Brahma Khanda

by Sage Vyasa (traditional attribution; narrated across nested frame-dialogues within each sub-book)

114 chapters · 9,991 shlokas

The Brahma Khanda opens with the Setu Khanda, the mahatmya of Rameshvaram and the bridge (Setu) Rama built to Lanka — a catalogue of the tirthas along its length, each with its own story of sin and absolution: Ashvatthama's purification after his night-slaughter of the sleeping Pandava camp, Paravasu's release from killing his own father, and a cycle of stories about a jackal and a monkey working out the karma of a past life together. The Dharmaranya Khanda follows: the founding of a forest sanctuary near the western coast in answer to Yudhishthira's own questions about dharma, widening into an extended manual of daily righteous conduct — purification, the five domestic sacrifices, the eight forms of marriage, and the gotra lineages and their presiding goddesses — interwoven with narrative interludes on right and wrong action. The khanda closes with the Brahmottara Khanda, a shorter capstone book whose own subject, fittingly, is the glory of hearing the Purana itself — the fruit of Purana-recitation, closing not only this khanda but pointing toward the devotional purpose of the entire eighteen-book corpus.

Chapters

1The Fruits of Approaching the Setu107 v 2The Building of the Bridge114 v 3The Origin of Chakratirtha116 v 4The Tale of Durdama and the Cleft of Chakratirtha64 v 5The Story of Vidhuma and the Birth of Udayana168 v 6The Origin of the Goddess and the War with Mahishasura77 v 7The Slaying of Mahishasura and the Naming of Devipattana74 v 8The Origin of Vetalavarada95 v 9The Deeds of Ashokadatta and the Freeing of the Vetala Prince91 v 10The Glory of Papavinashana Tirtha100 v 11The Glory of Sitasaras and the Freeing of Indra76 v 12The Glory of Mangala Tirtha and King Manojava119 v 13The Glory of Amritavapika and Ekantaramanatha54 v 14The Glory of Brahma-kunda and Brahma's Release from the Curse65 v 15The Glory of Hanuman-kunda and the Boon of a Hundred Sons73 v 16The Glory of Agastya-tirtha and the Quest for Kakshivan's Marriage100 v 17The Fulfillment of Kakshivan's Marriage60 v 18The Glory of Rama-tirtha and the Atonement for Yudhishthira's Falsehood122 v 19The Glory of Lakshmana-tirtha and Balabhadra's Release from Brahminicide77 v 20The Glory of Jata-tirtha and the Purification of Shuka's Mind52 v 21The Glory of Lakshmi-tirtha and Yudhishthira's Attainment of Boundless Prosperity64 v 22The Glory of Agni-tirtha and Release from the Curse of Dishonest Trade117 v 23The Glory of Chakra-tirtha and the Boon of Golden Hands from Surya63 v 24The Glory of Shiva-tirtha and Bhairava's Release from Brahminicide71 v 25The Glory of Shankha-tirtha and the Atonement of Vatsanabha's Ingratitude63 v 26The Glory of Yamuna-Ganga-Gaya and Janashruti's Attainment of Knowledge116 v 27The Glory of Koti-Tirtha and Krishna's Atonement104 v 28The Glory of Sadhyamrita and Pururavas's Deliverance96 v 29The Glory of Sarva-Tirtha, Where All Tirthas Meet51 v 30The Glory of Dhanushkoti133 v 31Ashvatthama's Absolution at Dhanushkoti132 v 32Dharmagupta's Deliverance from Madness65 v 33Paravasu's Absolution from Brahmahatya83 v 34The Jackal and the Monkey: Sumati's Deliverance Foretold83 v 35The Liberation of the Jackal and the Monkey74 v 36The Purification of Durachara's Sin of Evil Association219 v 37The Origin of Kshirakunda63 v 38The Deceit of Kadru and its Atonement149 v 39The Release of Rambha and Ghritachi from their Curse69 v 40The Presence of Gayatri and Sarasvati at Gandhamadana61 v 41The Atonement of Kashyapa's Sin113 v 42The Glory of the Tirthas Beginning with Rinamochana63 v 43The Praise of Ramanatha142 v 44The Establishment of the Ramanatha Linga121 v 45Ramachandra's Teaching of the Knowledge of Truth90 v 46The Cause of the Ramanatha Linga's Establishment80 v 47The Cause of Rama's Sin of Brahmin-Slaying66 v 48King Shankara's Atonement for the Sin of Slaying a Woman and a Brahmin136 v 49The Hymn to Ramanatha, Spoken by Rama and the Others100 v 50The Story of King Punyanidhi and the Glory of Setumadhava117 v 51The Order and Rites of the Pilgrimage to the Setu80 v 52The Full Glory of the Setu, and the Closing of the Setu Mahatmya50 v 53Yudhishthira's Questions123 v 54The Glory of Dharmaranya29 v 55Dharma's Austerities Disturbed87 v 56The Boon of Dharmeshvara108 v 57The Description of Right Conduct145 v 58The Marks of Right Conduct104 v 59The Description of Righteous Conduct100 v 60The Meeting with Vishnu59 v 61The Account of the Gotras, Pravaras, and Gotra-Goddesses121 v 62The Marriage of the Merchant Attendants60 v 63The Slaying of the Demon Lolajihva and the Establishment of Satyamandira31 v 64The Establishment of Ganesha39 v 65The Glory of Bakularka85 v 66The Loss of Vishnu's Head61 v 67The Tale of Hayagriva82 v 68The Establishment of Ananda30 v 69The Greatness of Shrimata38 v 70The Tale of Matangi and Karnataka179 v 71The Glory of Indreshvara and Jayanteshvara38 v 72The Description of Dharakshetra47 v 73The Family Goddesses, Gotras, and Pravaras21 v 74The Establishment of the Guardian Goddesses21 v 75The Tale of Lohasura51 v 76The Power of Dharmaranya's Glory14 v 77The Glory of Saraswati16 v 78The Glory of Dwarka15 v 79The Tale of King Balahaka53 v 80A Brief Account of the Tirtha's Glory15 v 81The Completion of Lohasura's Glory78 v 82The Story of Rama's Life107 v 83The Sending of the Envoys84 v 84The Founding of Satyamandira65 v 85Rama's Return to the City57 v 86Rama's Charter to the Brahmins60 v 87Rama and Rudra's Restoration of Dharmaranya65 v 88The Meeting with Hanuman203 v 89The Brahmins' Return74 v 90The Brahmins Regain Their Charter94 v 91The Roll of Villages, Gotras and Pravaras328 v 92The Ordinances of the Community and the Glory of Hearing Dharmaranya80 v 93The Glory of the Five-Syllabled Mantra71 v 94The Glory of Gokarna140 v 95The Chandala Woman's Liberation at Gokarna162 v 96The Glory of Chaturdashi51 v 97The Story of the Cowherd Boy82 v 98The Glory of Pradosha80 v 99The Rite of Pradosha Worship and the Story of Dharmagupta162 v 100The Glory of the Monday Vow: Chandrangada and Simantini177 v 101The Power of Shiva's Devotees93 v 102The Revival of Bhadrayu by Rishabha the Yogi95 v 103Rishabha's Teaching to Bhadrayu65 v 104The Shiva Armor43 v 105The War with Magadha and Bhadrayu's Marriage86 v 106Shiva's Grace upon Bhadrayu76 v 107The Glory of Sacred Ash70 v 108The Glory of the Tripundra80 v 109Faith and the Hunter's Devotion60 v 110The Uma-Maheshvara Vow: Sharada's Story80 v 111The Fulfillment of Sharada's Vow100 v 112The Glory of the Rudraksha90 v 113The Glory of the Rudradhyaya87 v 114The Glory of Hearing the Purana136 v

Why it matters today

The Setu Khanda's identification of Rameshvaram with the Rama-Setu remains directly tied to one of India's most visited pilgrimage and temple sites today (Ramanathaswamy Temple), and the Dharmaranya Khanda's gotra-and-pravara material still underlies the lineage identifications used in Hindu ritual practice across much of western and southern India.