Purana Pañcalaksana as Genealogy and Jatipurana
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/rosa.v5i1/2.319Keywords:
class mobility, lineage, pañcalakṣaṇa, Purāṇas, social inclusionAbstract
This paper investigates the extent and significance of a genealogical component within all the narratives dealing with the five famous characteristic topics (pañcalaksana) of the Puranas: creation, re-creation, lineage, periods of Manu, and the histories of dynasties. Whilst there is some evidence of a concern with genealogy in the narratives of creation and re-creation, lineage as both subject and framing device is far more in evidence in the other three, as these deal with a distinctive ‘social and political history’ of Jambudvipa portrayed in a mythological mode. Two lineage narratives from the Markandeya Purana are studied, and on the basis of these it is shown that there is a much greater concern with resolving breaks in the lineage and dealing with new infusions into a lineage than with giving a simple account of lineal succession. Such a concern may reflect a realistic assessment by the Puranic composers of the complex socio-political situation they actually confronted and the attempts they had to make in order to validate (and translate) this in terms of Brahmanical social theory. Finally, a similar example of lineage problems and class mobility is illustrated from a near contemporary Jatipurana from Maharashtra.
References
Kurma Purana. A. S. Gupta (ed.), The Kurma Purana (with English Translation). Varanasi: All-India Kashi Raj Trust, 1972.
Mahabharata. V. S. Sukthankar, et al. (eds), The Mahabharata for the First Time Critically Edited. Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1933–66.
Markandeya Purana. Varanasi: Nag, 1984.
Matsya Purana. K. L. Joshi (ed.), Matsyamahapurana: An Exhaustive Introduction, Sanskrit Text, English Translation, Scholarly Notes and Index of Verses. Delhi: Parimal Publications, 2007.
Vayu Purana. The Vayumahapuranam. Delhi: Nag, 1983.
Visnu Purana. Ed. and Hindi trans. Gorakhpur: Gita Press, 1943.
Bapat, J. Bhalchandra. 1998. ‘A Jatipurana (Clan-History Myth) of the Gurav Temple Priests of Maharashtra.’ Asian Studies Review 22.1: 63–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10357829808713187
Carter, A. 1975. ‘Caste “Boundaries” and the Principle of Kinship Amity: A Maratha Caste Purana.’ Contributions to Indian Sociology (n.s.) 9.1: 123–37.
Das, Veena. 1977. Structure and Cognition: Aspects of Hindu Caste and Ritual. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Inden, Ronald. 2000. ‘Imperial Puranas: Kashmir as Vaisnava Centre of the World.’ In Ronald Inden, Jonathan Walters and Daud Ali, Querying the Medieval: Texts and the History of Practices in South Asia: 29–98. New York: Oxford University Press.
Obeyesekere, Gananath. 1991. ‘Myth, History and Numerology in the Buddhist Chronicles.’ In Heinz Bechert (ed.), The Dating of the Historical Buddha: 152–82. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht.
Pargiter, Frederick E. 1972 [1922]. Ancient Indian Historical Tradition. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Thapar, Romila. 1992. ‘Society and Historical Consciousness: The Itihasa-Purana Tradition.’ In Thapar, Interpreting Early India: 137–73. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Witzel, Michael. 2005. ‘The Vedas and the Epics: Some Comparative Notes on Persons, Lineages, Geography, and Grammar.’ In Petteri Koskikallio (ed.), Epics, Khilas, and Puranas: Continuities and Ruptures (DICSEP 3): 21–80. Zagreb: Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
