Essay name: Purana Bulletin
Author:
Affiliation: University of Kerala / Faculty of Oriental Studies
The "Purana Bulletin" is an academic journal published in India. The journal focuses on the study of Puranas, which are a genre of ancient Indian literature encompassing mythological stories, traditions, and philosophical teachings. They represent Hindu scriptures in Sanskrit and cover a wide range of subjects.
Purana, Volume 8, Part 1 (1966)
20 (of 340)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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12
啶啶班ぞ啶｀ぎ啷� - [pur膩峁嘺m - ] 笔鲍搁膧狈础
[Vol. VIII., No. 1
rise of the Nandas. We get (3138-1500=) 1638 B. C. Then we
reach the start of the Andhras in (1638-836 =) 802 B. C. The
Pur膩峁嘺s, as D. C. Sircar notes,
Andhras several numbers: 300,
of these, 411 and 412 bring us
B. C. respectively-both the dates
387 B. C. obtained from the Sapta
record for the full run of the
411, 412, 456, 460 years. Out
from 802 B. C. to 391 and 390
falling within the range 477-
Rishi computation.
the Andhras is the Imperial
Guptas in general and connect
The next great dynasty after
Guptas. The Pur膩峁嘺s mention the
a group of territories with them, which by being referred to no one
particular Gupta would seem to be the persistent core, the stable
heartland, of the expanding or contracting Gupta empire. But the
Pur膩峁嘺s supply no chronological matter about the Guptas, except
that some lapse of time between them and the Andhras is sugges-
ted. Hence the Imperial Guptas, according to the Pur膩峁嘺s, must
come somewhere in the rest of the 4th century B. C. With a
Chandragupta of Pataliputra at their head and a Sandrocottus
becoming king of Palibothra in c. 325 or 324 B. C. by modern
calculations, it is evident that Pur膩峁噄cally Sandrocottus must be
Chandragupta I of the Imperial Guptas and not Chandragupta
Maurya.
Whatever we may say, by way of criticism, about the
Kaliyuga's commencement in 3102 B. C, or the Bh膩rata War's
occurrence in 3138 B. C. or the coronation of Mah膩padma Nanda
in 1638 B. C. or even the start of the Andhras in 802 B. C., we
cannot help being struck with the precision with which this chrono-
logy synchronises Chandragupta I with Sandrocottus.
Such a situation raises the question: "Which of the two
Chandraguptas was Sandrocottus at whose court Megasthenes
lived?" And it is indeed very pertinent to ask: "Does Megas-
thenes offer any chronological clue to solve it ?"
1. "The S膩tav膩hanas and the Chedis", The Age of Imperial Unity, edited
by R. C. Majumdar and A. D. Pusalker (Bombay, 1951), p. 196, fn. 1
continued from p. 195.
