PURĀṆAS are extensive compendiums of the mytho-history of Bhāratvarṣa (the earlier name of the Indian subcontinent). They participate in the same mythological milieu as epic (itihāsa) and poetic (kāvya) works, but they are structured as exhaustive amalgams of epic lore seen through particular (some would say sectarian) perspectives. The Purāṇas may be thought of as core texts of Hindu religiosity; some have become cornerstones of particular devotional traditions, and others have served as templates for institutions, social observances, and traditions of secular knowledge.

The word purāṇa itself means "ancient," and a good deal of Purāṇic lore may have coexisted with the Vedas themselves. Purāṇa appears in the Ṛgveda (where it means "ancient") and is used in a sacrificial context in the Atharvaveda and the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, leading scholars such...