the human and the divine, not in bonds of duty or domination, but in a rela-
tionship of loving protection on the divine side and loving service on the human.
Thus the religion ofbhakticonsists of honoring all aspects in which the
Supreme God makes his/her presence manifest in the trailokya. Holy cities are
lovingly described in the Pura ̄n.as (e.g. Skanda; Ka ̄s ́ı ̄khan.d.a;Na ̄rada; Uttarabha ̄ga
48–61); holy rivers are enumerated (e.g. S ́iva:Vid yes ́varasam.hita ̄12;Garud.a
1.81); instructions are given for the construction and worship of images (e.g.
Vis.n.udharmottara3.44–85), for making pilgrimages (e.g. Va ̄yu110–11);Na ̄rada:
Uttarabha ̄ga62–3;Skanda3.51), and for the carrying out of special pu ̄ja ̄s(Na ̄rada:
Uttarabha ̄ga43;S ́iva:Kot.irudrasam.hita ̄38–9) and vratas(Na ̄rada4.110–24;
Matsya54–82;Garud.a1.116–37).Bhaktigives rise to a highly sacramental form
of worship which nourishes itself upon all the traces of the divine encounter
with humanity. Even sinners who do not worship are saved by the God ofbhakti,
for instance, the dying Aja ̄mila who cries “Na ̄ra ̄yan.a” because it is the name of
his youngest son (Bha ̄gavata6.1–2), or Devara ̄ja who is saved by accidentally
hearing the S ́iva recited (S ́iva1.2.15–40). It may appear the karmais set aside
and any idea ofdharmaoverthrown. Yet this is not the case. The Pura ̄n.as contain
many passages in which the rules ofvarn.a ̄s ́ramadharmaare set out firmly and
clearly, sometimes introduced by the idea that this is what God wants (cf. Vis.n.u
3.8.1–19).Dharmaand the four purus.a ̄rthas(dharma, artha, ka ̄ma,andmoks.a)
are still in place, but they are now transformed and transcended by bhakti.
The Pura ̄n.as Today
Although present-day Hindus may refer to the Vedas as the foundation of their
tradition, it is the Pura ̄n.as which give the myths and rituals by which their reli-
gious life is sustained. Even among the diaspora in Britain there are some
Pura ̄n.as which have been recited in their entirety from time to time. (Lipner
1994: 153, 339–40). The Bha ̄gavatahas not only become the foundation text of
several Kr.s.n.aitesamprada ̄yasin India, but in the second half of the twentieth
century has become familiar to Kr.s.n.a-worshippers throughout the world,
thanks to the activities of the International Society for Krishna Conscious-
ness, an American organization derived directly, through its founder A. C.
Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, from the Kr.s.n.aite tradition started by
Caitanya in sixteenth-century Bengal.
At the level of scholarly study, the Pura ̄n.as have received plentiful attention
in the last quarter of the twentieth century. Rocher’s comprehensive survey, pub-
lished by Harrassowitz in 1986 as part of their History of Indian Literature, has
already been mentioned, and is a work to which all subsequent Pura ̄n.a scholars
are deeply indebted (cf. Doniger 1993: viii). Anthologies of Pura ̄n.ic myths, trans-
lated into English, compiled and introduced by Wendy O’Flaherty (1975) and by
Cornelia Dimmitt and J. A. B. van Buitenen (1978), have enabled a wider range
of readers to discover the Pura ̄n.as for themselves, while in The Origins of Evil in
the pura ̄n.as 141