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The Puranas are generally ascribed to Vyasa (astadasa puranam Krtra Satyaratisutah), but other traditions are also found in the Puranas themselves. According to Visnu Purana, Parasara obtained the boon of becoming the author of the Purana (Purana samhitakarta).

118 According to the Devibhagavata, the Saura Purana was said by Parasara (Parasaraproktam). According to another tradition, Markandeya and the Varaha Puranas were composed by Markandeya, the Agni by Angira, the Linga and Brahmanda by Dandin and the Bhavisya by Mahadeva. According to some other traditions, Vayu, Brahmanda and Visnu were composed by Vyasa. He entrusted the Purana Samhita to Suta whose three disciples Kasyapa, Savarni and Vamsapayana prepared three new Purana Samhitas. All these four samhitas had four thousand verses each. The personality of Suta is somewhat an enigma in the Puranas and the Mahabharata. The word Suta means 'charioteer', and also a person of mixed pratiloma caste born of the union of Brahmana female with a Ksatriya male. The later authors of the Puranas obviously could not believe that the great sages like Saunaka learnt the Puranas from a person of low caste. "They therefore invented the story of his divine character." Despite any amount of efforts that were made by the modern scholars to trace the date of Puranas, it has left no unanimous opinion or conclusion to date the Puranas. Because, the basis on which the scholars assume the period of the authorship of Puranas, is itself not sound. The language and style of various Puranas differ from one another, yet they are inaccessible to the scholars to assign any proper date. In this manner scholars' opinions render fruitless. On the other hand if the traditional view regarding the origin of the Puranas is accepted, there would be no confusion. It means, according to the traditional view, all the Puranas are intended to

119 explain the import of the Vedas. Therefore they are changed by the changes in words, sequence etc. in the subject matter, at the commencement of each creation. In this sense, the Puranas have been regarded as non-eternal; yet they stand on par with the Vedic texts which are however regarded as non-human compositions. All the Puranas have been regarded as non eternal in as much as they have been composed by the munificent Vedavyasa, yet the import of the Puranas would be the same as in the previous creation. As such, the validity of the Puranas is in no way inferior to that of the Vedas, because both the Vedas and the Puranas have the same purport of showing the supremacy of the Supreme Brahman. This idea is substantiated by a statement : "itihasapuranabhyam vedarthamupabrmhayet ". The Chandogya text assigns the fifth rank to the Puranas after four Vedas, and celebrates them with the equal status of the Vedas. 25 Thus the Chandogya text testifies to the fact that the Puranas have been regarded as holy and valid as the vedic texts. In the light of the vedic texts the Puranas are considered to be practical amplifications of the normative prescriptions of social and individual conduct. Therefore it seems Vedavyasa took up the task of preserving the Purana tradition and entrusted it to one sect of his disciples. And, 25. rgvedam bhagavo'dhyemi yajurvedam samavedamatharvanam caturthamitihasapuranam pancamam vedanam vedam pitryam rasim daivam nidhim vakovakyamekayanam vedavidyam brahmavidyam bhutavidyam naksatra vidyam sarpadevajanavidyametadbhagavo'dhyemi | - Chandogyopanisad - VII.1.2.

120 it is for this reason, the ancient Indian Society looks upon the Puranic tradition as inextricably connected with the Vedic and Smrti literature. And, at the same time they all form an integrated whole, popularly known as the 'Sanatana dharma' which is declared as 'SrutiSmrti-Puranokta'; thus the traditional view of validity of Puranic texts is unambiguous, and hence unquestionable. Therefore traditional view may be regarded as more convincing than that of the modern.