LIST OF 18 MAHA PURANAS & UPA-PURANAS CLASSIFED!
WHO IS VYASA DEVA?
DO YOU KNOW? VYASA IS THE COMMON NAME FOR THE PREACHERS OF THOSE DAYS.
During every period of time, new Vyasa came and preached the vedic messages.
All the following Puranas were preached from time to time by the authors called Vyasa who were considered to be the literary avatars of Krishna.
In Kaliyuga, there was a Vyasa who wrote/ compiled the Vedas, Puranas, and Itihas Mahabharatha.
His name was Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa who is the son of Parasara rishi. He is also the literary avatar of Krishna who came to record the divine messages for the upliftment of the future generation.
(Is reading Garuda Purana, Mahabharatha and keeping Krishna Pictures wrong? KNOW HERE!)
NOTE:
The copies of Puranas available now has many controversies and there are different versions for the same puranas. Many additions, omissions are there in puranas. Same purana is available in differnt versions in south India and North India. And, in Upa-puranas, there are another version of puranas with the similar name as appear in maha Puranas. Eg: Vamana Purana. So, the scholars do not consider the puranas as authoritative. And, the classification has many anomalies and many rate satva guna, rajo guna and thamo guna puranas differently.
And, Most of the puranas speak about all the gods such as Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, Surya deva, etc. So, classification is really controversial.
So, these puranas should be used as a tool to develop our faith in a certain deity and to know the existence of devotional followings in those ages. Not more than that.
Let us see the list of 18 PURANAS & UPA-PURANAS:
He compiled the following 18 Puranas:
18 MAIN PURANAS (MAHA PURANAS)
(1) SATVA GUNA PURANAS (6)
(Preferred by the Persons dominated with Satva guna, ie, Mode of goodness)
Vishnu Purana – Vaishnava Purana. Speaks about Lord Vishnu.
Naradiya Purana – Speaks about 4 vedas and 6 Vedangas.
Padma Purana – Speaks about diversified topics including Cosmology from the persrspective of Lord Vishnu.
Garuda Purana – Vaishnava Purana. Discussions betweeen Garuda and Lord Narayana (Vishnu)
Varaha Purana – Some scholars have classified this as Saiva Purana because it speaks about Lord Shiva also in detail.
Bhagavata Purana – Vaishnava Purana that speaks about Krishna. Conssidered as the reference material to know about Krishna. . The most popular among all Puranas.
(2) THAMO GUNA PURANAS (6)
(Preferred by the Persons dominated with Thamo guna, ie, Mode of ignorance)
Matsya Purana – About Matsya avatar of Lord Vishnu. Also treated as Saiva Purana because it speaks about Brahma and Saraswati also.
Kurma Purana – About Vishnu and Shiva. So, also considered as Saiva Purana.
Linga Purana – Speaks about Lord Shiva’s Linga form. (Some scholars and saivaites have classified this as Satva Guna Purana. So, can be considered as controversial classification.)
Shiva Purana – Speaks about Lord Shiva. (Some scholars and saivaites have classified this as Satva Guna Purana. So, can be considered as controversial classification.)
Skanda Purana – Speaks about Lord Shiva and His son Skanda.
Agni Purana – Speaks about Agni as the form of God.
(3) RAJO GUNA PURANAS (6)
(Preferred by the Persons dominated with Rajo guna, ie, Mode of passion)
Brahmanda Purana – Classified as Saiva Purana also. Gives the details of dynasties, laws, governance, etc. . This Purana has Lalita Sahasranamam in it.
Brahmavaivarta Purana – Speaks about Surya deva also. This speaks Krishna as the supreme god and Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma are Krishna’s incarnations.
Markandeya Purana – Classified as Saiva Purana also. Got the name of sage Markandeya, who was a student of Brahma. Speaks about dharma, mahabharatha, etc. This Purana includes Devi Mahatmyam.
Vayu Purana / Bhavishya Purana – Speaks about cosmos, Lord Shiva, etc. Classified as Saiva Purana also. In the list of Maha Puranas, Some classifications add Vayu Purana and some other classifications add Bhavishya Purana. So, both have been named here.
Vamana Purana – Though named after the avatar of Vishnu, this purana’s modern versions speak about Lord Shiva also extensively.
Brahma Purana – Speaks about Lord Brahma.
(Why and How Ganapati wrote Mahabharatha and Bhagavad Gita? KNOW HERE!)
18 UPA-PURANAS
Sanatkumara Purana
Narasimha Purana
Brihannaradiya Purana
Sivarahasya Purana
Durvasa Purana
Kapila Purana
Vamana Purana
Bhargava Purana
Varuna Purana
Kalika Purana
Samba Purana
Nandi Purana
Surya Purana
Parasara Purana
Vashishtha Purana
Devi Bhagavatam
Ganesha Purana
Hamsa Purana
This is the list of 18 PURANAS & UPA-PURANAS.
(Also read THIS POST: Why Krishna alone is the Supreme Personality of Godhead? Why Shiva Purana says Shiva as Supreme?)