| What is Purana? The Veda is called Sruti (because it is learnt by hearing). It has four interwoven parts. To make these four sections more easily performable Vyasadeva compiled these four parts into four seperate books. Being sympathetic towards the fallen souls of Kali-yuga, who are lazy, misdirected and have no inclination for spiritual life, Vyasadeva compiled the Puranas, from related historical facts, which explain the teachings of the four Vedas. In other words, the Puranas teach the Vedic literature in story form, making spiritual life more simple, and therefore in this age, they are more important. Ref. (S.B. Canto 1 Ch.4 text 19-23) There are eighteen Puranas that are divided into three groups along with three predominating Deities. 1) GOODNESS - Visnu 2) PASSION - Brahma 3) IGNORANCE - Siva They are divided in this way to gradually raise the conditioned soul from ignorance to pure goodness. The three divisions of the Puranas are compiled in this way to appeal to those people in these respective modes and to thus elevate them to the perfection of life. |