Number of Purana as per Srimad Bhagavatam
In Srimad Bhagavatam (12.13.4-8) the list of Mahapurana and the number of slokas contained in them are given:
- Brahma Purana – 10000
- Padma Purana – 55000
- Vishnu Purana – 23000
- Vayu Purana – 24000
- Bhagavata Purana – 18000
- Narada Purana – 25000
- Markandeya Purana – 9000
- Agni Purana -10500
- Bhavishya Purana – 14500
- Brahmavayvarta Purana – 18000
- Linga Purana – 11000
- Varaha Purana – 24000
- Skanda Purana – 81000
- Vamana Purana – 10000
- Kurma Purana – 17000
- Matsya Purana – 19000
- Garuda Purana – 19000
- Brahmanda Purana – 12000
A Purana has ten main objectives :
subtle creation ( sarga ), gross creation ( visarga ), the law and order established by God ( sthana ), the protection and support of peace ( sent ), karmic tendencies ( uti ) , the reign of Manu ( manvantara ), a description of the deeds of the Lord ( ishanukatha ), the destruction of the world ( nirodha ), liberation ( mukti ), the highest refuge or ultimate reality ( ashraya ).
Glossary of Purana
A
Avatar – “he who descends”, the Incarnation, the descent of Vishnu. They are 10 in number.
Avyakta – Which can not be described
Agni – the worldly manifestation of a Vedik Devata, whose attributes if the fire.
Ajnana – ignorance, ignorance, Darkness
Adi-deva – the Lord Vishnu, source of all meta divinity
Adi Purusha – The cause of all causes, Lord Vishnu.
Adharma – unrighteousness, non-religious, the deviation from the law of dharma .
Amrita – “nectar of immortality” received by the gods and demons during the buttermilk of the Milky Ocean.
Amsha – part.
Amsha-avatara – partial, incomplete incarnation.
Ananda – bliss, supreme divine joy, an aspect of the nature of the Supreme Lord.
Ananta – unlimited, infinite; expansion of Lord Balarama in the form of a thousand-headed serpent supporting all worlds.
Apara – not spiritual; motionless, inert matter; material nature.
Arjuna is the third of the Pandavas, a close friend of Krishna, whom Krishna told the Bhagavad-gita on the Kuruksetra field.
Artha – “profit”, “benefit”, “wealth”; economic well-being that follows worldly religiosity ( dharma ) and forms the basis for sense gratification ( kama ).
Archa-vigraha is the form of the Lord worshiped in the temple.
Arya – “noble”; a Vedic culture man who builds his life on the basis of the principles of the Vedas .
Asur – a demon, an atheist, an adversary of the gods.
Atma – the divine essence of man, the higher “I”.
Atma-maya is the internal energy of the Lord.
Atma-tattva – the science of the nature of the soul.
Akhankara – “that which creates the” I “”; “False ego,” a subtle element that makes a living creature enslaved to matter identify itself with its subtle and gross body.
Ahimsa – no harm to the living.
Ashram – each of the four degrees, or ways of life, in the varnasrama system (see also brahmacharya , grhastha , vanaprastha, sannyasa ); cloister, monastery, community where they practice spiritual practice; hermit’s home.
Ashraya – refuge, support; source; subject; personality that accommodates those , or other qualities or things.
Ashta-siddhi – eight mystical perfections that come to a person in the process of practicing ashtanga yoga .
B
Baladeva is the first full manifestation of the Lord.
Bija – “seed”; “root”; “the basis”; a special syllable, which is an essential part of the mantra .
Brahma – the first created being in the universe; one of the guna-avataras, controlling the mode of passion; creating all the diversity of the material world.
Brahmajyoti – spiritual radiance.
Brahman – the Absolute; Higher Consciousness; The God; impersonal, devoid of qualities, all-pervading manifestation of Bhagavan .
Brahmananda – the bliss of union with Brahman .
Brahmanda is a sphere-shaped universe created by Brahma .
Brahmins (in unit brahman) – a class of learned people and clergy; the highest of the four classes in the varnasrama system .
Brahmanas (in unit brahmana) – a class of sacred texts that are part of the four original Vedas .
Brahmastra – a destructive weapon, similar to the neutron, which is activated by the pronunciation of special mantras .
Brahmachari is a student living in the Guru’s ashram and observing the vow of chastity.
Brahmacharya is the first of four ways of life in the varnasrama system ; generally a vow of celibacy and voluntary poverty.
Bhagavan – Infinite, Primordial, Unborn. The highest, personal aspect of God, possessing six greatnesses: beauty, power, glory, wealth, knowledge and renunciation in their absolute fullness.
Bhagavata – everything related to Bhagavan , the Supreme Lord.
Bhagavata-dharma is the eternal religion of devotional service to the Supreme.
Bhakta is a devotee.
Bhakti – devotion; loving devotional service to the Supreme Lord.
Bhakti-yoga – connection with the Supreme Lord through devotion to Him; a method by which one can develop pure love of God.
Bharata, or Bharata-varsa – the ancient name of India.
Bhima is the second of the Pandavas , a great warrior and devotee of Sri Krishna .
C
Chatur-vyuha – the first four expansions of the Lord, giving rise to subsequent incarnations (visnu-tattvas , sakti-tattvas).
Chatur-varga – the four main goals of existence in the material world: religion (dharma), economy (artha), satisfaction of material desires (kama) and liberation (mukti).
D
Dvapara-yuga – the third yuga in a cycle of four yugas, lasting for 2,400 years of the gods, or 864,000 solar years.
Dvaraka is the capital of Lord Krishna on the west coast of India.
Dvija-brahman – a twice-born brahman who received the first birth from the worldly father and mother, and the second from the guru – the spiritual father, and the Vedas – the spiritual mother.
Devaki is the mother of Lord Krishna in Mathura.
Devaki-nandana – Sri Krishna, meaning “son of Devaki.”
Devatas – gods, inhabitants of the heavenly planets, shining superhuman beings who rule the universe.
Durvasa-muni – mystic yogi. Partial embodiment of Shiva.
Duryodhana – the eldest son of Dhritarashtra , the main rival of the Pandavas.
Dhama is the holy abode of the Supreme Lord.
Dharana – the deep concentration achieved by the practice of smarana . The complete distraction of the mind from the outside world and its immersion in the lilas of the Lord.
Dharma is the inherent nature of the being, divine law. Religion, a set of religious laws defining a person’s responsibilities in accordance with his position in society.
Dhanur Veda – one of the auxiliary Vedas, which sets out the principles of martial art.
Dhyana yoga – meditation yoga.
Deva is a god, or demigod.
G
Gandharvas – gods, singers and musicians on the heavenly planets.
Ganesha is the son of Shiva.
Garuda – a giant eagle, one of the sons of Kashyapa Muni . Lord Vishnu travels on his shoulders .
Giridhari – The name of Krishna , meaning “who raised the hill to Govardhana .”
Govinda is one of the names of the Supreme Lord Krishna , “One who enjoys the earth, cows and senses.”
Gopis – cowherd girls, friends of Krishna in Vrindavan and His closest and most devoted servants.
Gosvami – one who owns his mind and senses: the title of sannyasi .
Grihastha – family life, which is built in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Vedas .
Guna- avatars – three avatars of God, who know the three gunas, the qualities of material nature; the mode of goodness knows Vishnu ; the mode of passion – Brahma ; the mode of ignorance is Shiva .
Guna – literally translated from Sanskrit, means “rope”. Sattva-guna (quality of goodness), raja-guna (quality of passion) and tama-guna (quality of ignorance). The term Sankhya philosophy , which refers to various types of influence exerted by illusory material energy on beings.
Guru is a spiritual teacher.
H
Hamsa- a celestial swan capable of separating milk from water, symbolizing the ability to distinguish.
Hari – The name of the Lord, meaning “Taking away all sins.”
J
Japa – chanting of the holy names.
Jiva- an individual soul.
Jyoti – radiance.
Jnana (jnana) – wisdom, self-knowledge, knowledge; Brahman awareness .
Jnana Yoga – an attempt to find a connection with the Absolute Truth through reflection, self-knowledge or the study of philosophy.
Jnani is a person following the path of jnana yoga .
Jnana-kanda – part of the Vedas that sets forth the science of Brahman , the spirit.
I
Indra – the chief of the governing universe of the demigods, the king of the heavenly planets.
K
Kala – eternal time, one of the energies of the Lord.
Kali-yuga – a century of quarrels, enmities and hypocrisy, the last in a cycle of four yugas that periodically replace each other. Kali-yuga lasts 1,200 years of the gods, or 432,000 solar years, and it began about five thousand years ago.
Kalpa – the day of Brahma , amounting to 4,320,000,000 years, or a thousand cycles of four yugas.
Kama is the first, and lowest, of the four goals of human life, regulated by the social laws of the Vedas, the pleasure of the senses. The desire for material enjoyment. Sexual desire, lust.
Kapila – the avatar of Krsna , who appeared as the son of Devahuti. He told the philosophy of Sankhya .
Karana-jala – The causal ocean separating the spiritual and material worlds.
Karma – material activity for the sake of enjoying its fruits, as well as the consequences of this activity. The law of material causes and effects.
Karma yoga – an activity performed in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Vedas .
Karma-kanda – the first of the three sections of the Vedas describing external ceremonies and sacrifices.
Krishna (all-attractive) – The Supreme Lord, Bhagavan, The cause of all causes.
Kuvera – god of wealth; governing deity of the north.
Kumara – four sons of Brahma in the form of five-year-old boys. The personification of knowledge of the Lord.
Kurukshetra – the name of the valley where the famous battle between the Kauravas and the Pandavas took place. On the battlefield, Krishna was told the Bhagavad-gita.
Kshatriyas – an estate of warriors and rulers of the Vedic society.
L
Lakshmi – the goddess of wealth, power of Vishnu
Lakh – one hundred thousand.
Laya – the annihilation of Creation
Leela – the divine pastimes of the Supreme Lord or His pure devotees.
Lila-avatars are the innumerable incarnations of the Supreme Lord in which He comes to the material world to manifest His spiritual pastimes.
Lila-smarana – remembering the pastimes of Krsna .
M
Maya – Neiscience
Maya-sakti — material nature, the external reflection of para-sakti — the Lord’s inner spiritual energy.
Manvantara – the period of the reign of one Manu , lasts about seventy-two cycles of four south.
Manu- King Manu, son of Brahma the creator. An official position. 14 manus are recorded in Puran.
Mantra – transcendental sound vibration, sacred prayer.
Mathura- A district in Uttar Pradesh. The ancient kingdom of King Kamsha, who was killed by Krishna.
Maha – big, great.
Maha-bhuta – the five basic physical elements that make up the material world: earth, water, fire, air and ether.
Maha-maya – the illusory, external energy of the Lord, acting in the material world.
Mahapurusha – “a great personality”; holy, Supreme Lord.
Maharishi is a great sage.
Mahatma is a “great soul,” an exalted devotee of the Lord.
Mahat-tattva – the initial, undifferentiated state of material energy from which the material world manifests.
Maheshvara – the Supreme Lord; sometimes it is called Siva, sometimes – Bhagavan Sri Krishna.
Mleccha – an outcast who does not know the Vedic rules of conduct and purity.
Moksha – liberation from material slavery.
Moha – an illusion; a game of imagination.
Mukta – attained mukti , liberation.
Mukti – liberation from the cycle of birth and death.
Mukunda – the Supreme Lord, who gives mukti – liberation.
Muni- A type sage, Thinker.
N
Naimisaranya is a sacred forest in Central India.
Nama is the holy name of the Lord.
Nara-lila – the divine pastimes of Sri Krishna in a humanlike form . The highest of all He poured .
Narada Muni is a great devotee, one of the first sons of Brahma .
Narasimha – the incarnation of the Supreme Lord Vishnu in the form of a half-human half-animal.
Narayana – Krsna in His four-arm form on the Vaikuntha planets , expansion of Lord Krsna , Lord Vaikuntha .
Nivritti-marg – the path to liberation from material slavery or the rejection of sensual pleasures.
Nirakara – formless.
Nirvisesa – devoid of diversity, individuality.
Nirguna – above the gunas , without material qualities; epithet of the Lord.
P
Pandavas — Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva — are five brothers, kings from the Kuru dynasty.
Para-Brahman – the all united single reality
Parama-Purusha – Lord Vishnu
Paramartha- the ultimate goal of Life
Paramatma – the Supreme Soul, the immanent aspect of the Supreme Lord Visnu, located in the heart of every being.
Paramahamsa – a swan – like devotee of Bhagavan who knows his nature; the highest stage of sannyas.
Parameshvara – The Supreme Lord, Lord Krishna .
Parvati- the consort of Shiva, Daughter of King Parvat.
Pari-vrajaka – a wandering preacher.
Pravritti-marga – the path of worldly enjoyment.
Prakriti – material and spiritual nature as an object of pleasure of Purusha .
Prema – love of God.
Puja – a ceremony of worshiping a Deity or guru.
Purna – completeness.
Purusha – the enjoyer of life, a male person, the soul.
P
Raja-guna – the mode of activity.
Rama ( Ramachandra ) – the embodiment of God in the image of the ideal monarch and man; the name of the Lord, meaning “source of pleasure,” the name of Balarama.
Race – the original relationship of the Lord and the individual being.
Rakshasas are demons.
Rishi (rshi) – a hermit sage.
S
Saguna – possessing qualities.
Sama Veda- one of the four original Vedas.
Sanatana – Eternal.
Sanatana-dharma – the eternal religion; attributes of the soul.
Sankhya- a philosophical system that analyzes the material elements that make up the cosmos and explains the difference between matter and spirit.
Sannyas – renunciation of the world; the fourth (highest) level of spiritual perfection in Vedic society.
Sankarsana – one of the incarnations of Lord Krishna.
Sarga- is material creation, a chapter of a book.
Sattva- the material mode of goodness.
Sattvika – that is under the influence of the mode of goodness.
Sat – being; existing forever. The eternity aspect of the Supreme Lord.
Sat-cid-ananda – three aspects of the nature of the Absolute Truth. The natural state of the soul, respectively: eternal being, full knowledge and unlimited bliss.
Satya Yuga – the first yuga in a cycle of four yugas, lasts 4,800 years of the gods, or 1,728,000 solar years.
Shabda – brahman – transcendental sound, manifestation of God in sound
Shakti – energy, strength.
Sastras are scriptures that have come from the Lord; Vedic scriptures like the Bhagavad-gita , Srimad Bhagavatam.
Svetadvipa – home Ksirodakasayi Vishnu in the middle of the ocean of milk.
Shesha – the incarnation of Bhagavan in the form of an incomprehensibly huge thousand-headed snake on which Maha-Visnu rests.
Sruti – knowledge acquired in the process of hearing; the original Vedic scriptures ( Vedas and Upanishads) given to humanity by the Supreme Lord Himself.
Sudra – a class of servants (workers); the fourth social order of the Vedic society.
Suka is a parrot.
Syamasundar – Lord Krishna in His enchanting form as a cowherd boy with a beautiful body color resembling the color of a dark thundercloud.
Svarupa-sakti is the internal energy of the Lord.
Siddhi – mystic powers; the inhabitants of one of the highest planets of the universe , Siddhaloka, who from birth are endowed with mystical abilities and.
Sudarsana-chakra – the weapon of Vishnu in the form of a disk
Surya – the god of the sun.
T
Tamas- third of the modes of material nature, corresponding to ignorance, darkness, inertness, inertia.
Tapasya – austerity , voluntary imposition of certain restrictions on oneself in order to achieve the highest goal of life.
Tattva – the basis, essence, something inherent in something, a fundamental principle.
Tattva-darsi – one who sees the truth.
Treta-yuga – in the torah of the south in a cycle of four yugas, lasts 3,600 years of the gods, or 1,296,000 solar years.
U
Uddhava – the best friend of Krishna in Dwaraka, the disciple of Brihaspati.
Upanishads – Last part of the Vedas that gives knowledge of the Supreme Spirit;
V
Vaikuntha – literally, “a place where there are no worries”; kingdom of God.
A Vaisnava is one who understands the position of Bhagavan and is engaged in loving devotional service to Him. Devotee of Lord Visnu or Krishna .
Vaishnavism ( Vaishnava dharma) – the eternal religion and culture of service to the Lord Vishnu or Krishna , ie, devotional loving service to the Lord.
Vaisyas – estate of farmers and merchants; the third way of Vedic society. See varnasrama.
Vanaprastha – retirement – the third of the four ways of life of varnasrama ; a person in the above ashram .
Varaha – the incarnation of Lord Visnu in the form of a boar.
Varna – the estate in the Vedic system of division of society. A person’s belonging to him is determined by the nature of his activity and the influence of the modes of nature on him
Varnashrama-dharma – the Vedic socio-religious system of dividing society into four classes ( varna : brahmanas, ksatriyas, vaisyas and sudras ) and four stages of spiritual development ( ashrams: brahmachari, grhasthas, vanaprasths and sannyasis ).
Varuna – the deity controlling the water element.
Vasudeva – Lord Krishna as the son of Vasudeva , Sri Krishna in Mathura and Dvaraka ; The first image of Bhagavan in chatur view .
Vasudeva is the father of Sri Krishna .
Vayu – the wind; the deity controlling the element of air.
Veda – literally, “knowledge”; scripture, gnosis.
Vedanta ( “Vedanta-sutra” ) – “crown of the Vedas ”; perfect Vedic philosophical conclusions presented in the Upanishads , and in a consistent and concise form presented by the great sage Vyasadeva in the Vedanta-sutra .
Vedantists – studying Vedanta , or experts.
Vedas – the four initial revealed scriptures: “Rig” -, “Yajur” -, “Sama” – and “Atharva-Veda”; in a broader sense, all the scriptures of the Vedic tradition.
Vijnana – conscious knowledge; direct perception of Truth, which came to a person through spiritual practice or divine grace.
Vidura is the great devotee of Lord Krishna , the son of Vyasadeva and the uncle of the Pandavas .
Vidya – knowledge.
Vikarma – actions forbidden by the revealed scriptures; sinful activity.
Virat-rupa, or virat-purusa – the concept according to which the entire material universe is the body of the Lord; universal form of God.
Visva-rupa is the universal form of the Lord.
Vishnu – “All-pervading”; The Supreme Lord.
Vishnuloka – the spiritual kingdom of Lord Visnu ; same as Vaikuntha .
Vishnu-murti – twenty-four major expansions of Lord Narayana.
Vrindavana – literally, “the forest (vana) from the trees of Tulasi (Vrnda)” is the place where the spiritual pastimes of Krishna took place 5,000 years ago.
Vyasadeva – the literary incarnation of the Lord, the great sage, at the beginning of the Kali-yuga recorded the Vedas and composed the majority of the Puranas, “Vedanta-sutra” and “Mahabharata”.
Y
Yogi – a person practicing yoga.
Yoga – 1. communication, reunion; 2. way, method, method; 3. The way to restore communication with God.
Yoga Maya – the Lord’s internal energy reigning in the spiritual world.
Yoga Nidra – the mystical dream of Lord Visnu .
Yuga-avatars are the four incarnations of the Supreme Lord coming to each of the four yugas to give people a spiritual awareness method appropriate to that yuga.
Yuga-dharma – the religion of any era.
Yugi – four cyclically repeating eras through which the universe passes in its development. One cycle of four yugas is called divya-yuga.
Yudhisthira – the eldest of the Pandavas, the rightful heir to the throne of Kuru.
Yadu – the royal family in which Krishna appeared.
Yajna – Vedik fire sacrifice, such as Raj suya, Aswamedha, Pancharatha.
Tags: Purana
