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Padma Purana (Devanagari
Devanagari

, or 'Nagari', is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal. It is written from left to right, lacks distinct letter cases, and is recognizable by a distinctive horizontal line running along the tops of the letters that links them together....
: ???? ?????), one of the major eighteen Puranas
Puranas

The Puranas are a group of important Hindu religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the Universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of the kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography....
, a Hindu religious text, is divided into five parts. In the first part sage Pulastya
Pulastya

Pulastya was one of the ten Prajapatis or mind-born sons of Brahma , and one of the Saptarishis in the seventh, i.e the present Manvantara ....
 explains to Bhishma
Bhishma

Bhishma: One of the strongest characters of the Mahabharata. He was the great-uncle of both the Pandavas and the Kauravas. An unparalleled archer, he once vanquished the mighty Parasurama....
 about religion and the essence of the religion. The second part describes in detail Prithvi
Prithvi

Prithvi is the Hinduism earth and mother goddess. According to one tradition, she is the personification of the Earth, and to another its Mother, being Prithivi Tattwa, the essence of the element earth....
 (earth). In the third part description of the cosmos
Cosmos

In its most general sense, a cosmos is an orderly or harmonious system. It originates from a Greek language term ??s??? meaning "order, orderly arrangement, ornaments," and is the antithetical concept of chaos....
 is given, including creation, and description of India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 (Bharata Varsha). The fourth part describes the life and deeds of Rama
RAMA

Rama is a first-person adventure game developed and published by Sierra Entertainment in 1996. The game is based on Arthur C. Clarke's books Rendezvous with Rama and Rama II and supports both DOS and Microsoft Windows 95....
.






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Padma Purana (Devanagari
Devanagari

, or 'Nagari', is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal. It is written from left to right, lacks distinct letter cases, and is recognizable by a distinctive horizontal line running along the tops of the letters that links them together....
: ???? ?????), one of the major eighteen Puranas
Puranas

The Puranas are a group of important Hindu religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the Universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of the kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography....
, a Hindu religious text, is divided into five parts. In the first part sage Pulastya
Pulastya

Pulastya was one of the ten Prajapatis or mind-born sons of Brahma , and one of the Saptarishis in the seventh, i.e the present Manvantara ....
 explains to Bhishma
Bhishma

Bhishma: One of the strongest characters of the Mahabharata. He was the great-uncle of both the Pandavas and the Kauravas. An unparalleled archer, he once vanquished the mighty Parasurama....
 about religion and the essence of the religion. The second part describes in detail Prithvi
Prithvi

Prithvi is the Hinduism earth and mother goddess. According to one tradition, she is the personification of the Earth, and to another its Mother, being Prithivi Tattwa, the essence of the element earth....
 (earth). In the third part description of the cosmos
Cosmos

In its most general sense, a cosmos is an orderly or harmonious system. It originates from a Greek language term ??s??? meaning "order, orderly arrangement, ornaments," and is the antithetical concept of chaos....
 is given, including creation, and description of India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 (Bharata Varsha). The fourth part describes the life and deeds of Rama
RAMA

Rama is a first-person adventure game developed and published by Sierra Entertainment in 1996. The game is based on Arthur C. Clarke's books Rendezvous with Rama and Rama II and supports both DOS and Microsoft Windows 95....
. The fifth part is in the style of a dialogue between Shiva
Shiva

Shiva: is a major Hinduism god, and one aspect of Trimurti. In the Shaiva tradition of Hinduism, Shiva is seen as the supreme God. In the Smarta tradition, he is one of panchadeva....
 and his consort, Parvati
Parvati

Parvati , sometimes spelled Parvathi or Parvathy, is a Hinduism Devi. Parvati is also regarded as a representation of Shakti, albeit the gentle aspect of that goddess because she is a mother goddess....
, and deals with the essential knowledge about religion.

Contents

This text was passed on in two different versions (often called recensions), the Bengal and the South Indian. The former recension consists of five khandas (sections): Shrishti Khanda, Bhumi Khanda, Svarga Khanda, Patala Khanda and Uttara Khanda. The latter recension consists of six khandas: Adi Khanda (also called Svarga Khanda in some printed editions), Bhumi Khanda, Brahma Khanda, Patala Khanda, Srishti Khanda and Uttara Khanda. The Bhumi Khanda of the Bengal recension contains additional thirteen chapters, while the Patala Khanda of this recension contains thirty-one additional chapters. The Svarga Khanda of this recension contains the descriptions about different regions (lokas) and narratives of kings and demons. The Srishti Khanda can be divided into two parts and the second part is not found in the Bengal recension.

Srishti Khanda

The Srishti Khanda (Book of the Creation) is in the form of a dialogue between Bhishma
Bhishma

Bhishma: One of the strongest characters of the Mahabharata. He was the great-uncle of both the Pandavas and the Kauravas. An unparalleled archer, he once vanquished the mighty Parasurama....
 and the sage Pulastya. It also contains a detailed description of Pushkara
Pushkara

Pushkara was the brother of Nala to whom Nala lost his kingdom and all that he possessed in gambling. Kali got very angry when Damayanti chose Nala in the swayamvar....
, a famous place of pilgrimage
Pilgrimage

File:Supplicating Pilgrim at Masjid Al Haram. Mecca, Saudi Arabia.jpgIn religion and spirituality, a pilgrimage is a long quest or search of great moral significance....
. It is a matter of interest that some sections of this part is derisive of the worship of grahas (include, but not limited to, planets).

Bhumi Khanda

The Bhumi Khanda (Book of the Earth) has a description of Prithvi
Prithvi

Prithvi is the Hinduism earth and mother goddess. According to one tradition, she is the personification of the Earth, and to another its Mother, being Prithivi Tattwa, the essence of the element earth....
 (the earth) and tales of kings like Prithu
Prithu

According to Hinduism Hindu mythology, Prithu is a sovereign , named in the Vedic scriptures and considered an avatar of the preserver god?Vishnu....
 and Yayati
Yayati

Yayati was a Puranic king and the son of king Nahusha. He was a great scholar of Vedas. He had five brothers, Yati, Samyati, Ayati, Viyati and Kriti....
 and of several sages. Some scholars believe that the description of earth and tales of kings and sages in this Purana has factual elements of geography and history of that period.

Svarga Khanda

The Svarga Khanda (Book of Heaven) contains details of the sequence of creation of the cosmos. It also describes the significance and importance of holy places and geographical expansion and features of Jambudvipa
Jambudvipa

Jambudvipa is the name of the dvipa of the terrestrial world as envisioned in the cosmologies of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism where ordinary human beings live....
, including its mountains and rivers. It also tells about the people of India in ancient times.

Patala Khanda

The Patala Khanda (Book of the Netherworld) Ugrasrava Sauti
Ugrasrava Sauti

Reference: Mahabharata 1.1Ugrasrava Sauti was the narrator of the epic Mahabharata. Ugrasrava Sauti, like sage Vaisampayana, was the disciple of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, the author of Mahabharata....
 narrates the life story of Rama
RAMA

Rama is a first-person adventure game developed and published by Sierra Entertainment in 1996. The game is based on Arthur C. Clarke's books Rendezvous with Rama and Rama II and supports both DOS and Microsoft Windows 95....
, an avatar
Avatar

Avatar or Avatara , often translated into English as incarnation, literally means descent and usually implies a deliberate descent from higher spiritual realms to lower realms of existence for special purposes....
 of Vishnu
Vishnu

Vishnu , , is the Supreme God in Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of panchadeva, and his supreme status is declared in the Hindu sacred texts like Yajurveda, the Rigveda and the Bhagavad Gita....
, to an assembly of sages. There are also sections devoted to the life and deeds of Lord Krishna
Krishna

Krishna is a deity worshiped across many traditions in Hinduism in a variety of different perspectives. While many Vaishnava groups recognize him as an avatar of Vishnu, other traditions within Krishnaism consider Krishna to be svayam bhagavan, or the supreme being....
. 16 chapters of the Patala Khanda are together known as the Shiva Gita.

Uttara Khanda

The Uttara Khanda presents the metaphysical aspects of religion in the form of a dialogue between Shiva
Shiva

Shiva: is a major Hinduism god, and one aspect of Trimurti. In the Shaiva tradition of Hinduism, Shiva is seen as the supreme God. In the Smarta tradition, he is one of panchadeva....
 and Parvati
Parvati

Parvati , sometimes spelled Parvathi or Parvathy, is a Hinduism Devi. Parvati is also regarded as a representation of Shakti, albeit the gentle aspect of that goddess because she is a mother goddess....
. This part also contains another version of Vishnu sahasranama
Vishnu sahasranama

The Vishnu Sahasranama is a list of 1,000 names for Vishnu, one of the main forms of God in Hinduism and the personal supreme God for Vaishnavism ....
 (1000 names of Vishnu) (not the Mahabharata
Mahabharata

The is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetrys of History of India, the other being the '. The epic is part of the Hindu itihasa , and forms an important part of Hindu mythology....
 version and Rama sahasranama
Rama sahasranama

The Rama Sahasranama is a list of 1,000 names for Rama, an avatar of Vishnu....
 (1000 names of Rama). The name of this section is also applied to the Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand , is a States and territories of India located in the northern part of India. It was carved out of Himalayan and adjoining districts of Uttar Pradesh on 9 November 2000, becoming the 27th States and territories of India of the Republic of India ....
 region of the Indian Himalayas
Himalayas

The Himalaya Range or Himalayas for short , meaning "abode of snow" ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau....
 over which Shiva and Parvati preside as the source of the Yamuna
Yamuna

The Yamuna is a major tributary river of the Ganges in northern India. With a total length of around , it is the largest tributary of the Ganges....
 and Ganga rivers, abodes of Vishnu
Vishnu

Vishnu , , is the Supreme God in Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of panchadeva, and his supreme status is declared in the Hindu sacred texts like Yajurveda, the Rigveda and the Bhagavad Gita....
 at Badrinath
Badrinath

Badrinath is a Hinduism holy town and a nagar panchayat in Chamoli district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is the most important of the four sites in India's Char Dham pilgrimage....
 and Shiva
Shiva

Shiva: is a major Hinduism god, and one aspect of Trimurti. In the Shaiva tradition of Hinduism, Shiva is seen as the supreme God. In the Smarta tradition, he is one of panchadeva....
 at Kedarnath
Kedarnath

Kedarnath is a Hinduism holy town located in the Indian States and territories of India of Uttarakhand. It is a nagar panchayat in Rudraprayag district....
, and the Ganga's entry into the plains of India at Haridwar
Haridwar

Haridwar ) is a holy city and municipal board in the Haridwar District of Uttarakhand, India. In Hindi, Haridwar stands for Dwar of Hari or Gateway to God, 'Hari' meaning god and 'dwar' meaning gate....
.

Further reading

  • Mani, Vettam. Puranic Encyclopedia. 1st English ed. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1975.


External links