Talk:Who Taught the Purāṇa

By Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swami

In the Purāṇas themselves it is mentioned that they were narrated by Śiva to Pārvatī or to Viṣṇu. It is also said that Viṣṇu taught them to Nārada or some other sage. Thus the stories told by the gods were later passed on from one sage to another sage or to a king. In the end, the Purāṇas were narrated by Vyāsa to Sūta, and by Sūta to the sages in Naimiṣāraṇya.

It was from a high seat offered by the sages of Naimiṣāraṇya that Sūta taught the Purāṇas. We may gather from this the esteem in which the Purāṇas were held. Also, that knowledge was respected more than birth. We also realise that caste was no consideration when it came to learning noble subjects. The learned man, whatever his caste, was listened to with respect.