The Puranas existed eternally just as the Veda. Brahma Rishi Krishna Dwaipayana reorganized the entire Vedic knowledge at the behest of Sri Krishna and handed it over to the people of Kali Age endowed with short life spans and limited intellectual qualities. Thus, he came to be known as Veda Vyasa. he is one of the foremost Rishis who handed over Hinduism that survived the Dark Ages and is in it's current form. It is the duty of every Hindu to pay obeisance to him in the morning.
Puranas are not contradictory to Veda or Upanishads. In fact, what Veda tells in terse mantras, Puranas narrate them in greater detail. As per Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Puranas and Itihasam together are called as the Fifth Veda (Panchama Veda). The content of all the 18 Mahapuranas can be briefly explained under the following headings -
- Sarga: the creation of the universe.
- Pratisarga: secondary creations, mostly recreations after dissolution.
- Vamśa: genealogy of the gods and sages.
- Manvañtara: the creation of the human race and the first human beings.
- Vamśānucaritam: the histories of the patriarchs of the lunar and solar dynasties.
The noble sage composed the following mantra to remember the names of the 18 Mahapuranas. It is as follows -
'ma' dvayam 'Bha' dvayam chaiva 'Bhra' trayam 'va' chatustayam,
'a na pa lin ga ku ska' ni Puranani pruthak pruthak
'Ma' Matsya, Markandeya
'Bha' Bhavishya, Bhagawata
'Bhra' Brahma, Brahmanda, Brahmavaivarta
'Va' Varaha, Vamana, Vishnu, Vayu
'A' Agni
'Na' Narada
'Pa' Padma
'Lin' Linga
'Ga' Garuda
'Ku' Kurma
'Ska' Skanda
The later age sages also added heavily to the compilation of Sage Veda Vyasa and enlarged the Puranas. The greater text is referred to as Mahapurana. For example: Garuda Puranam is considered to be of 19,000 Verses however the Garuda Mahapuranam is a total of 314 Kandas with major division of Aachara Kanda (243 Kaandas), Dharma Kaanda (42 Kaandas) and Brahma Kaanda (29 Kaandas). The 19,000 verses form part of the Dharma Kaanda and is considered especially auspicious when recited during the 10 day period following someones demise.
The Puranas are a vast treasure house of knowledge and should be studied an understood by all Hindus. Any myth stating that they shouldn't be read at all times, not be kept in house etc. are unscientific and without the approval of Dharma Sastras and hence must be cut down. These are related to knowledge and way of life in order to attain the Supreme and hence should be studied always with Shraddha (faith and obedience to Vedic dictums).
