Kapila Samhita

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The Puranas have been treated in India as encyclopedias for all people with regard to religious practices of Hindus in ancient and medieval India. Though some of the Puranas are of much earlier date, there are a few extant Puranic works of late origin shedding floods of light on the development of religious beliefs and practices of different regions. These are called sthalamahatmyas. The Kapil-Samhita is one such Sthalamahatmya depicting the glory of the four holy places of Orissa viz. Krsna-ksetra, the known Purusottama-ksetra at Puri, Arka-Ksetra, the famous place of sun-worship at Konark, Parvti-ksetra, the famous abode of Sakta-worship at Jajpur and the Haraksetra, the known abode of Lingaraja in the temple of Bhubaneswar as well as Kapilasa, the place of pilgrimage dedicated to Lord Siva in the Dhenkanal district. All these Ksetras have played significant roles in bringing a cultural synthesis in India in general and Orissa in particular.

About the Author

Dr. (Smt.) Pramila Mishra (B. 6th March, 1951), is at present working as a Reader and Head of the Department of Sanskrit in Govt. Women's college, Puri. After qualifying O.P.S.C. she has joined govt. service in 1976 as a lecturer and since then has served various Govt. Colleges of Orissa including K.K.S. Women's college, Balasore, Revenshaw College, Cuttack, B.J.B. College, Bhubaneswar and Dhenkanal Women's College, Dhenkanal. As a specialist in Puranic studies and classical Sanskrit literature she has contributed many research papers in her field of study.

PREFACE

Orissa, with her glorious part has witnessed the rise and upheaval of various cults merging in one another. She has definite contribution to make towards the study of the history of religious faith and movement of our country well known as the melting pot of various cults and civilizations. For the proper estimate of life, legend, culture and religion of Orissa in the past, the study of the various regional Puranic tests like Ekamra-Purana, Ekamra Candrika, Svarnadri-Mahodaya and Kapila-Samhita is a sine qua non.

Kapila-Samhita, a well known Puraanic text depicts the glory of the four holy places of Orissa viz. Krsna-ksetra, the known Purusottama-ksetra at Puri, Arka-Ksetra, the famous place of Sun temple at Konarka, Parvati-Ksetra, the famous abode of Lingaraja in the temple of Bhubaneswar as well as Kapilasa, the place of pilgrimage dedicated to Lord Siva in the Dhenkanal district. Although this text possesses some of the Puranic characteristics, it is neither included in the famous list of eighteen Purana highlighting the significance of the four ancient sacred sites of Orissa and is written by way of retelling the stories clustered around individual shrines and either surroundings. Kapila Samhita due to its unique nature of religious syncretism, departs itself from other individualized types of orissan work viz. Ekamra-Purana, Ekamra Candrika, Svarnadri-Mahodaya, Praci-Mahatmya, Arka-ksetra-Mahatmya and Viraja-Mahatmya etc.

This critical edition of Kapila-Samhita consisting of twenty-one chapters is based on six palm leaf manuscripts. Among them five manuscripts were procured from Orissa State Museum and the other one was procured from the Parija Library of Utkal University. Besides preliminaries and conclusion this work constitutes five chapters. The first chapter is devoted to a detailed sketch of the Critical apparatus where the source materials for the critical edition are described. While critically editing the text sufficient care has been taken to collate the Manuscripts following the basic principles of textual criticism. Suitable emendations are made barring some Puranic peculiarities, which must originally have come from the author. Besides the basic Manuscripts some other works either in print or in Manuscript from have been taken for consideration and these include testimonia.

The second chapter forms the main part of the thesis i.e. the reconstituted text and the third chapter is based on an English rendering of the edited text. The fourth chapter entitled 'The Title, Author and Date' describes the justification of the title while taking into consideration about the concept of Samhita, the Puranic nature of the work an the text as a Sthalapurana. It also depicts various issues regarding the authorship and the date of composition. Finally, the fifth chapter entitled "Analysis of the contents of the text" describes in detail the episodes, the divinities, sacred spots and the festivals connected with each of the four sacred places viz., Krsna-ksetra, Arka-ksetra, Parvati-ksetra and Hara-ksetra. All these ksetras have played significant roles in bringing a cultural synthesis in India in general and Orissa in particular. This work, no doubt is an humble attempt which sheds light on some of the unknown aspects of Orissan culture.