The Bhagavata Purana (sometimes rendered as Bhagavad Purana, also known as the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, or simply Bhāgavatam) is one of the Puranas, a part of the literature of Hinduism. Its focus is on the bhakti movement in which Vishnu or Krishna is understood as Bhagavat (all-embracing God). Earlier parts of the work contain stories of some devotees and objects of their devotion, avataras of God. The last and most important part of the work (i.e., the tenth canto) is an elaboration of the traditional story of Krishna.

Significance

sarva-vedānta-sāram hi

śrī-bhāgavatam ishyate

tad-rasāmrita-triptasya

nānyatra syād ratih kvacit

"Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is accepted as the essence of all Vedic literature and Vedantic philosophy. Whoever tastes the transcendental mellow of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is never attracted to any other literature."

Bhagavata Purana is considered a natural commentary on the Vedanta-sutra and is used as a textual source for Vaishnava Theology and Gaudiya Vaishnava Theology. It is the most well known and loved of all of the Puranas.

Origin

Historical scholarship claims that the text was written in the ninth or tenth century CE as part of the development of the bhakti traditions. However, Hindu religious tradition dictates it as one of the first works of Vyasa written at the beginning of Kali Yuga (about c.3100 BCE).

Some argue the mentioning of the Vedic Sarasvati River, which dried

Contents

Introduction

The Bhagavata Purana is a narration of a conversation. King Parīkshit of India, who has been cursed to die in seven days by a Brahmin, decides to give up his kingly duties to learn about the goal of life. As he prepares for his impending death, the saint Shuka (Śukadeva Gosvāmī), who has been searching for a suitable disciple to whom he might impart his great knowledge, approaches the king and agrees to teach him. Their conversation goes on uninterrupted for seven days, during which the king does not eat, drink or sleep. During this time the saint explains that one's goal in life is understanding the supreme absolute truth defined as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna.

Incarnations of Vishnu

The Bhagavata Puran first adresses this Supreme Personality of Godhead in all of its glory:

His eyes are the generating centers of all kinds of forms, and they glitter and illuminate. His eyeballs are like the sun and the heavenly planets. His ears hear from all sides and are receptacles for all the Vedas, and His sense of hearing is the generating center of the sky and of all kinds of sound. Srimad-Bhagavatam, second canto, "The Cosmic Manifestation," part one, chapter 6:3 and 1:39, translated by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1972, pp. 59 and 275-276.

Mary Pat Fisher suggests that this is to emphasize the impossibility of understanding the cosmic conception of God. Therefore, the various incarnations of Vishnu are presented as something much eaiser to comprehend and adore. The Purana mentions the first Jain Tirthankara, Lord Rishabha, and includes the Lord Buddha (Buddhadev) as the ninth avatar of Vishnu, instead of Balarāma.

The Bhāgavatam describes the various līlās of twenty-five avatāras (incarnations) of Vishnu."" by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.

1. Catuhsana (four Kumāras)
2. Nārada Muni
3. Varāha (a boar)
4. Matsya (a fish)
5. Yajña
6. Nara-Nārāyana
7. Kapila
8. Dattatreya
9. Hayaśīrsha (also called Hayagrīva)
10. Hamsa (a swan)
11. Priśnigarbha
12. Rishabha
13. Prithu
14. Nrisimha
15. Kūrma
16. Dhanvantari
17. Mohinī
18. Vāmanadeva
19. Bhārgava (also called Paraśurāma)
20. Rāghavendra (also known as Sri Rama or Rāmachandra)
21. Vyāsa
22. Pralambāri Balarāma
23. Krishna
24. Buddha
25. Kalki

Of the

Krishna

The Bhagavata Purana speaks of Vishnu's incarnation as Krishna not as a wise teacher (as in the Bhagavad-Gita), but as a much-loved child raised by cowherds near Mathura on the Jumna River. The young Krisha enjoys earthly pleasures, such as theiving balls of butter or wandering through the forrest. He also endures episodes of carefree bravery protecting the town from demons. More importantly, however, he steals the hearts of the cowherd girls. Through his magical ways, he multiplies himself to give each the attention needed to allow her to be so much in love with Krishna that she feels at one with him and only desires to serve him. This love, represented by the grief they feel when Krishna is called away on a heroic mission and their intense longing for him, is presented as models of the way of extreme devotion to the Supreme Lord.(Fisher 94)

Translations

• Gita Press has a two volume English and Hindi translation (contains Sanskrit text and English translation).
• Kamala Subramanian has written a translation of this book in English.
• Swami Prabhupada, the founder of International Society for Krishna Consciousness has written a multi volume translation and purport of Bhagavata Purana and is available through ISKCON society across the globe. The 10th, 11th and 12th Cantos of this book are composed by his disciples.
• A telugu version of this Purana was rendered by the poet Pothana in the 15th century.
• A condensed Srimad Bhagavatam is available in Sanskrit composed by the great Melpathur Bhattatiri of Kerala.

See also

• Puranas
• Vishnu
• Krishna

Notes and references

Srimad Bhagavatam Bhagavata Purana