________________
7. PURANAS, TEMPLES AND THEIR DATES
Bhagavata Purana: Hazra points out that the Vishnu Puran is a source for the Bhagavata Purana and believes its date to be between 500 - 550 AD, despite many who believe the date should be even later. It embellishes the Vishnu Purana and is the most complete biography of Krishna. Another generally accepted date for it is 800 - 1000 AD. (sdmart.org) It includes myths about all ten of Vishnu's avatars. The Bhagawata Purana has been placed at several dates by scholars, ranging from 3000BCE (Traditional), to 700BCE, 400BCE, 500AD, 800AD and even as late as 1000AD.
"Thus for instance the vast amalgamation of Puranic tradition known as the Skandapurana, as far as we can speak of it as a single work at all, cannot be older than the 16th century, as has been shown in the Groningen Skandapurana project (see Adriaensen et al 1994). Many scientific manuals and commentaries were composed during the 17th and 18th centuries, and a 19th century compilation, the Sukraniti, passed for a long time as a genuine ancient work. And of course Indian scholars of traditional learning are all the time producing new Sanskrit literature" Klaus Karttunen http://folklore.ee/folklore/vol8/veda.htm
Harivamsa: The work was revised and changed numerous times and adopted its current form sometime around 400 AD. (Jaiswal, 16) It was added to the Mahabharata between 300-400 AD. It tells the story of Krishna as a youth. (sdmart.com)
Mahabharata and Bhagavad Gita: The Mahabharata was an evolving work that probably started sometime in the 200's BC and ended in the 400's AD. The work was constantly being added to, and it was corrupted so badly that we cannot be sure that words were not interpolated hundreds of years later. The Bhagavad Gita is part of the Mahabharata and is thought by many to be written sometime around 200 - 300 BC. The familiarity with the Greeks as "famous fighters" places the Mahabharata after Alexander, and its alarm at the Buddhist edukas replacing Hindu temples makes a date around the time of Asoka likely. The Romans are mentioned only in passing in a list of possible peoples, thus placing the epic probably before the time of Rome's greatness. (Raychaudhuri, 41, 42, 32)
Nevertheless, many still consider a post-Christian date for the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita. Pisani puts forward a strong argument that the Mahabharata was written between 100 - 300 AD, because it mentions Sakas (Scythians) who invaded around then, Parthians (Pahlavas) who had gained their independence from the Greeks, Huns (Hunas), and Romans (Romakas) who they had not established contact with before the time of Augustus.
157
