The Puranas (from Sanskrit: पुराण, "ancient" or "of ancient times") constitute a vast corpus of Hindu sacred literature distinct from the Vedas, Brahmana, and Upanishads. While the Vedas present ritual knowledge and the Upanishads present philosophical wisdom, the Puranas present the entire spectrum of Hindu cosmology, theology, history, geography, and devotional practice in narrative form. The "traditional" count identifies 18 Mahapuranas (major Puranas) and numerous Upapuranas (minor Puranas).
Sacred Texts