Bhagavata Purana
| Hindu texts |
The Bhagavata Purana (sometimes rendered as Bhagavatha Purana), and also known as the Srimad Bhagavatam. It is one of the Hindu Puranas, and is part of the literature of the bhakti traditions of Hinduism. Earlier parts of the work contain stories of some of the devotees and the objects of their devotion in Hindu literature. The last and most important part of the work is an elaboration of the traditional story of Krishna.
According to some accounts it was written by Vyasa in about c.3100 BCE. However, others date it to the first millennium, as part of the development of the bhakti traditions.
The Bhagavata Purana is a narration of a conversation between two holy personalities from the Hindu tradition. King Pariksit 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 Sukadeva Goswami, 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 is 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 and defines the supreme personality of godhead.
The Purana mentions the first Jain Tirthankara, Rishabhadeva, and includes the Lord Buddha (Buddhadev) as the ninth avatar of Vishnu, instead of Balarama.
The Bhagavata describes the various lilas of twenty-five avatara of Vishnu[1].
1) Catursana 2) Narada Muni 3) Varaha 4) Matsya 5) Yajna 6) Nara Narayana 7) Kapila 8) Dattatreya 9) Hayasirsa 10) Hamsa 11) Prsnigarbha 12) Rsabha 13) Prthu 14) Nrsimha 15) Kurma 16) Dhanvantari 17) Mohini 18) Vamanadeva 19) Parasurama 20) Raghavendra 21) Vyasa 22) Balarama 23) Krishna 24) Buddha 25) Kalki
External Links
A popular English translation of this immense work was begun and mostly written by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, a teacher from a disciplic succession claimed to have descended from Krishna himself, and was completed by his disciples. It is available online at www.srimadbhagavatam.com.