acquiring punya, along with general good works.
Generally punya was accrued in order to gain a
better birth in the next life, although it could also
help in the longer path to liberation. The term
is used in a general sense in the Jain tradition,
too, where the term punya-karma is used to mean
“wholesome karma.”
Further reading: Wendy Doniger and Brian K. Smith,
trans., The Laws of Manu (New York: Penguin Books,
1991); Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty, Karma and Rebirth
in Classical Indian Traditions (Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1980).
puraka See YOGA SUTRA.
puranas
A purana is a story about the deeds and life of a
divinity. These stories supply a rich backdrop to
Hinduism, and, together with the epics, the RAMA-
YANA and MAHABHARATA, form the mythological
infrastructure of the culture. Jains have their own
puranic literature, but it dwells on the lives of the
great teachers, the TIRTHANKARAS and other holy
personages who have broken the bonds of karma,
rather than on the gods.
There are 18 traditional puranas in Hindu-
ism, all written in SANSKRIT. Though their names
could be taken to indicate a sectarian focus (as,
for example, the Shiva Purana), most often they
contain both SHAIVITE and Vaishnavite stories. At
times stories outline the supremacy of the GODDESS,Lord Krishna’s birthplace, where his puranic tale begins, in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh (Constance A. Jones)
puranas 337 J