PURĀṆA CANON · SMṚTI · 18 MAHĀPURĀṆAS
The Eighteen Mahāpurāṇas
All eighteen texts given proper treatment — grouped by the guṇa classification of the Padma Purāṇa. Each carries a depth indicator. No text is buried in a footnote.
Showing all 18 Mahāpurāṇas
Sattva guṇa · Truth & Purity · 6 texts
Vaiṣṇava Purāṇas
Oriented toward Viṣṇu, his avatāras, and the path of devotion. The Padma Purāṇa — itself in this group — is the source of the guṇa classification system used on this page.
Bhāgavata Purāṇa
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam · 12 skandhas
Most studied Purāṇa; 12 skandhas culminating in Kṛṣṇa's life-story and the theology of devotional surrender.
Explore →Viṣṇu Purāṇa
6 aṃśas
Most systematic Vaiṣṇava theology; first Purāṇa translated into English (Wilson, 1840).
Explore →Padma Purāṇa
5/6/7 khaṇḍas
Second largest of the 18; its Uttara Khaṇḍa contains the guṇa classification of all 18 Purāṇas used on this very page.
Explore →Nārada Purāṇa
Nāradīya · 2 parts
Covers ritual, Viṣṇu's names, and music theory — the Purāṇa most relevant to devotional music traditions.
Explore →Garuḍa Purāṇa
2 khaṇḍas · 279 chapters
The Purāṇa of the afterlife; recited at funerals; maps the soul's post-mortem journey unlike any other text in the canon.
Explore →Varāha Purāṇa
217 chapters
Dialogue between Viṣṇu's Varāha form and Bhūdevī; best studied alongside Matsya and Kūrma in the avatāra sequence.
Explore →Rajas guṇa · Passion & Activity · 6 texts
Brahmic Purāṇas
Associated with creative activity and Brahma's function as world-creator. Theologically diverse — the Mārkaṇḍeya carries the founding text of Śāktism; the Brahma Vaivarta is the primary source on Rādhā's theology.
Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa
137 chapters
Despite Rājasika classification, hosts the Devī Māhātmya (700 verses) — the foundational text of Śāktism, recited across India during Navaratri.
Explore →Brahma Vaivarta
4 khaṇḍas
Primary Purāṇic source on Rādhā and the Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa relationship; significant for Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism.
Explore →Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa
Lalitā Sahasranāma within
Uttara Khaṇḍa contains the Lalitā Sahasranāma — a major Śākta hymn in wide independent liturgical use.
Explore →Bhaviṣya Purāṇa
4 parvas · prophetic
Prophetic in structure; textually contested — portions show significant later interpolation and must be cited with that caveat.
Explore →Vāmana Purāṇa
95 chapters
Centers on Vāmana's three-step defeat of Bali; includes Śaiva material despite Brahmic classification.
Explore →Brahma Purāṇa
Ādi Purāṇa · 245 chapters
One of the oldest; significant for covering Odisha's sacred sites and the Jagannātha tradition at Purī.
Explore →Tamas guṇa · Transformation · 6 texts
Śaiva Purāṇas
Associated with dissolution and transformation — Śiva's domain. The tamas label is the Padma Purāṇa's Vaiṣṇava classification; it carries no qualitative judgement. Skanda is the largest text in the entire canon.
Śiva Purāṇa
7 saṃhitās
Primary Śaiva Purāṇa; 7 saṃhitās covering Śiva's mythology, his family, and the philosophical basis of Śaiva devotion.
Explore →Skanda Purāṇa
Largest · 6 khaṇḍas
Largest of all 18 at 81,100 verses — the Purāṇic atlas of Śaiva sacred geography across India.
Explore →Agni Purāṇa
383 chapters
Most encyclopedic of the 18; covers medicine, architecture, poetics, and astronomy — the only Purāṇa functioning as a classical compendium.
Explore →Matsya Purāṇa
291 chapters · oldest
Contains the index of all 18 Mahāpurāṇas and the Matsya-Manu flood narrative — uniquely meta-canonical within the corpus.
Explore →Kūrma Purāṇa
2 khaṇḍas
Presents Śiva and Viṣṇu as equal manifestations of one supreme reality; significant for the Smārta tradition.
Explore →Liṅga Purāṇa
2 bhagas · 163 chapters
Centers on the Liṅgodbhava — Śiva's self-manifestation as an infinite pillar of light; primary source for Śivalinga theology.
Explore →Guṇa classification per Padma Purāṇa, Uttara Khaṇḍa 236.18–21 · Verse counts approximate; critical editions vary · Tamas label reflects Śiva's domain and carries no qualitative judgement · Upapurāṇas (18 minor texts incl. Devī Bhāgavata, Gaṇeśa, Nṛsiṃha) treated separately · Hub pages in Sprint 1: Bhāgavata, Viṣṇu, Śiva, Mārkaṇḍeya