The Upapuranas (Sanskrit: Upapurāṇa) are a genre of Hindu religious texts consisting of many compilations differentiated from the Mahapuranas by styling them as secondary Puranas using the prefix Upa (secondary). Though only a few of these compilations originated earlier than most of the extant Mahapuranas, some of these texts are extensive and important.[1]

Definition and number

Similar to the case of the Mahapuranas, a claim has been made in a number of Puranas and Smritis that the Upapuranas are also eighteen in number and give evidence of their knowledge of the existence of a larger number of the Upapuranas. But, unlike the case of the Mahapuranas, the different lists of eighteen Upapuranas seldom agree with one another with regard to the names of these texts. Lists of eighteen Upapuranas occur in a number of texts, which include the Kurma Purana, the Garuda Purana, the Brihaddharma Purana, the Sanat Kumara Purana, the Ekamra Purana, the Vāruṇa Purāṇa, the Pārāśara Purāṇa, the Skanda Purana, the Padma Purana, the Brahmavaivarta Purana, the Aushanasa Purāṇa, Hemadri's Caturvargacintamani and Ballal Sena's Dana Sagara. In spite of the mention of a particular Upapurana in different lists under different names, these lists provide us the names of much more than eighteen texts as the Upapuranas. In fact, by examining all the Sanskrit texts which mention the names of these texts, the actual number of the Upapuranas are found to be near a hundred, including those mentioned in the different lists. But, it can not be denied that many of these texts have been lost without leaving any trace.[1]

Major Upapuranas

Sl. No.Upapurana nameChapters numberStatusComments
01Sanat-kumara PurāṇaNineteenPublishedIt is narrated by Sanatkumāra.
02Nārasimha PurāṇaSixty-eightPublishedIt discusses the Lord's Nṛsimha incarnation.
03Nānda PurāṇaFifty-twoUnpublished, manuscript availableIt is narrated by Nandi.
04Śivadharma PurāṇaTwenty-fourPublishedIt talks about Śaivaism.
05Samba PuranaEighty -fourManuscript unavailableIt is narrated by Durvāsā.
06Nāradīya PurāṇaThirty-eightPublishedIt is narrated by Nārada.
07Kāpila PurāṇaTwenty-onePublishedIt discusses Kapila's Samkhya Philosophy.
08Mānava PurāṇaManuscript unavailableIt is narrated by Manu.
09Auśanasa PurāṇaUnpublished, Manuscript unavailableIt is narrated by Uśanā.
10Mudgala PuranaManuscript unavailableIt discusses lord Ganesh.
11Vāruṇa PurāṇaTwelvePublishedIt is narrated by Varuṇa.
12Kālikā PurāṇaNinety-eightPublishedIt discusses Pārvatī.
13Māheśwara PurāṇaTwelveUnpublished, manuscript availableIt discusses Śiva's family.
14Ganesha PuranaEighty-fourPublishedIt narrated life of lord Ganesha.
15Saura PurāṇaSixty-ninePublishedIt is discusses Śiva's family.
16Parāshara PurānaEighteenPublishedIt is narrated by Parashara.
17Vishnudharmottara PuranaFifteenPublishedIt is narrated to Brahma
18Bhārgava PurāṇaFortyPublishedIts narrated by Vaśiṣṭha.

Sthala, Kula, and Minor Upapuranas

Also called Aupapuranas or Atipuranas.

  1. Bṛhaddharma Purāṇa
  2. Gaṇeśa Purāṇa
  3. Maudgalya Purāṇa
  4. Kālkya Purāṇa
  5. Ṣivarahasya Purāṇa
  6. Kriyāyogasāra Purāṇa
  7. Yuga Purāṇa
  8. Lakṣmi Purāṇa
  9. Bhaviśyottara Purāṇa
  10. Devānga Purāṇa
  11. Śiva Purāṇa
  12. Nīlamata Purāṇa
  13. Malla Purāṇa
  14. Basava Purāṇa
  15. Periya Purāṇa
  16. Dharma Purāṇa
  17. Mahābhāgavata (Devī) Purāṇa
  18. Viṣṇudharma Purāṇa
  19. Kārtava Purāṇa
  20. Ṛju Purāṇa
  21. Pāśupatya Purāṇa
  22. Ekāmra Purāṇa
  23. Pārānanda Purāṇa
  24. Dattātreya Purāṇa
  25. Viśvakarma Purāṇa
  26. Vāsuki Purāṇa
  27. Ātma Purāṇa
  28. Caṇḍī Purāṇa
  29. Bhairava Purāṇa
  30. Viṣṇurahasya Purāṇa
  31. Śukra Purāṇa
  32. Kubera Purāṇa
  33. Saraswati Purāṇa
  34. Govinda Purāṇa
  35. Bhūgola Purāṇa

Sectarian divisions

Unlike the Mahapuranas, most of the Upapuranas have been able to preserve their older materials along with their distinctive sectarian character. All extant Upapuranas can be broadly divided into six groups according to the sectarian views found in these texts: Vaishnava, Shakta, Shaiva, Saura, Ganapatya and non-sectarian.[1]

Vaishnava Upapuranas

The most significant texts among the Vaishnava Upapuranas are the Mānava Purana, the Vishnudharmottara Purana, the Narasimha Purana, the Brihannaradiya Purana and the Kriyayogasara.[1]

The extant Narasimha Purana comprises 68 chapters. The extant Vishnudharma Purana comprises 105 chapters.

Shakta Upapuranas

Among the Shakta Upapuranas, the most important extant texts are the Kalika Purana (or Sati Purana), the Mahabhagavata (Devi) Purana and the Candi Purana (or Candika Purana).[1]

The extant Kalika Purana comprises 98 chapters.

Shaiva Upapuranas

The notable Shaiva Upapuranas are the Saura Purana, the Shivadharmapurva Purana, the Shivadharmottara Purana, the Shivarahasya Purana, the Ekamra Purana, the Parashara Purana, the Varuna Purana, and the Maheshwara Purana.[1]

The extant Saura Purana comprises 69 chapters. The extant Parashara Upapurana consists 18 chapters. The extant Shivadharma Purana comprises 24 chapters and deals only with the religious rites and duties of the worshippers of Shiva. It mentions itself as a shastra or dharmashastra.[2]

Saura Upapuranas

The only extant text which can be called an exclusive Saura Purana is the Samba Purana.[1] It comprises 84 chapters.

Ganapatya Upapuranas

Only two extant Upapuranas profess the views of the Ganapatya sect. These are the Mudgala Purana and the Ganesha Purana.[1]

Non-sectarian Upapuranas

The Upapuranic works, which do not profess any particular sectarian views are the Bhavishyottara Purana, the Kapila Purana and the Brihaddharma Purana.[1]

Scholarship

Dr. R. C. Hazra's magnum opus for which he earned a D. Litt was a detailed catalogue of contents, comparison of manuscripts of Upapuranas; popularly known as Studies in the Upapurāṇas. It was series of five volumes of equal length, a part of the Calcutta Sanskrit College Research Series (out of which only two were published by Munshiram Manoharlal, both generally edited by Gaurinath Sastri and Hazra's handwritten papers of the other three volumes are kept with the College); on a descriptive study of all more than hundred Upapuranas, which, even to this day, remains an important but ignored field of Sanskrit literature.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Hazra, R.C. (1962, reprint 2003). The Upapuranas in S. Radhakrishnan (ed.) The Cultural Heritage of India, Vol.II, Calcutta:The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, ISBN 81-85843-03-1, pp.271-286
  2. ↑ Rocher, Ludo (1986). "The Purāṇas". In Jan Gonda (ed.). A History of Indian Literature: Epics and Sanskrit religious literature, Fasc.3. Vol. 2. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 228. ISBN 3-447-02522-0.
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