Vishnu Purana is one of the 18 major Puranas, and these text share many legends, likely influenced each other. The fifth chapter of the Vishnu Purana was likely influenced by the Mahabharata. Similarly, the verses on rites of passage and ashramas (stages) of life are likely drawn from the Dharmasutra literature. Rajendra Hazra, in 1940, assumed that Vishnu Purana is ancient and proposed that texts such as Apasthamba Dharmasutra borrowed text from it. Modern scholars such as Allan Dahlaquist disagree, however, and state that the borrowing may have been in the other direction, from Dharmasutras into the Purana.