Historical Elements in the Matsya Purana
by Chaitali Kadia | 2021 | 91,183 words
This page relates 鈥楶urana and Itihasa鈥� of the study on the historical elements of the Matsya-purana: one of the eighteen Mahapuranas which are Sanskrit texts that have preserved the cultural heritage, philosophy, religion, geography, etc of ancient India. This Matsyapurana was originally written in 20,000 verses and deals with topics such as architecture, ancient history, polity, religion and philosophy.
笔耻谤腻峁嘺 and 滨迟颈丑腻蝉补
In the old treatise the relation between 笔耻谤腻峁嘺 and 滨迟颈丑腻蝉补 is very deep that these two issues have been mentioned together as named 鈥�滨迟颈丑腻蝉补 笔耻谤腻峁嘺 鈥�. Though Itihasa is a different subject yet there is a wrong thought, that 笔耻谤腻峁嘺 is history which is a misunderstand. After-words to overcome the complexity of the relationship between 滨迟颈丑腻蝉补 and 笔耻谤腻峁嘺 they are known as the two separate subjects.
According to the Gopatha 叠谤腻丑尘补峁嘺, 颈迟颈丑腻蝉补 and 辫耻谤腻峁嘺 is nearly the same subject. Such as鈥撯��辫耻谤腻峁嘺 veda鈥� (Gopatha 叠谤腻丑尘补峁嘺 1/10) and 鈥�颈迟颈丑腻蝉补 veda鈥� (Gopatha Brahm膩峁嘺 1/10).
The Ch膩ndogya Upani峁da mentioned 滨迟颈丑腻蝉补 and 笔耻谤腻峁嘺 as fifth Veda (Ch膩ndogya 叠谤腻丑尘补峁嘺 3/4/1, 2).
The 惭补丑腻产丑腻谤补迟补 is known to us as history or 滨迟颈丑腻蝉补 but it mentions itself as a 笔耻谤腻峁嘺 鈥�
daip膩yanena yat 辫谤辞办迟补峁� 辫耻谤腻峁嘺峁� paramar峁峁嚹� |
suraibrahmar峁bhi艣caiva 艣rutv膩 yadabhipujitam ||
(惭补丑腻产丑腻谤补迟补 膧di .鈥�1/7)
On the other side 痴腻测耻笔耻腻峁嘺 , being a 笔耻谤腻峁嘺 itself, mentions as a 滨迟颈丑腻蝉补 鈥�
ima峁� yo br膩hma峁噊 vidv膩n颈迟颈丑腻蝉补峁� 辫耻谤腻tanam |
艣峁涐箛uy膩d 艣r膩vayedv膩pi tath膩 '诲丑测腻辫补测补迟别 'pi ca ||
dhanya峁� ya艣asyam膩yu峁a峁� pu峁噛a峁� vedai艣ca sammatam |
k峁涐梗峁嘺dvaip膩yanenokta峁� 辫耻谤腻峁嘺峁� brahmav膩din膩 ||
(V膩yu 笔耻谤腻峁嘺 , 103/48, 51)
膧肠腻谤测补 艢补峁卥补谤补 in the commentary of the Ch膩ndogya Upani峁da has clearly shown the segregation of these two verses. His statement is that both history (滨迟颈丑腻蝉补 ) and 笔耻谤腻峁嘺 are available in the Vedas. 鲍谤惫补艣墨 and Pururav膩 蝉补峁僾腻诲补 informing 鈥�鲍谤惫补艣墨 h膩psara鈥�, 鈥楶ururavasme岣峚峁� Cakama 鈥� etc 艢补迟补辫补迟丑补产谤腻丑尘腻峁嘺 is history, but 鈥�Asadv膩 idamagra 膧s墨t 鈥� (initially it was asexual which led to creation) etc. occurred description is 笔耻谤腻峁嘺 . In 艢补峁卥补谤腻肠腻谤测补鈥檚 consent, the separation of the two is clear.
History is the indicative part of the ancient narrative and the story and the description of the creation process is 鈥�笔耻谤腻峁嘺鈥欌赌�
鈥�颈迟颈丑腻蝉补 ityurva艣墨pururavaso岣� sa峁僾膩d膩di岣� 鈥�耻谤惫补艣墨丑腻辫蝉补谤腻 鈥� ityadi brahma峁嘺meva | 辫耻谤腻峁嘺m 鈥�asadv膩 idamagra 膩s墨dityadi鈥� (Commentary of Ch膩ndogya Upani峁da 7/1).
On the other side S膩ya峁嚹乧膩rya describes different abstract form of 笔耻谤腻峁嘺 and 滨迟颈丑腻蝉补 . Like following鈥�
鈥�膩po ha idamagre salilamev膩sa ityadika峁� 蝉峁涐梗峁璱 pratip膩daka峁� br膩hma峁嘺m颈迟颈丑腻蝉补岣� ||鈥� (艢补迟补辫补迟丑补 叠谤腻丑尘补峁嘺 11/1/6/1)
That is鈥�滨迟颈丑腻蝉补 means world creation. And 笔耻谤腻峁嘺 is legend of Pururav膩 and 鲍谤惫补艣墨.
鈥�urva艣墨 h膩峁噑ar膩 pururavasamai岣峚峁� cakame 鈥� ityadini 辫耻谤腻tanapuru峁v峁泃膩ntapratip膩dak膩ni 辫耻谤腻峁嘺m鈥� (艢补迟补辫补迟丑补 叠谤腻丑尘补峁嘺 11/5/1/1).
础尘补谤办辞峁 mentioned that the 笔耻谤腻峁嘺 have five characteristics such as鈥�Sarga, Pratisarga, 痴补峁兣沘, Manvantara and 痴补峁兣浤乶耻肠补谤颈迟补 , but 滨迟颈丑腻蝉补 has no specific characteristics. It is only the fact (础尘补谤办辞峁 鈥�1/6/4, 5).
Nirukta also described the different definition of 笔耻谤腻峁嘺 and 滨迟颈丑腻蝉补 鈥�
鈥�辫耻谤腻 苍补惫补峁� bhavati 鈥� (Nirukta 3/19).
鈥�nid膩nabh奴ta岣� iti ha evam膩s墨t鈥� iti ya uccate sa 颈迟颈丑腻蝉补岣� 鈥�(Nirukta 2/3/1).
Later on in the Matsya 笔耻谤腻峁嘺, we find the use of the word 鈥�滨迟颈丑腻蝉补鈥� in this word 鈥�滨迟颈惫峁泃迟补鈥� (Chronicle).
It is clear from this that the fictional story or narrative was called 笔耻谤腻峁嘺 and the actual event was called 鈥�滨迟颈丑腻蝉补鈥�, and both of these have differentiation in the ancient sense鈥�
鈥�atr膩pyud膩harat膩mam颈迟颈丑腻蝉补峁� 辫耻谤腻tanam鈥� (Matsya-笔耻谤腻峁嘺 鈥�72/6)
In short-(I) 鈥�滨迟颈丑腻蝉补 鈥� or history points to national events of the past related to invasion, civilization and political administration. The 笔耻谤腻峁嘺s on the other hand, are the mythological accounts of the dynasties and kingdoms of different countries. (II) 鈥�滨迟颈丑腻蝉补 鈥� places more emphasis on material resources whereas the 笔耻谤腻峁嘺s place more emphasis on spiritual and religious resources. There are stories of various deities, places of worship, spiritual centers, descriptions of places of pilgrimage like 骋补测腻 and 碍腻艣颈 and other such interpretations in the 笔耻谤腻峁嘺s . (III) 滨迟颈丑腻蝉补 is proved by the 笔耻谤腻峁嘺s but 笔耻谤腻峁嘺 is the proof itself (IV) The subject is vast in the 笔耻谤腻峁嘺 than 滨迟颈丑腻蝉补 .
碍补耻峁璱濒测补 has also accepted 笔耻谤腻峁嘺 in the field of history鈥�
鈥�辫耻谤腻峁嘺mitiv峁泃tam膩khy膩yikod膩hara峁嘺峁� dharma艣膩stramartha艣膩stra峁� ceti 颈迟颈丑腻蝉补岣� 鈥� (础谤迟丑补艣腻蝉迟谤补 1/5).
History and the separate use of 笔耻谤腻峁嘺s are available in many inter-Vedic texts and 笔耻谤腻峁嘺s . In the Atharvaveda and some 笔耻谤腻峁嘺s , the word 鈥�笔耻谤腻峁嘺 鈥� also conveys history. First of all, the use of the word 鈥�笔耻谤腻峁嘺 鈥� is used only in the context of the creation of the scriptures from 鈥�鲍肠肠丑颈峁ａ弓补 鈥� in the Atharvaveda-XI .7.24. On the occasion of following the 痴谤腻迟测补 , the use of history as a separate independent from is available (Atharvaveda 15/6/10).