The Vayu Purana is a Shaiva Purana, a Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 religious text, dedicated to the god Vayu

Vayu

Vāyu is a primary Hindu deity, the Lord of the winds, the father of Bhima and the spiritual father of Lord Hanuman...

 (the wind god), containing about 24,000 shloka

Shloka

A ' is a category of verse line developed from the Vedic Anuṣṭubh. It is the basis for Indian Epic verse, and may be considered the Indian verse form par excellence, occurring, as it does, far more frequently than any other meter in classical Sanskrit poetry. The Mahabharata and Ramayana, for...

s.

Date

Banabhatta

Banabhatta

Bāṇabhaṭṭa , also known as Bāṇa, was a Sanskrit scholar and poet of India. He was the Asthana Kavi in the court of King Harshavardhana, who reigned in the years c. 606–647 CE in north India...

 refers to this work in his Kadambari and Harshacharita. In the Harshacharita he says that this text was read out to him in his native village

Alberuni (973 -1048), the noted Persian

Persian people

The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...

 scholar, describes eighteen Puranas

Puranas

The Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...

 in his works and Vayu Purana is said to have ranked as a sacred scripture, even prior to 600.

Editions and translations

The Asiatic Society, Calcutta published this text in two volumes in 1880 and 1888, as a part of their Bibliotheca Indica series. It was edited by Rajendralal Mitra

Rajendralal Mitra

Rajendralal Mitra was the first modern Indologist of Indian origin, and was a key figure in the Bengal Renaissance. He was pioneer in scientific study of history and contributed substantially in the field of archaeology. Eminent Historian Professor R.S...

. The Venkateshvara Press, Bombay edition was published in 1895. It was followed by the publication of another edition by the Anandashrama (Anandashrama Sanskrit Series 49), Poona. In 1910, the Vangavasi Press, Calcutta published an edition along with a Bengali translation by Panchanan Tarkaratna, the editor of the text.

Contents

In the Anandashrama and Vangavasi editions, this text is divided into four pada

Pada

Pada may refer to:*Pada , in Sanskrit grammar, and Hindu and Buddhist tradition*Sri Pada or Adam's Peak, a mountain in Sri Lanka*Pada, Estonia, village in Viru-Nigula Parish, Lääne-Viru County, Estonia*Pada River, see List of rivers of Estonia...

s (parts): Prakriya-pada (chapters 1–6), Anushanga-pada (chapters 7–64), Upodghata-pada (chapter 65–99) and Upasamhara-pada (chapters 100–112). The Gayamahatmya (chapters 105–112 in these editions), praising the Gaya

Gaya, India

Gaya is the second largest city of Bihar, India, and it is also the headquarters of Gaya District.Gaya is 100 kilometers south of Patna, the capital city of Bihar. Situated on the banks of Falgu River , it is a place sanctified by both the Hindu and the Buddhist religions...

 tirtha

Tirtha

In Jainism, a tīrtha |ford]], a shallow part of a body of water that may be easily crossed") is used to refer both to pilgrimage sites as well as to the four sections of the sangha...

 in Magadha

Magadha

Magadha formed one of the sixteen Mahājanapadas or kingdoms in ancient India. The core of the kingdom was the area of Bihar south of the Ganga; its first capital was Rajagriha then Pataliputra...

 is not found in all the manuscripts of this work and also found separately as an independent work. In the Asiatic Society and Venkateshvara Press editions, this text is divided into two parts: Prathamakhanda comprising 61 chapters and Dvitiyakhanda comprising 50 chapters. The chapters 1-6 of Prathamakhanda are titled Prakriya-pada and no title is provided for the chapters 7-61. The chapters 1-42 of Dvitiyakhanda are titled Anushanga-pada and the chapters 43-50 are the Gayamahatmya.

The Vayu Purana deals with the following topics: creation and re-creation of the universe; measurement of the Kala (time); Origin of Agni

Agni

Agni is a Hindu deity, one of the most important of the Vedic gods. He is the god of fire and the acceptor of sacrifices. The sacrifices made to Agni go to the deities because Agni is a messenger from and to the other gods...

, Varuna

Varuna

In Vedic religion, Varuna is a god of the sky, of water and of the celestial ocean, as well as a god of law and of the underworld...

 and a number of gods; origin and descendants of Atri

Atri

This article is about the sage named Attri. See also the gotra named Atri. For the Italian city, see Atri, AbruzzoIn Hinduism, Attri or Atri is a legendary bard and scholar and was one of 9 Prajapatis, and a son of Brahma, said to be ancestor of some Brahmin, Prajapatis, kshatriya and Vaishya...

, Bhrigu, Angiras and some other sages, daitya

Daitya

In Hinduism, the Daityas are a clan or race or Asura as are the Danavas. Daityas were the children of Diti and the sage Kashyapa. They were a race of giants who fought against the Devas because they were jealous of their Deva half-brothers...

s, rakshasa

Rakshasa

A Rakshasa or alternatively rakshas, is a race of mythological humanoid beings or unrighteous spirit in Hindu and Buddhist religion...

s, gandharva

Gandharva

Gandharva is a name used for distinct mythological beings in Hinduism and Buddhism; it is also a term for skilled singers in Indian classical music.-In Hinduism:...

s and pitrs; origin of animals, birds, trees and creepers; genealogies of the ancient kings descended from Vaivasvata Manu and Ila

Ila (Hinduism)

Ila is an androgyne in Hindu mythology, known for his/her sex changes. As a man, he is known as Ila or Sudyumna and as a woman, is called Ilā...

 and the kings of Kaliyuga ending with the Gupta dynasty; detailed geography of the earth divided into seven dvipa

Dvipa

In Indian mythology, dvīpa is the term for the major divisions of the terrestrial sphere, sometimes translated as "continents"....

s and further sub-divided into the varshas; accounts of inhabitants of different dvipas; names and descritption of the seven Patalas (netherworlds); description of the solar system and the movements of the celestial bodies; description of the four yuga

Yuga

Yuga in Hindu philosophy is the name of an 'epoch' or 'era' within a cycle of four ages. These are the Satya Yuga, the Treta Yuga, the Dvapara Yuga, and finally the Kali Yuga. According to Hindu cosmology, life in the universe is created, destroyed once every 4.1 to 8.2 billion years, which is...

s and fourteen manvantara

Manvantara

Manvantara or Manuvantara , or age of a Manu , the Hindu progenitor of mankind, is an astronomical period of time measurement. Manvantara is a Sanskrit sandhi, a combination of words manu and antara, manu-antara or manvantara, literally meaning the duration of a Manu, or his life span .Each...

s. It also contains chapters on music, various shakha

Shakha

A shakha , is a Hindu theological school that specializes in learning certain Vedic texts, or else the traditional texts followed by such a school. An individual follower of a particular school or recension is called a ...

s of the Vedas, Pashupata-yoga, duties of the people belong to different castes and funeral rites.

Further reading

• Mani, Vettam. Puranic Encyclopedia. 1st English ed. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1975.