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Brahmavaivarta Purana: Prakrti Khanda (Part II in 2 Volumes)

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Item Code: NAN252
Publisher: MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD.
Author: G. P. Bhatt
Language: English
Edition: 2017
ISBN: Part I: 9788120840317
Part II: 9788120840324
Pages: 474
Cover: Hardcover
Other Details 9.0 inch X 6.0 inch
Weight 870 gm
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Book Description
About the Book

Brahmavaivartapurana figures as the tenth in the traditional list of the Puranas. It is divided into four parts called khandas, comprising 267 chapters. The khandas are: Brahmakhanda: 30 chapters, Prakrtikhanda: 67 chapters, Ganapatikhanda: 46 chapters and Srikrsnajanmakhanda 133 chapters.

It is well known that the Brahmavaivarta is a Vaisnavite Purana and the sole objective of the work is to glorify the life and achievements of Sri Krsna, an incarnation of Visnu and his Sakti Radha. Many episodes and topics have been interwoven to embellish the main theme of the work. In this Purana, Krsna is not simply an incarnation, he is far superior to and even creator of Prakrti. He is God above all gods.

Part I, i.e., Brahmakhanda deals with the creation of the universe including the gods and animate and inanimate beings by Brahman, the creator God, who is, according to this Purana, none other than a manifestation of Krsna and acts under the guidance of the latter.

Part II, i.e., Prahrtikhanda deals with Prakrti, the primordial matter. According to this Purana, Prakrti is not inert as she is conceived by the Sankhya philosophy, but is intelligent; she is the primary goddess of creation. In compliance with Krsna’s desire, she is manifested as the five goddesses, viz., Durga, Radha, Laksmi, Sarasvati, and Savitri. Many stories about these deities have been narrated and rituals for their worship described in this part.

Part III, i.e., Ganapatikhanda narrates many legends about Ganesa, the elephant- headed god, widely worshipped throughout India and even outside. Though named Ganapatikhanda, this part deals with the birth and life of both sons of Siva, viz., Ganesa and Skanda Karttikeya. According to this Purana, Ganesa is also a manifestation of Krsna. Hence, there is no mention of Ganapatya sects who worshipped Ganesa as the Supreme Godhead. The variations in the images of this deity, found in literature and on icons find no mention in the Purana.

Part IV, i.e., Srikrsnajanmakhanda is the most important of all books of this Purana. It deals not only with the birth of Krsna, as signified by the title, but also his whole life, especially his battles and love dalliances with the cowherdesses (gopis), in particular, with Radha. Radha, who is not even mentioned in the major Vaisnava Puranas like Bhagavata, Visnu, and Harivamsa, has risen in this Purana, to a great importance. It is interesting to note that she is depicted here as a married wife of Krsna.

Introduction

It is believed that the study of the Puranas is beneficial to the knowledge of the vedas. As the Mahabharata states, the veda should be supplemented with the Itihasa and Purana, for the veda is afraid of being hurt by a person who is not well versed (in the mythological and traditional lore). The traditionalists take the word Purana to mean the Puranic texts like Matsya, Kurma, etc. and attach to them great authority and veneration. They hold that the Puranic texts are repositories of very ancient knowledge because they have been referred to in the Brhadaranyaka Upanisad. Modern Scholars dispute this claim and say that not the extant Puranic texts but some parts of the Vedas which preserve very old traditions, alluded to in other places of the vedas, are referred to in the. Brhadaranyaka Upanisad, as the Purana. They quote, in support of their thesis, Sankaracarya’s interpretation of the said passage of the Brhadaranyaka Upanisad: "Mythology, such as "The universe was in the beginning unmanifest etc."

It is true that the extant Purana texts are much posterior to the early Upanisads and, hence, could not have been referred to in the Brhadaranyaka Upanisad. But this position does not reduce the usefulness and authority of the puranas. The Purana is not a particular set of texts, it is a branch of ancient Indian learning, a class of ancient Indian literature. The nucleus of this branch of class existed in the body of the vedas, which gradually developed into the Puranasamhita and then into the present Mahapurana, Upapuranas, and later apocrypha. The authority of the Purana, as mentioned in the Mahabharata, is vested in this whole class. In this way, we can reconcile the interpretation of Sankaracarya with the classical five characteristics of the Puranas, e.g. primary creation (sarga), dissolution (pratisarga), genealogy (vamsa), ages of Manus (manvantara) and history of Royal dynasties and some illustrious personages (vamsanucarita).

There is no controversy about Brahmavaivartapuranas being a major Purana (Mahapurana).

The Brahmavaivartapurana figures as the tenth in the traditional lists of the Puranas.

The Brahmavaivartapurana is divided into four parts called khandas, comprising 267 chapters. The khandas are: Brahmakhanda: 30 chapters, Prakrtikhanda: 67 chapters, Ganapatikhanda: 46 chapters and Srikrsnajanmakhanda: 133 chapters.

The Matsya and Naradapurana describe the total number of verses of the Brahmavaivartapurana as 18,000. The Brahmavaivarta itself mentions the same number. But the actual counting of the verses of the Purana, now available, gives a total of little over 20,500 verses.

The Brahmavaivarta rejects the traditional five characteristics as covering the Upapuranas only and holds that ten topics are dealt with in a Mahapurana: they are primary creation (sristi), secondary creation (palana), stability of the creation (sthiti), protection (palana), desire for work (karmavasana), information about different Manus (moksa-varta), description of the final destruction of the world (pralaya-varta), showing’ the way to emancipation (moksa nirupana),discourses on Hari (Harikirtana), and discourses on other gods (devakirtana). The purpose of this substitution of list of topics in the Bhagavata and Brahmavaivarta has been discussed by Dr. R. C. Hazra and his opinion on this point deserves serious consideration.

A Complete table of contents (anukramanika) is included in the chapter 132 of the srikrsnajanmakhanda.

It is well known that the Brahmavaivarta is a Vaisnavite Purana and the sole objective of the work is to glorify the life achievements of Sri Krsna, an incarnation of Visnu and Sakti Radha. Many episodes and topics have been interwoven to embellish the main theme of the work. In this purana, Krsna is not simply an incarnation, he is far superior id even creator of Prakrti. He is God above all gods.

Part I, i.e., Brahmakhanda deals with the creation of the universe including the gods and animate and inanimate beings by Brahman, the creator God, who is, according to this Purana, e other than a manifestation of Krsna and acts under the guidance of the latter.

Part II, i.e., Prakrtikhanda deals with Prakrti, the primordial matter. According to this Purana, Prakrti is not inert as she is conceived by the Sankhya philosophy, but is intelligent; she is primary goddess of creation. In compliance with Krsna’s desire, she is manifested as the five goddesses, viz. Durga, Radha, Laksmi, Saraswati, and Savitri. Many stories about these deities have been narrated and rituals for their worship described in this part.

Part III, i.e., Ganapatikhanda narrates many legends about Ganesa, the elephant-headed god, widely worshipped throughout India and even outside. Though named Ganapatikhanda, this deals with the birth and life of both sons of Siva, viz. Ganesa and Skanda Karttikeya, According to this Purana, Ganesa is a manifestation of Krsna, Hence, there is no mention of Ganapatya sects who worshipped Ganesa as the Supreme head. The variations in the images of this deity, found in literature and on icons find no mention in the Purana.

Part IV, i.e., Srikrsnajanmakhanda is the most important of books of this Purana. It deals not only with the birth of a, as signified by the title, but also his whole life, especially battles and love dalliances with the cowherdesses (gopis), Particular, with Radha. Radha, who is not even mentioned the major Vaisnava Puranas like Bhagavata, Visnu, and Harivamsa has risen in this Purana, to a great importance, It is interesting to note that she is depicted here as a married wife of Krsna.

Authority of the Text

Much can be discussed about the authority of extant Brahmavaivartapurana. The authority of the Purana is apparently established, because it is mentioned in older texts Matsya, Narada, etc. But there exists a great discrepancy between the Brahmavaivarta as mentioned in the Matsya and Narada purana and the text that is available now. The Matsyapurana says that the story of the Brahmavaivarta has been narrated by Savarni to Narada, it includes the episode of Brahmavaraha, and it comprises 18,000 verses. But, we do not find even the name of Savarni in the Brahmavaivarta now extant, nor the episode of Brahmavaraha can be traced to it. It can, therefore, be inferred that the original form of the Purana has undergone a great change. It is also interesting to note that only 30 lines out of 1500, quoted from the Brahmavaivarta in medieval smrti-nibandhas, like Smrticandrika, Caturvargacintamani, Kalanirnaya, Smrtitattva, Varsakriyakaumudi, etc. can be traced to the extant text. It may, therefore, be presumed that a considerable part of the older text, containing genealogies, geographical descriptions, etc. has been purged and replaced by later compositions which suit the purpose of Vaisnava sects. This transformation has diminished the authority of the Purana to a great extent.

CONTENTS

Part I

 

  Publisher’s Note v
  Note of the General Editor vii
  Abbreviations xiii
  Introduction xvii
  Prakrti Khanda (Book-I)  
1 The Nature of Prakrti and Its Different Forms 1
2 The Description of the Origin of the Gods and Goddesses 15
3 The Creation of the Different Worlds 22
4 The Worship Of and Eulogy on Sarasvati 28
5 Eulogy on Goddess Vani Made by Yajnavalkya 36
6 Legend of Sarasvati 39
7 The Advent of Kaliyuga and the Manifestation of Visnu as Kalki 49
8 The Origin of the Earth and Eulogy on Her 58
9 Merits and Demerits of Making Gifts on Earth 64
10 The Narration about Ganga 67
11 The Legend of Ganga 82
12 The Legend of Ganga (Continued) 91
13 The Legend Relating To Tulasi 93
14 The Legend of Vedavati 98
15 The Legend of Tulasi 104
16 The Legend of Tulasi (Continued) 108
17 The Dalliance of Tulasi and Sankhacuda 122
18 The Dialogue between Siva and Sankhacuda 128
19 The Fight between Sankhacuda and the Gods 135
20 The Death of Sankhacuda 140
21 The Legend of Tulasi 143
22 Mode of Worship of Tulasi 152
23 The Legend of Savitri 156
24 The Birth of Savitri and the Story of Satyavan 163
25 The Dialogue between Savitri and Yama 166
26 The Fruits of the Actions 169
27 Fruits of Good Actions 175
28 The Eulogy of Yama by Savitri 185
29 Narration about Hells 187
30 The Description of the Sinners 189
31 Description of the Other Hells 205
32 Deeds Conveying One to Heaven 210
33 Description of the Pits in Yamaloka 212
34 The Description of Lord Krsna and the Revival of Satyavan 221
  Notes 229
 
Part II
 
  Publisher’s Note v
  Note of the General Editor vii
  Abbreviations xiii
  Introduction xvii
  Prakrti Khanda (Book-II)  
35 The Legend of Laksmi 235
36 Durvasas' Curse on Indra 238
37 The Fruits of One's Action 252
38 The Regain of Sri (Prosperity) 255
39 The Mode of Worship of Laksmi 261
40 The Episode of Svaha 268
41 The Episode of Svadha 273
42 The Episode of Daksina 277
43 Origin of Sasthidevi and Her Worship 284
44 The Episode of Mangala and. Her Eulogy 290
45 The Episode of Manasa 293
46 The Mode of Worship of Manasa and Eulogy on Her 294
47 The Episode of Surabhi 306
48 Origin of Radha and Her Adoration 309
49 The Curse of Sudama on Radha 313
50 The Story of King Suyajna 318
51 Instruction on Reward for Past Actions 321
52 The Fruits of Deeds of Ungrateful Persons 328
53 Instruction about Devotion to Lord Krsna 332
54 The Process of Creation, the Manus, the Worship of Radha and Suyajna attaining Goloka 336
55 The Mode of Worship of Radha and Her Eulogy 349
56 The Amulet Formula, etc., Relating to Radha 357
57 The Significance of the Names of Durga 363
58 The Warding off of the Blemishes of Tara and Candra 367
59 Brhaspati's Visit to Kailasa to Seek a Solution 375
60 The Means of Rescue of Tara Suggested by Sri Krsna 382
61 The Regain of Tara by Guru and the Birth of Budha 391
62 The-Perfection Gained by Suratha and the Vaisya 399
63 The Dialogue between Prakrti and the Vaisya 403
64 Mode of Worship of Prakrti and the Characteristics of the Sacrificial Animal 406
65 Instruction on Wisdom relating to the Time and Benefit of Worship 414
66 Eulogy on Durga 417
67 An Amulet called Brahmandamohana 420
  Notes 423

















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