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The l l te ra ture falls broadly uruier two headings vFz - The Vsdw and classical l i terature , The Vedas erpoae the
anclent civil ization wUle they co rny r i tuals also, The - - class ical l i t e ra ture comti tutes the Rmayana, the Mcoh&bhgrata,
the pure& and the I t lh~s i i s . The vedic Literature Ls a pro-
mimnt lamimark i n the history of I adian civllieation. The
next landmark i s 1tihkb plus the collection of l i terature
from the purg-. Veda8 utood the t e s t of t h e -to preserve
the civil isat ion. Later poets took an active role as the
le8dm-s of the moveaent. The Itihbiis ani the P U F & ~ S repre-
sent the l i te rary record of a national movem8nt when the
civilizations began t o decline again, Thus, according to the
historians, these movements had their beginning around 400 B.',
It is indeed d i f f icu l t t o say exactly when the came
in to exlateace as they are considered t o be next only t o the
vedas i n antiquity, p u r v s form a vost b r u r h of l i t e ra ture
claimlag superiority, 'They are classified a8 Major and Minor
vorb depending upon the i r age and importance, Such of those
p u r b h as have commanded highest respect from the people were
zmmd a8 ~ a h B p u r h b and the other purws which were l e s s i n
importance got the prefix upa. . The ~ah'a~~~w can thus be c1arslfl.d into several
1. Bncfclopsedic l i k e Matrya, VGu and ci.nrda
2. Thme dealing vith t-hm l i k e Pad*, Skanda & Bhavlaya.
3. sec tar ian such aa VSyu and ~ r ~ a r d h .
The ~ Z y u , ~rahihd8, natsya arri V i s a are the oldest amongst 8 .
the extant P U . ~ . Host of the ~ahs~ur~ti irs were coaposed i n
the perlod from 5th Century A 0. or 6th Century A.D. t o 9th cen-
tury A,D. The upapurUf+s began t o be compiled from about the
7th or 8th Century A 0 . and t h e i r number aul t ip l ied till 13th
century A.D. or even l a t e r . This much is ce r t a in tha t the
~ u r i i $ i a influenced the Hindu society before Chris t and t h e i r
influence continued i n full force till the 17th or 18th century
AJ) . Wilson opinea that the are works of d i f ferent
ages compiled under d i f f e ren t circumstances. Perhaps this could
be one of the reasons 90 separate Upapwk+ from ~&S~urcafl-is.
Visnu . . Dharmottara is the only upapuri;na; not having the
prefix Upa attached t o it. Its nature decides i t s date.
The author discusses all the points and hence i t is encyclo-
paedic i n nature. Astrology, Astronomy, Cosmology, Cosmogony
etC a re a l l given importance. Hence it can be of l a t e r date.
According t o ~riyab-a-kshah, it i s defini te ly ea r l i e r than
Alberuni and ~Gradi~; pur"@q . Karadrya purEina i s a Vaipnava
work consisting of two par ts , of which the f i r s t i n ~ o r p o r a t e s
the en t i r e ~ r h a n n i i r d y a which was composed by the V a i ~ p v a S
around the nriddle of 9th century A.D. The renainirlg chapters
of t h e f i rs t p a r t are comparatively l a t e additions and sane
of them contain detailed information about the contents of
eight-n p r inc ipU The second pa r t i s U s o attached
t o the f i r s t pa r t , ye t it maintaim i t s or ig ina l i ty anS. it 1s
believed t~ b c-d i n t h e ginning oi 10th century A.D.
But there IS a difference of opinion. Kale placer
N s r a y 8 P u r C ~ between 500 - 600 A.D. Durgmhankm h t r Y
i n his i )u r&p~ivecuu contradicts t h i s view and arr ives at
a s t i l l l a t e r date 1.e. the 12th century A.D. I f thls date
i s accepted, Vianudhamottara ~ u r @ a cannot be Msigned an I
e a d i e r date,
Adhuta sigara a l so refers t o Visnuiharmottrra e e ~ur&a,
According t o P.V,Kane the dates of 'Adbhuta Sagarat and
ICaturvarga C i n t a m a t a re 1168 A,D, and 1260 A.D . respec-
t ive ly . Therefore, Visndharmottara t I ~ u r h should b e e a r l i e r
t o 1168 A,D, as a reference t o it i s made,
3.C Jazra places Alberuni during 1030 A,D , Visnudhrrmo- , . t t a r a ~ w h a i s e a r l i e r thah 1030 A.D.
1 There i s a c o m e n t u y on Vianu e a Sahasra N h ~ v h i c h mentions
the Visnudharmottara I . P W ~ and which is a t t r ibuted t o the f i r s t
dankariichiisya who l ived i n 820 A 9, t l i s n u ~ e r m o t t a % a PWW CM I
b8 placed before him. But the authorship of ~ a n l r a r k h k ~ a l o
doubtful as there are-references about h i s belonging t o 12th . - #
century A.D. It i s believed that i t was t h i s ~ankarbhbya of
12th century vho propounied the Advalta Philosophy.
I n V i r ~ o t t a r a ~ur'ip. there i r a separate chapter I I
on 'Pait-ihaha ~ i d d h ~ r r * wbich i s believed t o be an extract 1
from 'Brahlassputa ~iddlfianta' m i t t e n by Brahmagupta who exlsted
during 628 A.D. Hence the compilation of the Visnudharmo- . . t t a r a puriina m u s t be l a t e r than 6th century A.D.
Dr . Buhler supports t h i s viev. But S r i Dixi t i n h i s
Marathi book lBhiratciya ~ ~ o t i $ i S i s t r a ~ dogs not conf im t o this
opinion. According t o him, the Brahmaaputa Sidda6tha i s en-
t i r e l y different from the ~ i d d h h t a discussed i n the Visnu-
dharmottara pure- elther i n aetrorornical content or mathe-
matical content. If this view i s accepted, the Vi~nudhar~o- - , . t t a r a ~urZna cannot be placed between 6th century A.D. and
10th century A.D.
Kane quotes a sloka which he says i s an extract from I
' ~ a r k s a r a S m r t i ~ belonging t o 500 A.D . He therefore f ixes the
date of t h e Visnudharmottara . . P W * ~ a l i t t l e before 500 AD.
But this cannot be t o t a l l y accepted as correct . The date of
a par t icu la r book cannot be fixed on the arguments based on
unproved borrowings. *They can never be f ina l . Further i t can
be argued t h a t Parda*sq t i and the Visnudharmottara I ~ u r h ~
mfght have borrowed from the conrmon source. -
1. Sudhikar Dvivedi i n h i s commentary on 'Brahmasphuta ~iddhranta s t a t e s -
The Vismxharmottara ~ u r - v deals i n detai l wi th ~ a t ~ a ,
~ i t a and Karla, l ike other works on rhetorics. A comparison
reveals that there i s considerable s i a i l a r l t y between vhat
has been aaid i n other works urf relevant contents of the
Vi?mdhareottara ~ u r @ a .
The ~ef1nition.s are almost the same. The only differ-
ence l i e s i n the number of AlamkS~G. I f ~h&aha recognisea
39, Dandin gives 35 ard the Visnudharmottara ~ur-qa recognlses I .
only 18 Alamkaras. The t rad i t ion amongst the Alamk&r0is i s
to increase the number of Alamkaras or t o decrease the number
of prahellkaa . If this i s accepted, then Visnudhannottarr Purana i s
definitely ear l ie r than 6th century P.D. i .e. before Bhhaha
or Dandin. Kane places Bhaaaha ard Dandin between 600 A.D.
- 7sOA.D. ( shamaha 10oA.D. - 75OA.D. Dandin 660 - 680 A.D .)
Therefore the Visnudharmottara ~ u r k n a i s ear l ier than
600 A.D. but not l a t e r than 750 A 9 . But S,K.De places ~ h ~ a h a
between the last quarter of the 7th century A.D. and the w. Quarter of the 8 t h century A.D. and Da&n i n the f i r s t half
of b e 8th century A.D. It i s m t possible t o accept the
point tha t Vismrdharmottpa . . Pur-pa is ea r l l e r than Bhhaha or
Dandin as ce r t a in definit ions are practically the same i n the
Vi?+amottara pursna since the Visnudharmottara . . p u r g e i s a
mere eoslpllation, i t must, have borroved the ideas from Bhamaha
or Dandln the stalwarts of AlamkGa l i terature . Just t o show
originali ty and to impove upon Bharata who recognised only
four, number of Alaakaraa wrst have been reduced. Visnudhar~lo-
ttara p w b a as can be wen i s l a t e r than ~ h b i h a or Dandin.
The lover l i m i t of t h e k t can be decided by f ix ing up the
da te of Natya ~ 6 t r a wliich accordin(; t o 8.K.De i s pushed
wyond 4th century A.D. 1
We have seen already t h a t from the 4th century A.D.
onwards t h e Hindus began t o f e e l the need f o r not only popu-
l a r i s i n g the study of d i f f e r e n t branches of Sanskr i t learning
as aga ins t the h e r e t i c r e l i g i o u s l i k e Buddhism and Jainislp
but a l s o t o increase t h e importance of t h e p u r x ~ s as reposi-
t o r i e s of knowledge s o that these might f ind favour with highly
educated people also.
A reading of the purslaas ind ica te s t h a t most oL' them
have similarities, Matspa f o r example i s a mixture of var ious
chapters taken a t d i f f e r e n t times from various sources e spec ia l ly
vzyu an3. Visnudharmottara ~ ~ 5 9 . A comparison between VSyu
and Matsya from which the l a t t e r took important chapters l i k e
~ a m d a , Manvantara and vad i inuca r i t a , shows that the borrowin&s
must have been made i n the las t quar te rs of the 3rd century A.D.
or the 1st qua r t e r of the 4 th century A.L. T h i s is t h e period
of t h e f i r s t composition. I t i s only a f t e r this we f i n d t h e
chapters being incorporated a t var ious intervals. This throws
much l i g h t on t h e d a t e of Viqnudhammottara ~ur-ap. A t l e a s t
ha l f a century is needed f o r t h e compilation. Then i n t h a t c u e
the lower l i m i t of Visnudharmottara P U . ~ can be f ixed t o be
Prof. Batu l lana th Sharma and Baladeva Upadhyaya place Bhamha between Q0 - 600 A.D. taking i n t o account a l l these Visnudharmottara purana can be placed before 650 A .D. shows t h e upper limit. This lower l i m i t can be decided
' by t h e Natya S a s t r a of Bharata. S.K.De f i x e s t h e d a t e as bth or 5th century A . D . Keith places him before 3rd century A.D. But Kane places him l a t e r than 3rd century A.D. Vigpudharmottara purLrp cannot be placed e a r l i e r than 3rd century A.D.just by t h e s i m i l a r i t y of t h e sub jec t matter It i s not poss ib le t o decide the age of a t e x t ,
4th century taking Into conrideratlon tha t the borrowings
must b e been lnads a8 early 8a 1-t qumtor of the 3rd century
A D . or I m t quarter of the bth cont~ry A,D,
There are various point8 t o prove that Visnudhannottara . .. Pur* i s of a l a t e r origin,
1. Visnudharmottara ~ur~aps elaborates how to understand ' *
the princples of ' c i t r a l from 'Ci tra Siitra'. The only C i t r c l ,
S'itra found i n the Vispudharmottara Pur-ii i s studied by ~ % l a t I
the courtesan as Damodara Gupta haa It. I T h i s evidently shows
t h a t Vig+dharmottara PUT-BM i s l a t e r than 8th century A.D . Further ~zmodara Gupta the C h i s f Ulniater of King ~ u k t s ~ x d a
~ a l i t & l i t ~ a of Kashdr of the Krrkota dynaaty was h i g h l y l e a r n d .
He had prtronlaed several l i t e r a k u n s like ~wmlavardha- who
<longed t o 9th century A D .
This C i t r a Siitra of Vlqnudharaottara Pur-Zi must be of I
~ b o d a r a Gupta. The technical terms u8ed i n the Vis*udharmo-
ttara i n the C i t r a Siitra i8 found t o belong t o a poem of
early age wri t ten i n a regional language in a very casual way,
This I n course of t i m e became pa r t and parcel of cul tura l life
and existence.
The Visnudharmottara purPurapg aa can be seen has drawn from
various sources. It ha; been influenced t o a very great extent
by Bharatats s t y a k s t r a ( ~Jbha~2ibhiskik& of Vararuci confirms 1-
rases as eight fo ld and shows its proximity t o ~ a t ~ a S a s t r a ) .
1 Bharata v i b ~ k h i l a Dattlla vrkahzyurveda c i t r a siitregu
(There is no t e x t other than ~utti&rniita -12 I C i t r a Sutra ' e a r l i e r to 8th century A,D,, - Therefore t h i a
portion i s def in i t e ly added la*-*
~riyary~usena on the other hard confirms i n herself the basic
r e ~ u i s i t - @ a Uke beauty of f o m , the b l o a of the daM of
youth etc Uong with her acco~plishments i n the art of dancing,
Her watery over fourfold tAbhinaya@ t h ~ r t y two varie&ties
of hand -ants etcO1 i s qulte interesting. Here the
'RW.drqt i@ and @ . ~ t h g y l drstyl are t w e n to be eighteen but 1 .
they are of least help i n finding out the i r relative position
and age.
Manmohan Ghosh ascribes 100 B .C , as the date of tN8[tya
d t t r a l which i s confirmed by t h e dance s c ~ p t u r e t s of ~ h l v h u t
and AmrZvati.
2. Vianudharmottara d ~uriina says @jvcalbki'akulur( which is
quite sigrdficant and throws light on the l a t e r sculpture where in ,
i t is only a banner tha t distinguishes,
3. siirya wearing t ~ d ~ c ~ a v e s a l the mention of ~ ~ o w t a c h e s
i s significant, It i s anearly vedic description and points t o
the ear ly hshana type that has the moustaches. The attendants
Dada and Pingala are a l s o shown i n tud;icya vegat as given I n
V i q t@Wmot ta ra puriina. This i s reiterated i n the Brhats-ita
of v u h ~ i r a an early Gupta t ex t , on the reverse of a copper
coin of Huvishka is shown riding an elephaat ard on the obrerse
there is represented ~ 3 y a Whom t he legend i n greek s tyles a8
Hioro cormspondlng t o Sanskrit Mlhira. This i s the central
Asian ul~cyarrr?a fo r 6iirya, the dress of the kwhana. Thls form
i s known t o the author of Visnudharmottara , . P d q a .
4. Visrnrdhaxmottara ~ur-ka draws a line of demarcation
i n depicting Skanda by mentioning faur ?ariat ies such as ~um&rr,
Skanda, ~ i s h a a and Guha. These vcrrlaties of Kumara were knmn
since the days of PatanJall who w n t i o m iadividually Skanda and
Vish%ka as separate dei t ies .
The VisnudharrPottara Pur'aaa considera s i x faced (6), single
faced form of the deity occurring on early coins ( Kartlkeya).
5 . In a vi l lage called Konimotu of Guntur D i s t r i c t
the Vaist?avaite t r ad i t ion of representing Sankarshqa V t u d e v a
e t c is found i n t h e early P a l l a v a scripture8 i n p r s k r t characters.
~t i s c a w i n the l a t e s t $a,*- a ty ie bveioped d ~ i n g the
time of IkahCLv~hs and contlmed by tbe Pallava8 whose te r r i tory
extenfed upto t h i s , Text of Vi?p\adh.slPottars Pure* gives the
a t t i ibutes caps Bgna dharah kbyah. The lack of knowledge of
Narasiaha i n early pure 200 morphic form i n the Vianudharaottara
~ u r s n a and tha t however knows vararaha i n both t h e r i a k thromorphic
and zoomorphic forms suggests a s l ight ly l a t e r date.
6. The Visnudharmottara P W ~ F describes Brahma as benign b .
i n his four faces seated i n the porture of ~admkana on lotus
four a n e d , on a f l e e t of swans, carrying water pot and rosary.
B G ~ also describes BrahBa i n h i s ~ a r b a c a r i t a . This f o m of
Brahma does not appear i n a l a t e r sculpture. It i s an e u l y
concept and perhaps i t was fresh i n the mind of the author.
7. Visnudharmottara . . p u r h describes Indra vith an eye
placed horizontaJly on the forehead, This is Kushana feature
which was i n vogue fo r a very long time i n Nepal. But t h i s
vanished after ear ly 3 - 4 century of t h e Chr l s t i aa Era.
43 7- 4
This c laar ly show t h a t the reference t o t r i p l e eyed nature
8. The descr ipt ion of AirZvata w i t h G t w k a representing 5 some connotation is quite s ignif icant i n as much as it repre-
sea t s the 4 royal provess.
m l d a s a expresses t he same i n ~ a g h w d a when he says ( 10.86) /
Ismagaja iva dan ta ih t . The s to ry of Nara Narayana i s a lso found
i n V i ? F a r m o t t a r a ~ur:?a. 6
9. One of the e a r l i e s t forms of Visnu i n Vaikuntha can
be seen i n a museum Furvolkes Kende i n Ber l in dated b-5 century
AD. The crown i s on the model of ea r ly Indian turban Hauli Mad.
This i n fact giws a l o t of impetus t o l a t e r representations of
similar ~ ~ a t u v y h a s 1 var ie ty of Visnu wlth Narasimha Var'eha
faces on e i ther side and the Kapila a a p c t a t t h e back as i n
the famous Vaikuntha sculpture from Kashmir.
There i s a tex tua l reference of Narasimha i n the Vipnu-
dharoottara pur51p .7
This brings t o t h e mind the metal images of Chtsllwa School
of 8th century representing the e a r l i e r Cupta t rad i t ions blend-
ing with t he Kashmiri, ~zilndharan and ~ r a t ~ i i r a elements.
This Mtrl of 'blend$ng i s obvious i n medieval sculpture.
Vlsnudharmottara . ( purana on the other hand helps t o understand
( 3.82.8) the early forms of d e i t i e s including the k i v a t s a symbol
i s a ra re feature.
as - Description of vssUa mentions both the Zoaaorghic aab the
theriaathro powrphic form 3.79.10 . The two 0Xmples belong
t o a very early gupta period*
These are c l a e t o the metal image of t h e authors of Visnu- * ,
&armottara Pru;B3a inspir ing the sculpture (o r perhaps inspinad
by the images).
10. I n these there are two demons shaking the s t a l k of the
lo t - on which Buddha is seated. This Is the l a t e k t a v h a n a
and Viikztaka t r ad i t ion . This brahmanlcal motif i s borrowed by
the Buddhists l i k e Kabandha from the Rhiyapa introduced i n the
hosts of mara at ta&king Buddha which are found i n several
Buddhist monuments of Ajantha, g l l o r a etc.
I n the same manner Hadhu and Kaitabha shaking the s t a l k s ' of
the lo tus topped by Brahma does not occur i n any of the early
sheshaskfi panels. Vismdharmottara p u r e mentions both the * I
demons tugging with s t a l k of Brahma's lo tus (3.81.7).
I n Bhitargaon these are represented where i n most of the
panels are e i the r mutilated mend recognition or l o s t completely*
11. I n Visnudharmottara p u r z y we f ind a description of I
Garuda ? , This belongs t o an ear ly date. During the Gupta
regime 1.e. at the time of Chandragupta the 11. This i s t h e *
form of Garuda i n Gupta s e a l s ard i n the copper coins of
During Kushana period Garuda i s reprorented completely as
a bird except f o r t h e hman ears w i t h 'kundala' decoration. T h i s
r r b d a special fea ture of the first two centuries of Christim Bra.
12. A p ~ a w e of diva i n dancing form c u e d ~ a r t e i r l r a
i s S O W dtwing Gupta period during 4 - 5th century &..Dm
This i a fourd i n Viaydharmottara ~ur-ka (j.jl+. 22-23).
This proves t h a t v i s ~ d h a r m o t t a r a Pur- had it8 f i r s t beginning
during b - 5th century A.D.
I 1). he t r ad i t i on of vi?? as t~.tdiryit watching 6 i va
dancing is quite old and is connected with NatarZija c u l t i n
South India and is founl i n HurUs of Kerala.
1 This term Nrttesvara perhaps has i t s or igin i n Visnudhar- . t
mottars ~urBr+ It bdlngs together recumbent Visnu and dancing . I I Siva, the one aa the creator of the Angadharas and the others
of rhythmic q t t a w i t h an emphasis on laya and m a .
14. The s a d d i v a aspect of Lord diira can be found i n t he
V1s';ruBhamottara ~ u r h a . This indicate s the monofiithic three
faced 6iva i n the cen t r a l c e l l at Blephanta and i n o m of the
~GkStaka Caws a t Bllora. The calm, quie t , t ranquil and serene
face is cal led the sadyo35ta the face t o t h e r i gh t i s t e r r i b l e ,
visage Aghora, to the l e f t there i s sweet, charming ~ b d e v a
and a t the back there is Tatpurusha. These represent respectively
iivit , Bha i~ava , umz and ~asdi . he f i f t h , too sacred t o allow
cognisable of Wte 'nature of e ther i s inv is ib le . - It i s i n t h l s way the lCaturmukhalingat has i t s significance
as a a d d i v a , B a a mentions i t as tcaturmukhao car& cara gurum
bhGaventall1 Tryambalsam' i n the context of ~ a h a s w e t a ~ s worship I
of Siva. Viqnudharmottua p W G a mentiom the a t t r i bu t e s of each
hand, bow sad arrow f o r the cen t ra l one, fruit and club f o r Aghora
Mirror and l i l l y f o r v0&nadeva. This can be found i n the monu-
mental f igure of a cen t r a l c e l l of the elephants caws.
15. Manu considers 'Dharmal @vrso1hI i3hagavh dharmah 9 . udayanr a l s o describes i t aa '~-%vam catusP-Zdam* .
Viqnudharmottara Pw=a conridera t h i s as i n anthro-
morphic form four-faced, four-armed and with four legs,
Here 1Jriha' i s replaced by 'Satyal making up Yajn8,
Satya, Tapas ard Dxna - the four faces of Dhama,
the four f e e t fo l lo r ing ~ a n u . ~
A r a r e representat ion of Dhama can be found i n a museum
a t Lucknow dated 9-10th centur ies A,D. Undoubtedly, the
significance of the four legs and Dhar- and t h e anthropo-
morphic iconography given i n t h e t e x t must have inspired the
sculpture ani we can i n f e r t h a t there i s an e a r l i e r Cupta
t rad i t ion .
Dr.Bloch discovered at Basarab a t e r r aco ta s e a l with legend
i n Bra&. 'Dharrno rakgat i raks i tah l a l i n e from the MatiibhHrata
chosen by a high digni tary as h i s i d e a l i n the Cupta Period. This
concept and the t e x t belonged t o an ear ly date.
16. There 1s a sculpture depict ing dankara and V&udeva
flanking Bksnamsa belonging t o a very ear ly period. This i s a t
period of t r a n s i t i o n from Kushana t o Gupta. Visnudharmottara . Purgqa has an e laborate-descr ipt ion of t he group. A descr ip t ion
of i t i s found i n Brhat Sanhi ta alsolo
10 Astau vz tatra kartavya grahah k e t u v i r a r ~ i t ~ /
. s a y a h d ~ a h Kujah ~&uhu - 3.85 52.53
o a y , K e t u i s omittad, From the Gupta period upto the 7th or
8th century Ketu was out of sight.
18. Virndharmottara Purana h.s imludad c r r t a ln pwtionr
of 'Citra S i t r a t i n the 'Citra Laksanat of the Buddhisttext a i c h * .
as an a r t text was obscure. Om can mark a striking resemblance here,
From the internal eviderrce of Visnudharmottara PurTna an early date . * i s clearly established, The f ac t that 'Citra Laksanat ia wn- tioned by Bhatt0tpaJ.a the commentator of Brhat SaaJita, establishes
the lower l imi ts of the date for t h i s t ex t tha t has been dovetailed
i n the Buddhist text. 3 . , % ,
4 ' "C As it it4 a non-Buddhist t a t incorporated in-vlth
the @in text of the Buddhist t ex t and as it draws i ts m8tter from
the ' c i t r a siitral of t h e Visnudharmottara s t pur'ii, th i s text must
have been V t e a popular old text on painting so as t o give r i se
t o another text , This becomes clear from a close survey of the
t ex t of 'Citra laksana '. 1 9
Bhattotpalals date i s 966 A.D, and theref ore the t ex t Visnu- 4 I
dharmottka ~ u r h a is slightly ea r l i e r t o 1 t .
When we come t o the Alamkgra portion we f i nd the author
greatly iaiebted t o ~ h g ~ a h a , Dandilu and inrnda Vardhana. while
defining a ~ah'ikBvya the author follows the formertin other
aspwts of ~ 2 ~ a such as fChandovirahitmt the r u a a s p c t e tc
find him a c l m e follower of irrsndrvmbana.
The rost s i ~ n i f i c a n t point t o be noted ham i s tha t
i-a Vudaana for t h e f i r s t time recogased not o a y nim
rUU but a l s o gave ;kt. the s t a t u s of rma. He c lear ly said
that 6%- l a the predominant ren t i rn t i n the Manabhirat..
m his attltrvfe i s c a p l e t e l j accepted by the author of Vi9p.1- C
dhamottara purzy~. lrnandavardhana i n the history of Alamkara-
i ~ s t r a i s not only an exponent of Dhv-i theory but a l so an
ilankarilkwho discussed the s t a tus of rasa t o santa vhich
had been t o t a l l y ignored by most of t h e Alankarikas incluiing
Bharatha the f a the r of *lank&a d ~ s ~ 8 a .
This i t s e l f i s enough t o prove that the t e x t i s of a
l a t e r o r i g i . ~ . But the vice versa can also be t rue. I f Ananla-
vardhana has borrowed the ideas f rcm the t ex t of Vig~udha~no-
t tma he can not be the f i r s t person t o recognise h n t a
as a rasa besides increasing the number t o nine, More over
the author of Visnudhamottara Purgna v has discussed 'Citra-
kivyal i n d e t a i l . He has a l s o distinguished c l t r a from c i t r a -
su t ra which feature makes one t o ho13 as a c lea r indication
t o i t s l a t e r origion%.
Anandavardhana i s the f i r s t rhe tor ic ian t o discuss
ci trek&rya at length: When the author of ViswdharmottWa
words of handavardhana . " This is supposed by cltralaksona
of Vismdharmottara . . p u r h a and answers exactly the Mahgpurka
Laks ana . .
11.
. . . . . nore than t h i s we
f i a d the pra ise of art of painting a8 given i n t h e V isav3harro- . . ttara ~ u r - ~ repeated i n the Citralaksana,
12 Viqpudharmottara pur--a s a y s t h a t just aa mount sumru
is predoainant- among mountains, G a n r d a acaongst the birds,
ruler among men and s o painting among arts. '3
T h i s Is repeated verbatim i n cltralaksana.
A 1 1 these c lear ly indicatek t h a t V i ~ n u d h a r m o t t ~ a ~ u r h n a . . i s a l a t e r or igiq I. The very nature of t h e tex t ~ c e - r t a i n a
this . Hardly there i s any branch which i s omitted from
being covered i n the t ex t ,
Parg i te r t r i e s t o construct his tory from the e a r l i e s t
times t o t he ahgrata War which he holds t o have taken place
about 950 8.C. H e holds tha t there were tvo t rad i t ions - (1) T h e Kshatriya and the other ( 2 ) Brahmans. H e points out
the u t t e r lack of h i s t o r i c a l sense among the Brahmaraas. Be
i s of the opini3n t h a t Purznas represent Kshatriya t r ad i t ion
and he even recog,nlses three races - ( 1) Manavaa ; ( 2 ) Ailao
and ( 3 ) Saudyumnas which represent respectively the Dravidian, 8
the Aryan and the H d a . Re i s of the opinion tha t ~ u r s p a s
are nothing but s m i i . t i s a t i o n s of works i n Pra ic r t , of dynasties
of Kaliage. NOW, coming t o t h e age of the ah*ata war he
ar r ives at 950 B .C.
Most of the ~ a h < ~ u r 8 n a s r e re composed i n t h e period from
5th or 6th century Aa, t o t h e 9th century A.D. T h i s he says, . represents the 4th stage i n the evolution of purzna Litera-
ture. The upapIir-m t . began t o be compiled from about the 7th
12. Tiaauihamottara Purana 3.43.39 13, Cltralaksana P-73
*- or 8th century A S . their amber lnem8aed. Thoro i r ample
proof t o rhov the I n f ' l w e of' Pur-* on t he H i D d w befon
and after Chris t till 17th or 18th century A.D . ~ t d r the 9th century A.D. no mah"spur-&pa came in to
oxirtence but al l the additional r a t t e r8 -re inaerted i n
several pur-, the worrt example of which i s Bhavisyat wherein
we can f ind the s to r i e s of lid- and Bve, of Pri thviraj , Joichandra,
T a l r u r , Akbar and s o on.
Colebroke relying on t he t raditiona t hat Bopadeva, the
grammarian was the author of the BhGavatha puriiina and -signs
it t o about 13th century AD.
Vam Kennedy gives an equally rodern date t o a l l t h e PUT--.
Wil8on is of the opinion t ha t thoy rrre work8 of different age8
compiled under d i f ferent circumstances. He taker in to conai-
deration the religious matter i n the PUT-? amacldng of the
present popular forms of H i r d u i s m which in h i s opinion took rhrpe
not ea r l i e r than 8 th or 9th century A.D. Thus, he assigns a
very nodern date. According t o him the Vieflu P W * ~ may Is
assigned to about 1045 A .D. B U ~ this i s an extr- view and
cannot be accepted as Alberunl writing i n 1030 A.D. g i r e s a
l i s t of eighteen pur-w. ' -
Buhler co l l ec t s many ear ly quotations from and references
t o the pursnas and points out tha t the account of the future
kings i n the V g y u , Visnu, Matsya and Br8hmanda, Seam8 t o stop
vith 1mperl.l Guptas and the i r contemporaries. T h w the PW-VS
a t l eas t , the important ones among them may have been fi~MLlised
during the Gupta period. Thus, we have ~~n tha t PC- have
been popularislng the s t u l y of s a ~ k r % t leunlng from 4th centwy
B u r 8 assigns b - 5 century A.D. 8s the date of Vianu- 0 I
dharmottara ~ur$a on t he growd that the text i n non-tantric
and Buddha is consi&rod 8a an Avatar. The frequent w e
of the word 'pr"adurbhiiva8 aad not '8vatICra1 .aka8 hi8 &cirion
fim. Whether the w o r d lAr . ta r ' l a wed or 'prdurbhava' is
used, i t i s 1 ~ a t e r i . l as for u the tex t Is concermd, Hence
h i s contention may not be accepted. Furhhsr, there are cer ta in
passages f ~ ~ r d both In Hatsya and Vianudhannottara PUP*. It * t
is believed that these p u s q e s are borrowed by Hatsya. I t i s
indeed s t r a e t ha t the Hatsya does not even mention Vi~nuhha~mo-
ttara pur'ba as an upapur-. Alberwi mentions it and there-
fore the e a r l i e s t date could be 900 - 1000 A.D.
There are twelve verrer which ape* of Phenomena and which
are not considered t o be utpatm and which are corapon both t o
Matsya and Vigmzdharmottara ~ur-ka and the B p t Samhita. 14
Mbhutasarga u occurring i n a11 these t h n e
and In ~Ghaspa tya ,
The occurrence of these twelve verses both i n Brhat Samhita
and Visnudharmottara I , purEna ra ises the important question of the
chrono'logica~ re la t ion of the two works. ~ a r a r a i h i r a 8n autho-
r i t y on Astrology expl ic i t ly says tha t he took twelve verses from
This is w r y evident tha t he did not borrov i t f r a ~ the
Vlsnudhanaottara Puriina.
ijgiputra *rt.ih i l o k a i h r ~ i d ~ & de t a u Sanaa oktalh vaj j as ad- m e h i kappa raodbya nirghata nlhavaMb parlvesarajodhiba e t c
kcord ing t o h i m Vi8ntdharrottara P U F ~ borroua t h e verses
from B r b a t 8amhita. If t h i s i r accepted Y l 8 n u d h u h o t t ~ a Purana . i s de f in i t e ly later than 6th century
It is a l r o possible t o argue t h a t the p d y c w d have taken
them from Wipu t ra . . but nowhere does the ~ur'.p. mention about it.
I n k ~ p i n g with the s a l i e n t fea tures of the pup- cornposed by
the semi-dfvine being ParZsara I n the beginning or' KaUyuga,
the p u r x w do not l i k e t o borrow any thing from a human author.
I t i s noted here t h a t Viafnrdharmottara pure* has only three / slokas quoted from ~ o g a y g t r a of ~ a r & a by Adbhutasiigara.
But according t o v v a a theae three Llokaa are the s-aries
of t h e slokas of Rsiputra. Hence, i t i s not possible t o say
t h a t they are borrowed by Var&a e i the r from Matrya or Viqnu-
dhanaottara Pur3a . ~ u t , both the pure- are s i l e n t about it.
It can eas i ly be s a i d t h a t these two p u r - w have borrrved the
verses from Brhat Samhita. T h i s is supported by Adbhuta Sii&ara(s
quoting of seven klokas from ~ r h a d y a t r a of v a r h a . These verses
Utpala ~ u o t e a on Brhat samhital7, these a re V&'€iha'~ a n and
are m t borrowed from any other sources.
Vlisnudhannottara . . PurUCana i s an encyclopaedic work and ~ a r i i h a
was an astrologer and an astrorrarrer of top rank. He could ra ther
turn t o h i s pmdecess&s f o r borrowing ideas and not t o an upa-
puriinag. It might be possible tha t this t e x t might not have
existed or it might not have been recognlsed as an authority when
Vargha wrote t h i s during t h e f i r s t half of 6th century A.D. besides
upapur-has are knovn f o r borrowing and hence w e do not have instances
where i n other works have borrowed the i d e u from PW-+ or up*
pur&as. , Heme we con say t h a t Vi?nudharrnottara purka has borrowed
the ideas ftom aJ1 the works which are quoted s o far.
17. 'Brhat Samhita. 4722
The V.i?rpra c u l t and daiva c u l t are both dea l t inQZ d r t u l
and r i ~ t a n a o u a l y , It is indeed sufpriaing t o f i n d the portion I
wherein 88nkara is described as the ro lo authority, Even though
be is pictured 811 a dei ty known for purioa ard other thing8 yet
the does not IU t o see the o m i r c i e m e or the iord.
This p r t l s a n treatment i s a suff ic ient proof t o decide that tho
t ex t i s only a compilation.
Some of the scholars are of the opinion that,Visnudarmottara * . ~ u r i ? i s the work of ~ h h a ,
Jayantha of 12th century A.D. i n h i s prithvzrzja c a r i t a (1-3)
says I ~ h G a s y a ~ i v y l u a Khalu visnudhardk . . : . SO' pyLanarht bh=at-v'6mumaCa 1
This pushes the date o f Vianudhafi~ottara purii.na as far back
as 5th century B.C. Jonan$a while co l l en t iq on ~ r i t h i d r I j a
c a r i t a of Jayiintha or Jayanaka of 12th century P.D.says - So'gnlrapi ~h6aamunch kzvyaa viqpadharmZn wkh-m tyattav nadahadityarthah
Since the date of ~ h b a is not cer ta in 1 t is not possible
t o f'lx the d a t e of Visnudharmottara ~ur&a. ~ I b a ' s date i s
subjected t o a l o t of controversy. His date fluctuates b e t ~ e n
5th century B.C. d 1 s t century A.D. A cursory reading of the
p u r ' a ~ indicates tha t there are ce r t a in points which map be! sa id - with no hes i ta t ion t o be tha t o f ~ h % a ~ s . Bhaa was a atanuch
advocate of vaisnava - . philosophy. H i 8 conception of society,
God etc., was very much different . be had a l o t of respect f o r
the Brahaaim. I n all h i s dramas he throws much light on tU8 j 8
asppct. I n Vismdharmottara ~uri fr U S O U ~ 0 &T P'kYL'''
Visnu Dharmottard Pur%a i s e voluninou~ book dealing vi th #
varied topics . There i s ,a l o t of scope . to r discussion. Each of
the chapters can be assigned t o a p a r t i c u l a r da te - I n the IInd
volume there are many por t ions which echo the ideas of KsutilayIa
Artha k b t r a o 1 9 One v o l u e of Vi??u Dharaottara PurZ9a i s comp-
l e t e l y devoted t o the descr ip t ion of the marriage of Siva w i t h /
P G r v ~ t h i , t he b i r t h of ~ m a r a e t c . bere we f i n d Siva being dercribed /
a s the most superior de i ty of a l l . The concept of Eankara Samhita
appears t o have been accepted by t h e author of Visnu Dharmottara ) #
~ u r s n ~ , qui te contrary t o t h e theme and aim. This portion i s sure
t o have been wr i t ten by an author who by a11 means was a staunch t /
devotee of Lord Siva. I n another volume of the same t e x t Lord Siva
i s described a s lower t o Visnu and i s pictured a s a de i ty known f o r f
h i s passion. Here t h e au thor ' s concept of Civa i s e n t i r e l y d i f f e ren t .
One can r e a l l y v i s u a l i s e the pa r t i s an view of t h e author who must
have been a staunch advocate of Vaisnava, philosophy. As both the * .
views a r e made t o pppear contradictory outwardly by these Par t i san
authors, w can d e f i n i t e l y say t h a t Vig?u Dharmottara P u r h a i s a
work of compilation. We have seen already how d i f f e ren t port ions
of Vtsnu Dharaottara PurLna belong t o d i f f e ren t periods of time. ' #
Accepting the authorship of Bhasa we can assign the date 5th century
3.C. t o the ea r ly ~ a f ~ n a t s a philosophy advocated i n the t e x t . This r .
forms the lower l i~i t . The upper l i m i t car1 be f i x e d by taking i n t o
view t h e theory of nava r a sas and various other Alankgra port ions. ----------------------------------------*--------------*----------
19.' & i u t l l y a l a A r t h a k s t r a : 70-72 One must not fo rge t t h a t t h e author while mentioning the kings mentions about ahojsr5ja . Who could t h i s moja be? I f , according t o t h e author he i s the i?hoj a of Dhara then t h e d ~ t e of the t e x t g e t s pushed forward.
It ha8 been aowptd by the UIzrkrriku that Amah
vardhsm an exponent of Dhruii theory, gave t he r t a t u r of I€-r
t o $-&a and treated tt u the nlnth Rua. Even though them
e r i a t e d the mraraaa thoory,yet, d h t a v u not given the atatu*
of R a m . It i s perhaps f o r the first time i n t h e Hirtory of
Q Rasa Alankara Ctra, Ananda Vardhana t r e a t s Santa as ninth rufru
and aayr vehemently that i n t h e ~ab'bhErata i s the pre-
dominent sentiment. This concept i s a l s o found i n the Vianu-
dhamot tara ~ u r i i ~ , Hence it is not wrong if vs ray t h a t the
e n t i r e Alankara port ion belong8 t o 9th century A,D, conrider-
ing the f a c t t h a t the author ha8 t &en i n t o account the l a t a r t
trerds of t h e then e x l r t i n g period.
I t i s not possible t o a r s i g n a pa r t i cu la r period t o
Vipzydhannottara ~ u r b aa it i a a compilationtwe can 889 t h a t
the work began qu i t e e a r l y and the authors kept on adding a8
and when changes took place i n the society.
Therefore t h e da te of Vipnudharmottara ~ur-?a f luctuate8
between 5th cenhury B,C. snd t h e 9 th century A,D. 4