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Sholkas 45-50 in the 2nd Adhyaya of Sambhav Khand which is part of Shiv Rahasya Khand of Sankara Samhita of Skanda MahaPurana, plainly state that the 10 Shaiva Puranas are Sattavik and 4 Vishnu Puranas are Tamasic.

दशशैव पुराणानि सात्विकानि विदुर्भुदः

वैष्णवानि च चत्वारि तामसानि मुनिश्वरः।

Moreover it seems Shiva Puranas are for Brahmins only but Vaishnava Puranas are not. The full verses are below:

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This is for purely unbiased debate about Hindu scripture, not to put anyone down.

Are these considered spiritually harmful for Brahmins or lead to hell?

R. Kaushik
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  • I'm pretty sure Tamasic has nothing to do with validity as all scriptures are supposed to be valid and true. Tamasic probably has to do with how helpful/descriptive the scripture is. For example Tamasic scriptures will often call Vishnu's avatars Vishnu without warning or context to determine which one it is, thus making them less helpful/detailed, but no less true. Brahmanas can use whatever scripture they want. – Aupakarana Abhibhaa May 20 '21 at 21:46
  • First of all,the Skanda Purana itself contradicts this. Skanda Purana 7.1.2.87-88 say सात्विकेषु च कल्पेषु माहात्म्यमधिकं हरेः ॥ राजसेषु च माहात्म्यमधिकं ब्रह्मणो विदुः ॥ तद्वदग्रे च माहात्म्यं तामसेषु शिवस्य हि ॥ In the Sāttvika Kalpas the greatness of Hari is supreme. They know that the greatness of Brahmā reigns supreme in the Rājasa Kalpas. Similarly the greatness of Śiva is to be found in the Tāmasa Kalpas. This verse is in perfect sync with many of the puranas that say Vaishnava Puranas are Sāttvika by nature. Even Kūrma Purana(2.45.51-52) and Matsya Purana say the same thing exactly. Kū – Mahesh Jul 17 '21 at 12:59

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In the same chapter of the Skandha Purana (Sankara Samhita Chapter 2) look at the verse no 33 and 34 which gives name of 4 Vaishnava Puranas (as per that chapter):

विष्णोर्हि वैष्णवं तद्वत् तथा भागवतं तथा।
नारदीय पुराणं च गारुडं वैष्णवं विदु:।। 34

Vishnu Purana, Bhagavata Purana, Narada Purana and Garuda Purana; these (four) are known as Vaishnava Puranas.

After some verses the same chapter says that 10 Shaiva Puranas are for the Brahamanas and are Satvik Purana and these 4 Vaishnava Puranas are Tamasic and are for Kshatriyas:

दश चैव पुराणानि सात्विकानि विदुर्बुधा।

ब्रुवत्येव पुराणानि ब्राह्मणानां कथा: शुभा:।

दश चैव पुराणानि हिंसा दोष पराङ्मुखम्।

वैष्णवानि च चत्वारि तामसानि मुनीश्वराः।

क्षत्रियाणां श्रुता धर्मा: तेषु तद्देवता हरि:।। 49

These ten Shaiva Puranas are known to be as Satvik Puranas. These Puranas with auspicious stories are for the Brahamanas. These ten Shaiva Puranas are beyond doshas like Himsa. Know these Four Vaishnava Puranas as Tamasic. They are for Kshatriyas and Devata is Hari in them.

Various Puranas give their own classification of Satvik, Rajasik and Tamasic Puranas Like:

Tezz
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  • Thank you for answering – R. Kaushik May 18 '21 at 18:20
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    Can you please answer this question!?? https://hinduism.stackexchange.com/questions/40985/which-are-the-10-mahapuranas-dedicated-to-shiva-according-to-skanda-mahapurana – R. Kaushik May 18 '21 at 19:49
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    But this answer just says these four are Vaishnava based puraňas. Where does it say they're tamasic and Unfit for Brahmins? If there's no such mention of Vaishanava puraňas being Tamasic, then maybe Tezz you can mention that too in your answer itself, or the question must be edited with the tamasic part removed. – Vivikta May 19 '21 at 02:57
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    @Vivikta Okay I have added those parts as you told... – Tezz May 19 '21 at 04:54
  • Can you please add that this is your own translation and not from any real source? – R. Kaushik May 19 '21 at 06:15
  • R. Kaushik are you implying that the translations provided by Tezz are his only and thus are wrong? – Vivikta May 19 '21 at 10:28
  • Yes they are his only as far as I know. Answer is correct but sentence structure could be wrong (based on previous mistranslation). – R. Kaushik May 19 '21 at 10:34
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    Here we have an example of a verse from the Skanda Purana which claims Bhagavata Purana is a Vaishnava Purana: "Vishnu Purana, Bhagavata Purana, Narada Purana and Garuda Purana; these (four) are known as Vaishnava Puranas." Some people believe that the name "Bhagavata" refer to a Shakta scripture Devi Bhagavata Purana and thus that Bhagavata Purana, ie Srimad Bhagavatam, is not a real Purana but is a fake Vaishnava Purana. ... – brahma jijnasa May 25 '21 at 23:59
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    ... How much that view is nonsense is seen from this verse which claims that the Bhagavata Purana is a Vaishnava Purana. So this verse is an evidence from the non-Vaishnava source, a typical Shaiva text, namely Skanda Purana, that Bhagavata Purana also known as Srimad Bhagavatam is real Purana, and that it is a Vaishnava Purana. – brahma jijnasa May 25 '21 at 23:59
  • Which puranas for shudras – Pasham Vishnu Vardhan Goud Aug 28 '22 at 18:04
  • What category do the remaining 4 Purāṇas fall in? – Bingming Nov 08 '23 at 20:00