Puranas and Acculturation: A Historico-Anthropological Perspective

This gigantic Puranic corpus stands apart from earlier Brahmanical literature in many ways. Not the least of which is the fact that whereas the Vedas, and the Dharamasastras were for self-study and meant for the exclusive religious edification of the upper stratum, the Puranas were to be recited in popular gathering and generally projected as the scriptures of the masses. Inspite of the fact that so much has been written about the Puranas, no convicting rationale has been offered for their composition and proliferation. This work aims at removing this lacuna and establishing the purposive nature of the Puranas.