No credence can be given to Puraanas, because they contain matters beyond the realm of known natural phenomena, is the modern view.
That the Devas freely roamed the earth and granted boons to men, is dismissed as fantasy because such things do not happen today. “A woman was cursed and she turned into stone, the stone was blessed and it turned back into a woman - the sun was stopped in its diurnal orbit” - such incidents which are totally outside our capabilities lend support to the view that these incidents must indeed be fictitious and products of imagination.
That certain things do not happen today or cannot happen does not prove that such things could not have happened in the past or cannot happen in the future. Every great epic of the past bears ample testimony to the powers of Veda mantras - high penance and exalted Yogic discipline which was not uncommon in the past.
So long as these powers prevailed, it was possible for people of this world to easily draw on the supernatural resources. Just as where there is light, there is also darkness, the forces of evil represented by asuras and raakshasas also co-existed with the good influences. Even now, the conflict between good and bad - between devas and asuras - is in progress although not visible to the human eye. In those days, it was possible, due to powers derived from deep penance to actually see these good and evil forces.
Modern scientists say that all sound or light waves cannot be detected by the human eye or ear. Some scientists, who have reached higher levels, have done research in occult (super-worldly) science and have discovered the existence of heavenly bodies, both good and bad.
Even now there are quite a few yogis and siddhas (mystics). Their bodies are unaffected by exposure to extreme cold or heat. They cause rain to fall and even stop the falling rain. Thus, men with supernatural powers do exist. Only our belief is shaky. We suspect all things.

(Contd...)