[Advaita-l] Re: itihAsa purANa in the bR^ihadAraNyaka

[sriram]

Dear members
Iam giving the no.of slokas each Puranam contains just for the benefit of
those who may be interested to know how big or small each puranam
is:Brahma-10000,Padma-55000,Vishnu-33000,Saiva24000,Bagavatha-18000,Narada-1
5000,Markandeya-9000,Agni-15400,Bavishya-14500,Brahma
kaivartha-18000,Linga-11000,Varaha-24000,Skanda-81000,Vamana-10000-Kurma1700
0,machcha-14000,Garuda-19000andBrahmanmda-12000.Totally 399900verses or
slokas.
----- Original Message -----
From: Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
To: A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta
<advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 29, 2006 9:24 AM
Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Re: itihAsa purANa in the bR^ihadAraNyaka


> On Fri, 28 Jul 2006, Ramakrishnan Balasubramanian wrote:
>
> > I was able to locate the shAyaNa bhAShya, where he says:
> >
> > brAhmaNAni - karmacodanA.h "vAyavyAgm shvetamAlabheta"
> > The brAhmaNa (passages) are the ones impelling action such as "place
> > the white (animal?) in the northwest direction" (?)
> >
>
> That the important Vedic statements are those that impell action (vidhi)
> is the standard Mimamsaka party line.  "offer a white animal to Vayu" is
> also a stock Mimamsaka example of a vidhi.  So he seems to be saying
> Brahmana = vidhi.
>
> > itihAsA - mahabhAratAdayaH
> > The itihAsas are mahAbhArata and the rest. Note: the plural being used
> > he seems to have in mind the rAmAyaNa and at least one another since
> > the plural and not dual is used.
> >
> > purANAni - brahmANDAdIni
> > The purANas are the brahmANDa and the rest
> >
>
> I think a better translation would be "including upto Brahmanda".  See
> below.
>
>
> > yadva "devaasuraa.h sa.myattaa aasan" ityaadaya.h itihaasaa.h
> > ****Or it could mean**** Passages such as "The devas and asuras were
> > prepared for war" (emphasis mine)
> >
> > "AtmA vA idameka evAgra aasiinnAnyatki.mcana miShat" - ityaadi
> > sR^iShTyAdi pratipAdakAni purANAni
> > Teachings of creation, etc., such as "The Atman was alone existing in
> > the begnning, nothing else blinked" are the purANas
> >
>
> So in this case, itihasa-purana = the Mimamsaka category of arthavada.
>
> > So it appears there were two conflicting opinions among the
> > traditional school on the meaning of purANas and itihAsas when
> > referred to in the veda. Actually shAyaNa, if mentions his preference
> > first (as seems likely by his use of yadvA), seems to be in tune with
> > Sureshvara and not Shankara.
> >
>
> Isn't it interesting that Sureshvaracharya is held to have been an
> ex-Mimamsaka (even by those who don't agree with the identification with
> Mandana Mishra.)
>
> > It is interesting that shAyaNa thinks that the archetypal purANa
> is > the brahmANDa, just like the bhArata is the archetypal itihAsa.
> >
>
> Rather I think he is merely recollecting the traditional shlokas that
> name the 18 mahapuranas.
>
> brAhmaMI pAdmaM vaiShNavaM cha shivaM bhAgavataM tatha |
> tathanyannAradIyaM cha mArkaNDeyaM cha saptamaM ||
> AgneyaM aShTamaM proktaM bhaviShyannavamaM tathA |
> dashamaM brahmavaivartaM lingamekAdashaM tathA ||
> vArAhaM dvAdashaM proktaM skAndaM chAtra trayodashaM |
> chaturdasham vAmanaM cha kaurmaM pa~nchadashaM tathA ||
> mAtysaM cha garuDaM chaiva brAhmANDAShTAdashaM tathA ||
>
> --
> Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Archives: http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/
>
> To unsubscribe or change your options:
> http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l
>
> For assistance, contact:
> listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org
>