Purana
proper noun
Forms Puranas
- proper noun (Hinduism) A text that is part of an ancient Indian genre of Hindu or Jain written literature, concerning various topics, including cosmogony and mythology.
Etymology
Borrowed from Sanskrit पुराण (purāṇá, literally “old, ancient”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun One of a class of sacred Hindoo poetical works in the Sanskrit language which treat of the creation, destruction, and renovation of worlds, the genealogy and achievements of gods and heroes, the reigns of the Manus, and the transactions of their descendants. The principal Puranas are eighteen in number, and there are the same number of supplementary books called Upa Puranas.
Etymology [Skr. pura, properly. old, ancient, fr. pura formerly.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “Purana”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details