the secondary sources of religion and culture. They are broadly classified into two divisions:
- The mahāpurāṇas
- The upapurāṇas
Origin of Saurapurāna[edit]
Though tradition counts them as 18 in each group, the upapurāṇas as they are listed now are at least 29. They were taught by Surya or Āditya to Manu, his son. The Saurapurāna is one of them. It has 3900 verses spread over 69 chapters. It belongs to the Śaiva group of purāṇas.
Contents of Saurapurāna[edit]
Its contents, which are variegated, may be summarized briefly as follows:
- Greatness of Śiva
- Effect of devotion to him
- Mantra (Om namaśśivāya)'
- Construction of Śiva temples
- Worship of Śiva
- Several stotras or hymns to him
- Several stories like:
- Destruction of Dakṣa’s sacrifice
- Śiva’s marriage to Pārvati
- Birth of Skanda[1]
- Killing of Tārakāsura
- Destruction of Tripuras or the three cities of the demons
- Upamanyu being blessed with an ocean of milk
- Viṣṇu getting his Sudarśana discus by the grace of Śiva
Significance of Saurapurāna[edit]
It describes the places of pilgrimage like Kāśī, Ujjayini, the river Gañgā and several other places. It also delineates the following:
- Prāyaścittas - expiations
- Śrāddhas - obsequial rites
- Varṇāśramadharmas
- Details of creation
- Some sādhanas according to yoga
Thus, this purāṇa can be considered an important work on Śaivism.
References[edit]
- ↑ Skanda means Subrahmaṇya.
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore