The age of the Puranas, though doubtless modern, is uncertain. The Bhagavata, on account of its being ascribed to the authorship of the grammarian Vopa- deva, would appear to yield a safer computation of its age than the rest; for Vopadeva lived in the 12th cen- tury, or, as some hold, 13th century after Christ; but this authorship, though probable, is not proved to a cer- tainty. As to the other Puranas, their age is supposed by Prof. Wilson to fall within the 12th and 17th centu- ries of the Christian aera, with the exception, though, of the Markandeya-Purdna, which, in consideration of its unsectarian character, he would place in the 9th or 10th century. But it must be borne in mind that all these dates are purely conjectural, and given as such by the scholar whose impressions they couvey.
Besides these eighteen Puranas or great Puranas, there are minor or Ujiapurdnas, " differing little in ex- tent or subject from some of those to which the title of Purana is ascribed." Their number is given by one Purana as four ; another, however, names the following eighteen: 1. Sanatkumdra- ; 2. Narasinha- ; 3. Nara-
diya- ; 4. Siva- ; 5. Durvasasa- ; 6. Kdpila- ; 7. Md- nava-; 8. Ausanasa-; 9. Vdruna-; 10. Kalikd-; 11. Samba-; 12. Nandi-; 13. Saura- ; 14. Pardsara- ; 15. Aditya- ; 16. Maheswara-; 17. Bhagavata- (probably, however, a misreading for Bhdrgava) ; and 18. Vdsish- tha-Vpapurdna. Another list, differing from the lat- ter, not in the number, but in the names of the Upa- puranas, is likewise given in Prof. Wilson's preface to the Vishnu -Purana. Many of these Upapuranas are, apparently, no longer procurable, while other works so called, but not included in either list, are sometimes met with ; for instance, a Mudgala- and Ganesa-Upa- purdna. The character of the Upapuranas is, like that of the Puranas, sectarian; the Siva- Upapurdna, for in- stance, inculcates the worship of Siva, the Kdlika-l'pa- purdna that of Durga or Devi.
Both Puranas and Upapuranas are for a considerable portion of their contents largely indebted to the two great epic works, the Mahabhdrata (q. v.) and Rama- yana (q. v.), more especially to the former of them. Of the Puranas, the original text of three has already appeared in print: that of the Bhagavata. in several native editions, published at Bombay, with the com- mentary of Sridharaswamin, and partly in a Paris edi- tion by Eugene Burnouf, which remained incomplete through the premature death of that distinguished scholar; that of the Markandeya-Purdna, edited at Calcutta in the Bibliotheca Indica, by the Rev. K. M. Banerjea; and that of the Linga- Purdna, edited at Bombay ; for, regarding a fourth, the Garuda-I'tird- na, edited at Benares and Bombay, it seems doubtful whether that little work is the same as the Purana spoken of in the native list. Besides these, small por- tions from the Padma, Skanda, Bhavishyottara. Mar- kandeya, and other Puranas have been published in India and Europe. Of translations, we have only to name the excellent French translation by Burnouf of the first nine books of the Bhagavata, and the elegant translation of the whole Vishnu-Pur una, together with valuable notes, by the late Prof. II. II. Wilson, which is now in course of republication in his Works, in a new edition, amplified with numerous notes, by Prof. F. E. Hall. — Chambers's Cyclop, s. v. For general informa- tion on the character and contents of the Puranas, see especially Wilson's preface to his translation of the Vishnu-Purdna ( Works, vol. vi, Lond. 1864) ; Burnouf's preface to his edition of the Bhagavata (Paris, 1840) ; Wilson, Analysis of the Purdnas (Works, vol. iii, Lond. 1864, edited by Prof. R. Post); Banerjea, Introduction to the Markandeya (Calcutta, 1862) ; and Muir, Original Sanscrit Texts on the Origin and History of the People of India (Lond. 1858-1863), vols, i-iv ; Hardwick, Christ urn! nth, r Masters (see Index in vol. ii); Mliller, Chips, ii, 3, 75, 316 ; Clarke, Ten Great Religions (see Index).
Purasa was, according to the Indian mythology, the first man — the father of the human race ; his wife, the first woman, Prakrit i. gave birth to the ancestors of the Indian castes. — Vollmer, Wdrierb. d. Mythol. s. v.
Purcell, Henry, an English composer of great note, celebrated especially as the author of church music, was born at Westminster hi 1658. He was the son of a musician attached to the chapel of Charles II. At the age of six, having lost his father, he was admit- ted into the choir of boys at the royal chapel. His masters were Cooke, Pellham, Humphrey, and Dr. Blow. He was remarkable for precocity of talent; but, what was better, he seconded the liberality of nature by his zeal and diligence. His progress was so rapid that, while still a member of the choir, he produced several anthems of his own composition, which were eagerly sought for almost as soon as written ; and at eighteen he received the fullest recognition of his ability, by be- ing chosen organist of Westminster Abbey (1676) to succeed Dr. Christopher Gibbons. In 1682, Purcell was given the place of organist of the royal chapel, and this position he held until his death, in 1695. Purcell is the
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first English composer who introduced the use of various instruments in the church to support the voice, -which, until then, the organ had alone accompanied. The orig- inal character of his music, the variety of its forms, the majesty of style which governs all his works— principal- ly J,,- /, ihiim and his Jubilate — extended the renown of Parcel] throughout Great Britain. Although English writers are extravagant in t In ir eulogies in comparing Purcell to Scarlati and to Keiser,ye1 he is doubtless the greatest composer England has produced. He has treated of all kinds of music, and upon all has impressed the seal of his greatness. < >ne is astonished at the great fruit- fulness of li is genius, when it is considered how young he died, li is said of Purcell thai "his anthems fat ex- ceed in number those of any other composer, and would alone have furnished sufficient employment for a mod- erately active mind and a life of average duration." Ii is to be regretted, however, that his ambition was hound- less. He attempted dramatic music, for which the vividness of his imagination and the fertility of his in- vention remarkably fitted him; bul he had been reared in the midst of religious influences, and if confined to ecclesiastical music would have stood out as its cura- tor and propagator in the modern Church. His efforts in several directions weakened any one line he under- took to cover, and he tailed to attain that perfection which alone entitles to enduring greatness. His own countrymen so greatly revered his memory that they buried him in the mausoleum of their greatest. He rests in the north transept of Westminster Abbey. His epitaph was composed by Dryden. Apart of the music written for the theatre has been published in the collec- tion of Airs composed for the Theatre and on otherOcca- sions, by Henry Purcell (Lond. 1697). All his sacred works, which have retained their place to the present day, and include fifty anthems, besides the 'i< Deum and Jubilate, with orchestral accompaniments, a com- plete service, and a number of hymns and psalms, have been collected by M. Vincent Novello, who has published them in seventy-two numbers, under the title of Pur- cell's Sacred Music (Lond. 1826-36). This publication is preceded by a notice of the life and works of the composer and his portrait. Sec Ambros, Gesch. der Musik | Leips. 1878, 8vo), vol. iv.