Shiva Purana

The date and authors of Shiva Purana are unknown. No authentic data is available. Scholars such as Klostermaier as well as Hazra estimate that the oldest chapters in the surviving manuscript were likely composed around the 10- to 11th-centuries CE, which has not stood the test of carbon dating technology hence on that part we must rely on the text itself which tells when it was composed. Certain books and chapters in currently surviving Shiva Purana manuscripts were likely composed later, some after the 14th-century. The Shiva Purana, like other Puranas in Hindu literature, were routinely edited, recast and revised over the centuries. Hazra states that the Bombay manuscript published in the 19th-century is rarer, and is likely older than other versions published from eastern and southern India. ==Different manuscripts==

Several recensions of this text exist. The Bombay 1884 manuscript recension published by the Vangavasi Press, Calcutta in 1896 consists of six s (sections): The second manuscript of Shiva Purana published in 1906, reprinted in 1965, by the Pandita Pustakalaya, Kashi consists of seven s: According to a passage found in the first chapters of and of these recensions the original Shiva Purana comprised twelve s, which included five lost s: , (or ), , and (or ). The number of verses in these sections were as follows: • Vidyeshvara Samhita - 10,000 • Rudra Samhita - 8,000 • Vainayaka Samhita - 8,000 • Uma Samhita - 8,000 • Matri Samhita - 8,000 • Rudraikadasha Samhita - 13,000 • Kailasa Samhita - 6,000 • Shatarudra Samhita - 3,000 • Sahasrakotirudra Samhita - 11,000 • Kotirudra Samhita - 9,000 • Vayaviya Samhita - 4,000 • Dharma Samhita - 12,000 Several other s are also ascribed to the . These are the , the , the , the and the . Haraprasad Shastri mentioned in the Notices of Sanskrit MSS IV, pp. 220–3, Nos, 298–299 about another manuscript of the , which is divided into Two Khandas (Parts), the and the . The consists 3270 s in 51 chapters written in Nagari script and the has 45 chapters written in Oriya script. It was preserved in Mahimprakash Brahmachari Matha in Puri. The of this manuscript is same as the of the Vangavasi Press Edition. (Pranava) expresses Shiva, it includes within it Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra and Shiva, there is Purusha in everything, nothing is smaller nor bigger than Shiva-Atman. ==Contents==

Like the Linga Purana and other Shaivism-related Puranas, the Shiva Purana dedicates chapters to Shaiva-Advaita philosophy, advocating it as a system for moksha. The text also presents the Brahman as satcitananda theme, with masculine and feminine Shiva-Shakti as a unity, and perception of plurality-discrimination as a form of nescience. • the boat (nava) to cross samsara • there is no (na) diffusiveness (pra) for you (va) • the ideal way (pra) to overcome maya and attain new (nava) divine wisdom == Media Adaptations==

Adaptations include Har Har Mahadev 1950 movie, it was remade in 1974 under the same title starring Dara Singh and Jayshree Gadkar. Shiv Mahapuran 2002 Serial consisting of 61 episodes. Om Namah Shivay (1997 TV series) == Commentaries ==

There are translations of this Sanskrit texts in English and Tamil language. One important translation in Tamil language with commentary is done by "Dravidācārya" Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇan Svāmīji of Shastra Nethralaya.. The following is a list of translations: ===English=== • Shiva Purana by Bibek Debroy (2023, unabridged) • The Shiva Purana by J.L. Shastri (unabridged, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers) • Shiv MahaPurana by shanti Lal Nagar(unabridged, Parimal publications) ==References==