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The Markandeya Purana (Sanskrit: मार्कण्डेय पुराण; IAST: Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa) is a Sanskrit text of Hinduism, and one of the eighteen major Puranas.[1][2] The text's title Markandeya refers to a sage in Sanatana Dharma, who is the central character in two legends, one linked to Shiva and other to Vishnu.[3] The Markandeya text is one of the Puranas that lacks a sectarian presentation of ideas in favor of any particular god,[2][3] and it is rare to read any deity being invoked or deity prayers in the entire text.[4][5]
The Markandeya Purana is probably one of the oldest in Purana genre of Hindu Literature, among the most interesting and important, states Ludo Rocher.[2] It is famous for including the Devi Mahatmya within it, the oldest known treatise on Devi (Goddess) as the Supreme Truth and Creator Of The Universe.[2][3][6] The text is considered as a central text of the Hindu Goddess-related Shaktism tradition, with an extraordinary expression of reverence for the feminine.[6][7] The Markandeya Purana's Devi Mahatmya is often ranked in some Hindu traditions to be as important as the Bhagavad Gita.[8]
The extant manuscripts of this Purana have 137 chapters, of which chapters 81 through 93 is the Devi Mahatmya.[9] Tradition and some medieval era texts assert that the Markandeya Purana has 9,000 verses, but surviving Manuscripts have about 6,900 verses.[10] 2,100 verses were transferred to Devi Bhagavatam. The text presents a diverse range of topics,[1][11][12] with socio-cultural information and symbolism for Vedic ideas and Metaphysical Thought.[13]
- ^ a b Dalal 2014, p. 246.
- ^ a b c d Rocher 1986, pp. 191–192.
- ^ a b c Lochtefeld 2002, p. 426.
- ^ Dutt 1896, p. 4.
- ^ Wilson 1864, p. LVII.
- ^ a b Coburn 1988, pp. 1–23.
- ^ Brown 1998, pp. 1–4.
- ^ Rocher 1986, p. 193.
- ^ Rocher 1986, p. 191.
- ^ Wilson 1864, p. LIV.
- ^ Rocher 1986, pp. 191–194.
- ^ Gietz 1992, p. 354, with note 1948
- ^ Gietz 1992, p. 803, with note 4538