Are the Puranas fiction or a reservoir of living wisdom? This analysis explains how Puranic narratives operate beyond a literal-versus-fable dichotomy by integrating mythic memory, ethics, ritual rationale, and contemplative instruction. Drawing on Indian epistemology (pramāṇa), it clarifies how śabda (trustworthy testimony), anumāna (inference), and yogic pratyakṣa (direct insight) jointly ground a rational, testable faith.…