Brahma Purana Volume 1

Translated by Bibek Debroy A GLORIOUS RENDITION OF ONE OF THE OLDEST PURANAS BY A MASTER TRANSLATOR The Brahma Purana is the first of a series of eighteen texts known collectively as the Puranas. These are counted amongst the foundational texts of Hinduism. The holy trinity of Brahma as the creator, Vishnu as the preserver and Shiva as the destroyer constitutes the central deities of this series and features in its narratives. Sometimes referred to as Adi Purana, Brahma Purana oscillates between being a work of geography with a focus on the holy sites of the River Godavari, and being an encyclopaedic work of cosmology, genealogy and mythology. Reading almost like a travel guide, it celebrates temples and sites related to Vishnu, Shiva and Devi as it focuses on places like modern-day Odisha and Rajasthan. Brimming with insight and told with clarity, this luminous text is a celebration of a complex mythological universe populated with gods and mortals, providing readers with an opportunity to truly understand Indian philosophy.