Upapurana

The Upapuranas (Sanskrit: Upapurāṇa) are a genre of Hindu religious texts consisting of many compilations differentiated from the Mahapuranas by styling them as secondary Puranas using a disparaging prefix Upa (secondary). Though, only a few of these compilations originated earlier than most of the extant Mahapuranas, some of these texts are extensive and important.[1]

Studies in the Upapurāṇas

Dr. R. C. Hazra's magnum opus for which he earned a D. Litt was a detailed catalogue of contents, comparison of manucripts of Upapuranas; popularly known as Studies in the Upapurāṇas. It was series of five volumes of equal length, a part of the Calcutta Sanskrit College Research Series (out of which only two were published by Munshiram Manoharlal, both generally edited by Gaurinath Sastri and Hazra's handwritten papers of the other three volumes are kept with the College); on a descriptive study of all more than hundred Upapuranas, which, even to this day, remains an important but ignored field of Sanskrit literature.

The extent

Defination and notes

Similar to the case of the Mahapuranas, a claim has been made in a number of Puranas and Smritis that the Upapuranas are also eighteen in number and give evidence of their knowledge of the existence of a larger number of the Upapuranas. But, unlike the case of the Mahapuranas, the different lists of eighteen Upapuranas seldom agree with one another with regard to the names of these texts. Lists of eighteen Upapuranas occur in a number of texts, which include the Kurma Purana, the Garuda Purana, the Brihaddharma Purana, the Sanat Kumara Purana, the Ekamra Purana, the Vāruṇa Purāṇa, the Pārāśara Purāṇa, the Skanda Purana, the Padma Purana, the Brahmavaivarta Purana, the Aushanasa Purāṇa, Hemadri's Caturvargacintamani and Ballal Sena's Dana Sagara. In spite of the mention of a particular Upapurana in different lists under different names, these lists provide us the names of much more than eighteen texts as the Upapuranas. In fact, by examining all the Sanskrit texts which mention the names of these texts, the actual number of the Upapuranas are found to be near a hundred, including those mentioned in the different lists. But, it can not be denied that many of these texts have been lost without leaving any trace.[1]

The Major Upapuranas

Sl. No.	Upapurana name	Chapters number	Status	Comments
01	Ādi Purāṇa	Nineteen	Published	It is narrated by Sanatkumāra.
02	Nārasimha Purāṇa	Sixty-eight	Published	It discusses the Lord's Nṛsimha incarnation.
03	Nānda Purāṇa	Fifty-two	Unpublished, manuscipt available	It is narrated by Nandi.
04	Śivadharma Purāṇa	Twenty-four	Published	It talks about Śaivaism.
05	Āścarya Purāṇa		Manuscript unavailable	It is narrated by Durvāsā.
06	Nāradīya Purāṇa	Thirty-eight	Published	It is narrated by Nārada.
07	Kāpila Purāṇa	Twenty-one	Published	It discusses Kapila's Samkhya Philosophy.
08	Mānava Purāṇa		Manuscript unavailable	It is narrated by Manu.
09	Auśanasa Purāṇa		Manuscript unavailable	It is narrated by Uśanā.
10	Brahmānda Purāṇa		Manuscript unavailable	It discusses the Universe.
11	Vāruṇa Purāṇa	Twelve	Published	It is narrated by Varuṇa.
12	Kālikā Purāṇa	Ninety-eight	Published	It discusses Pārvatī.
13	Māheśwara Purāṇa	Twelve	Unpublished, manuscript available	It discusses Śiva's family.
14	Sāmba Purāṇa	Eighty-four	Published	It discusses Sūrya.
15	Saura Purāṇa	Sixty-nine	Published	It is discusses Śiva's family.
16	Pārāśara Purāṇa	Eighteen	Published	It is narrated by Parāśara.
17	Mārīca Purāṇa	Five	Unublished, manuscript available	It is narrated to Marīcī.
18	Bhārgava Purāṇa	Forty	Published	Its narrated by Vaśiṣṭha.

Sthala and Kula Tamil Puranas and other Minor Upapuranas

Also called Aupapuranas or Atipuranas.

1. Bṛhaddharma Purāṇa
2. Gaṇeśa Purāṇa
3. Maudgalya Purāṇa
4. Kālkya Purāṇa
5. Ṣivarahasya Purāṇa
6. Kriyāyogasāra Purāṇa
7. Yuga Purāṇa
8. Lakṣmi Purāṇa
9. Bhaviśyottara Purāṇa
10. Devānga Purāṇa
11. Śiva Purāṇa
12. Nīlamata Purāṇa
13. Malla Purāṇa
14. Basava Purāṇa
15. Periya Purāṇa
16. Dharma Purāṇa
17. Mahābhāgavata (Devī) Purāṇa
18. Viṣṇudharma Purāṇa
19. Kārtava Purāṇa
20. Ṛju Purāṇa
21. Pāśupatya Purāṇa
22. Ekāmra Purāṇa
23. Pārānanda Purāṇa
24. Dattātreya Purāṇa
25. Viśvakarma Purāṇa
26. Vāsuki Purāṇa
27. Ātma Purāṇa
28. Caṇḍī Purāṇa
29. Bhairava Purāṇa
30. Viṣṇurahasya Purāṇa
31. Śukra Purāṇa
32. Kubera Purāṇa
33. Saraswati Purāṇa
34. Govinda Purāṇa
35. Bhūgola Purāṇa

Sectarian divisions

Unlike the Mahapuranas, most of the Upapuranas have been able to preserve their older materials along with their distinctive sectarian character. All extant Upapuranas can be broadly divided into six groups according to the sectarian views found in these texts: Vaishnava, Shakta, Shaiva, Saura, Ganapatya and non-sectarian.[1]

The Vaishnava Upapuranas

The most significant texts among the Vaishnava Upapuranas are the Vishnudharmapurva Purana, the Vishnudharmottara Purana, the Narasimha Purana, the Brihannaradiya Purana and the Kriyayogasara.[1]

The extant Narasimha Purana comprises 68 chapters. The extant Vishnudharma Purana comprises 105 chapters.

The Shakta Upapuranas

Among the Shakta Upapuranas, the most important extant texts are the Kalika Purana (or Sati Purana) , the Mahabhagavata (Devi) Purana and the Candi Purana (or Candika Purana).[1]

The extant Kalika Purana comprises 98 chapters.

The Shaiva Upapuranas

The notable Shaiva Upapuranas are the Shiva Purana, the Saura Purana, the Shivadharmapurva Purana, the Shivadharmottara Purana, the Shivarahasya Purana, the Ekamra Purana, the Parashara Purana, the Varuna Purana, and the Maheshwara Purana.[1]

The extant Saura Purana comprises 69 chapters. The extant Parashara Upapurana consists 18 chapters. The extant Shivadharma Purana comprises 24 chapters and deals only with the religious rites and duties of the worshippers of Shiva. It mentions itself as a shastra or dharmashastra.[2]

The Saura Upapuranas

The only extant text which can be called an exclusive Saura Purana is the Samba Purana.[1] It comprises 84 chapters.

The Ganapatya Upapuranas

Only two extant Upapuranas profess the views of the Ganapatya sect. These are the Mudgala Purana and the Ganesha Purana.[1]

The non-sectarian Upapuranas

The Upapuranic works, which do not profess any particular sectarian views are the Bhavishyottara Purana, the Kapila Purana and the Brihaddharma Purana.[1]

Notes

1. Hazra, R.C. (1962, reprint 2003). The Upapuranas in S. Radhakrishnan (ed.) The Cultural Heritage of India, Vol.II, Kolkata:The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, ISBN 81-85843-03-1, pp.271-286
2. Rocher, Ludo (1986). "The Purāṇas". In Jan Gonda (ed.). A History of Indian Literature. Vol.II, Epics and Sanskrit religious literature, Fasc.3. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 228. ISBN 3-447-02522-0.