The Age of the Purans.

Historians are not unanimous in defining the pre-historic classification of the antiquity of Southern Himalayan region. Many historians are content to place the Age of the Purans immediately after the Epic Age while some historians have attempted to group them together as the Early and Late Epic Age. I differ and I voice my opinion through this dissertation.

Even during the Age of the Purans the gods appear quite human for they are seen throughout this period active in the affairs of mankind. To the Kirats however, this age is the moment of reckoning for the gods appear to be happily disposed towards them, even though according to one of the Kirati legends they claim to have arrived in their homeland before the gods came. Traditionally the Kiratis claim they settled down in Kathmandu Valley in the 1500th year of Dwaper Age; in mythological reckoning the Ages are identified as Satya, Dwaper, Treta and Kali. Kali Age, the present age, followed Treta Age some 8000 years ago and with its end the created universe will once again roll back to the Beginning of the Cycle in Eternal Wheel of Life.

Swayambhu Puran

Of all the ancient Epics and the Purans that have ever been written, the Kiratis have held Swayambhu Puran to be the antediluvian of them all. According to it, Kathmandu Valley was once a pristine lake called Naag-Baas. It was a sacred lake and for aeons several Bodhisattwas and mortal Buddhas had from time to time circumambulated it before offering worship to Swayambhunath.

Tradition has it that Manju Sri arrived at the scene accompanied by his devotees and with one swift stroke of his sword slashed the mountain gorge through which the lake was drained out. Geologists agree that the fertile layers of alluvial soil of Kathmandu Valley could very well have been the sedimentary soil at the lake bed and have little doubt in entertaining this Kirati legend that if ever the very narrow gorge could be sealed the Valley would once again regain its primeval lake form. In this symbolic act of creation Manju Sri made Kathmandu Valley suitable for human habitation and the Kiratis became its first settlers.

Swayambhu Puran lays the foundation of the Buddha-Margi* belief system, that Adi Buddha or the Primordial Buddha, who is Swayambhu or Self-Existent God, is worshipped as Swayambhunath in Kathmandu in a pre-brahminic tradition. Adi Buddha and the Pancha Dhyani Buddhas or the Five Buddhas of Eternal Meditation have never left their heavenly abode, only the Mortal Buddhas come to live with mankind and guide them to the path of Nirwan. This account of the Buddha renders the Swayambhu Puran as well as the Temple that bears his name, their pre-brahminic status while confirming the Kirati's claim of their presence before the arrival of the gods.

On Manju Sri

Manju Sri, the Celestial Architect, having created land habitable for his people to settle down proceeded to erect the Swayambhnath Temple which, many of his followers believe is the same one still standing there today.

Its unique style of construction should demand attention; the temple edifice is a half globe representing the visible universe upon which sits a cube with its four sides facing the four cardinal directions each emblazoned with All-Seeing-Eyes of God. A pyramid consisting of thirteen tiers ending in a cupola is placed upon the cube; the thirteen tiers representing the thirteen heavens according to the Buddha-Margis* belief.

The Compassionate Buddha taught that all sentient beings who seek god with sincere devotion and faith must reach heaven of their own seeking. Accordingly, Manju Sri created the thirteen heavens for all the faithful seekers, irrespective of the attributes of the god they seek. In addition, he is acknowledged also as the creator of the earth and the nether-world.

Manju Sri is depicted in Nepalese iconography as one seated upon a lotus flower with his right arm holding a sword raised in anticipation of that strike to drain out River Bagmati which rendered Kathmandu Valley habitable to his people.

Such are the contents of the Swayambhu Puran and upon this basis the Kiratis assert their pre-brahminic existence and claim that their Puran predates the Hindu Epics.

*Followers of the Buddha.