| Purana means stories or histories of ancient times. | | | | lives of saints, kings and great men, allegories, and |
| There are several subject matters in the puranas and | | | | chronicles of great historical events. The sages made |
| they are classified into five sections. Their five sections | | | | use of these things to illustrate the eternal principles of |
| are history, cosmology, secondary creation, genealogy | | | | religion. The Puranas were meant, not for the scholars, |
| of kings, and of Manvantaras or Manus. The Puranas | | | | but for the ordinary people who could not understand |
| are part of the Itihasas. The Puranas were written to | | | | high philosophy and who could not study the Vedas. |
| popularize the religion of the Vedas. They contain the | | | | Each purana gives prominence to a particular deity |
| essence of the Vedas. The aim of the Puranas is to | | | | and therefore places all others on a subservient |
| impress on the minds of the masses the teachings of | | | | position. There are stories in the puranas to further |
| the Vedas and to generate in them devotion to God, | | | | explain the application of religion in life and to |
| through concrete examples, myths, stories, legends, | | | | emphasize the importance of injunctions. |