Page:A history of Sanskrit literature (1900), Macdonell, Arthur Anthony.djvu/314

 various Manus, and the history of the old dynasties of kings.

The Bhāgavata Purāṇa, which consists of about 18,000 çlokas, derives its name from being dedicated to the glorification of Bhāgavata or Vishṇu. It is later than the Vishṇu, which it presupposes, probably dating from the thirteenth century. It exercises a more powerful influence in India than any other Purāṇa. The most popular part is the tenth book, which narrates in detail the history of Kṛishṇa, and has been translated into perhaps every one of the vernacular languages of India.

Other Vishnuite Purāṇas of a late date are the Brahma, the Nāradīya, the Vāmana, and the Varāha, the latter two called after the Dwarf and the Boar incarnations of Vishṇu.

Those which specially favour the cult of Çiva are the Skanda, the Çiva, the Linga, and the Bhavishya or Bhavishyat Purāṇas. The latter two contain little narrative matter, being rather ritual in character. A Bhavishyat Purāṇa is already mentioned in the Āpastamba Dharma Sūtra.

Besides these eighteen Purāṇas there is also an equal number of secondary works of the same class called Upa-purāṇas, in which the epic matter has become entirely subordinate to the ritual element.

Though there is, as we shall see, good reason for supposing that the original part of the Rāmāyaṇa assumed shape at a time when the Mahābhārata was still in a state of flux, we have deferred describing it on account of its connection with the subsequent development of epic poetry in Sanskrit literature.