Allegory in Puranams

Updated on May 11, 2022 in Avatars
3 on May 9, 2022

Srimathe Ramanujaya nama:
Sri vara vara muniye nama:

Puranam has different story lines which has many hidden meaning. Should we need to take the charitram to be as it is? Or consider it as allegory to give different set of hidden meaning.

Example; bhakthi devi has two child gyana and vairagyam and naradar meets them etc. Here would someone named “bhakthi”, having son as “Gyanam” and “Vairakyam” has lived and this instance happened or simply the charitram is made to give out the essence?

Also there are huge description comes about places, kings etc and they use counts such as 100000, 10000000 etc in ithasa puranam- is it literally that these many (lakhs and cores& cores people) lived once upon a time or fought a war or is these counts are “Prashamsha param” or “Athisaya ukthi”

But adiyen scared to say any part of purana/ithihasa might be prashamsha param or athisaya ukthi because each and every sloka is a pramana. But adiyen manda madhi sometimes won’t understand few things- When thataka or surpanaka is described in Valmiki ramayanam that 1000 elephants are tied head to toe and garlanded on rakshashi! Its lit a huge size and can someone with that akaram can exist? So it can be athisaya ukthi?

But when with my mandha madhi if I claim one verse in ramayana as prashamsa pram or athisaya ukthi someone else will claim another verse as same!
“Gacha lookan anu uthamaan!” – perumal sends jatayu to uthama looka someone claims these verse as prashamsa param saying there existing para lokam itself is allegorical- then it will lead to many other troubles and leads to questioning the pramanikam of ithihasam itself!

Adiyen kindly wanted to know is there any vyavasthai behind the reasoning puranas. Just for sake of understanding I am asking swamy. Plz enlighten on this same!

Adiyen 🙏

 
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2 on May 9, 2022

Srimate Raamanujaya Namaha,

Swamy some discussion in the earlier thread https://www.kinchit.org/dharma-sandeha/thread/what-is-the-danger-in-not-accepting-puranam/
may be relevant.

Also if you are hearing the current daily bhaagawatam series, where swamy is explaining puranjana charitram..over the last few days, the subsequent chapters explicitly explain that it is an allegory and how to interpret the story.
But if such direct mention of allegory is not stated it must be taken as factual.
This is what I have heard swamy.

Adiyen

on May 9, 2022

Dasan

on May 11, 2022

Swami has clarified this query in enpani 2467.

Adiyen

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