Bhagavata Purana Research Articles

Yoga and yoginis in the second part of the Bhagavata Purana

Yoga and yoginis in the second part of the Bhagavata Purana

The Srimad Bhagavata Purana Book X: A Lesson in the Beauty of the Midnight Sky

The Srimad Bhagavata Purana Book X: A Lesson in the Beauty of the Midnight Sky

Ecological Consciousness in Puranas: A Comprehensive Review

This article explores the ecological consciousness ingrained in the Puranas, a category of ancient Indian literature, and examines its significance in the present-day context. The Puranas depict nature as divine, personifying elements like rivers and mountains, fostering a profound spiritual and ecological perspective. The concept of "Nature as Divine" is explored in the Padma Purana and Matsya Purana, emphasizing the interconnected web of life and encouraging reverence for the environment. Conservation ethics and sustainable living practices are evident in narratives from the Bhagavata Purana, Brahma Purana, Padma Purana, and Matsya Purana. These texts advocate for responsible stewardship of natural resources, aligning human existence with cosmic rhythms and promoting a harmonious relationship between humanity and the environment. The article highlights the theme of "Cosmological Harmony" in Hindu cosmology, emphasizing the interconnectedness of cosmic elements and divine forces to maintain balance. It also discusses environmental crises depicted in certain Puranas, cautioning against ecological imbalance and advocating responsible stewardship. Rituals and eco-friendly practices, such as yajnas and vratas, are explored as indirect suggestions for sustainable living. The Puranas also promote animal welfare and ahimsa, with examples from the Vishnu Purana and other texts emphasizing compassion towards all living beings.While acknowledging the contemporary relevance of Puranic wisdom, the article discusses challenges in interpreting and applying these teachings in the modern world. Balancing literal and symbolic interpretations, addressing societal changes, preventing cultural appropriation, and reconciling scientific knowledge with religious beliefs pose challenges. Despite these hurdles, the ongoing relevance of the Puranas lies in their ability to offer guidance and inspiration for sustainable living and responsible environmental stewardship in the face of current environmental challenges.

An Assessment on the Feasibility of Describing a Revised Theory of Space and Time Based on the Bhagavata Purana

An Assessment on the Feasibility of Describing a Revised Theory of Space and Time Based on the Bhagavata Purana

Строфа-прославление Будды из первой песни «Бхагавата-пураны»

This article is devoted to the study of the image of the Buddha, manifested in the pages of perhaps the most influential Purana, namely, the Bhagavata Purana, or sim­ply the Bhagavata. The study of this image will allow us to see the points of possible mutual understanding and interaction between Buddhists and Vishnuites (Vaish­navas). This study is limited to the analysis of the first stanza in the Bhagavata Pu­rana that glorifies the Buddha. This stanza is analyzed by various medieval and mod­ern Indian commentators (Sridhara, Madhva, Vallabha, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, Bhaktiprajnana Kesava, Bhaktivedanta). As a result of the analysis of the text, it was revealed that the first stanza-the glorification of the Buddha from the Bhagavata Pu­rana-has at least four readings, each of which offers variations around the name of the father (or mother) The Buddhas. Bhaktiprajnana’s suggestion of two different Bud­dhas, Shakyamuni Buddha and avatara Buddha, who preached at different times, is remarkably interesting, but not obvious. The place of the appearance of the Buddha, indicated in the Bhagavata Purana – Bodh-Gaya, does not coincide with the birth­place of Shakyamuni Buddha, but coincides with the place of his Enlightenment.

Co(s)mic Vision

The Bhagavata Purana (BhP) is a popular sacred Sanskrit text characterized by its devotion for Krsna and the many narratives concerning him and his incarnations. These narratives have an edifying quality. A great number of them bring their point across through the use of humour. Though the comic tradition of India has been covered by scholars, such studies primarily discuss the performing arts. I argue that there is a strong presence of humour in the BhP, and that this humour communicates a playful attitude which has a prominent place in the overall religiosity of the BhP, thus communicating a worldview I term the co(s)mic vision. This study contributes to the discussion on the ludic dimensions of religious traditions and indicates how religious discourse is established through the entertaining and edifying effects of humour. Narrative is used as an entertaining alternative to religious instruction as exhortation, theological assertion, or propositional excursuses.

Awakening the Serpent King: Ritual and Textual Ontologies in Garhwal, Uttarakhand

Abstract In the north Indian state of Uttarakhand, the god Nagaraja, associated with the pan--Indian god Krishna, is an extremely popular deity. However, there exist key disjunctures in how Nagaraja is known, experienced and worshiped in the north Indian state of Uttarakhand by jāgar performers—low--caste ritual specialists, storytellers, and musicians—on the one hand, and high--caste temple priests, on the other. Temple priests were generally dismissive of the practices of the jāgar performers, often re--directing my interest in regional narratives of Nagaraja to the Sanskrit--language Bhagavadgita and Bhagavata Purana (the Gita--Bhagavat), which they saw as authoritative and ‘original' sources of oral and vernacular traditions. This interpretation, however, was highly contested by jāgar performers who articulated a non--essentialist, ritually efficacious, rhetorical, oral and vernacular ‘textual ontology.' Jāgar performers not only critiqued Brahminical notions of textual purity and essentialism but also assumptions within the academic study of Hinduism about the relationship between vernacular religious practices and textual Hinduism, or the so--called Great and Little traditions of Hinduism. By ‘textual ontology,' I describe how different relations to textual authority and knowledge in turn reveal distinctive ways of creating, knowing, and interacting with deities and the world. In challenging priestly and western scholarly notions of text, this article offers a radically different view of textual production, transmission, and authority.

Representation of The Child In Modern Indian Novels: A Comparative Study of Bibhutibhusan Bandopadhyaya’s Pather Panchali and Krishna Baldev Vaid’s Uska Bachpan

The representation of the child in art has a long history. Great importance is attached to the child in the indigenous literary traditions of India. The antics of Krishna , the ‘balgopal’ are represented vividly in the Bhagavata Purana and the Mahabharath. Likewise, the adventures of the child Rama are sketched in great detail in another epic Ramayana. An array of Indian writers have made the child the protagonist in their novels ; Manu Bhandari’s Aap ka Bunty, Ganeswar Misra’s Face of the Morning, R.K. Narayanan’s Swami & Friends, Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, and Amitav Ghosh’s Shadow Lines are some typical examples. This paper attempts to make a comparative study of the portrayal of the child in two modern Indian novels namely Bibhutibhusan Bandopadhyaya’s Pather Panchali and Krishna Baldev Vaid’s Uska Bachpan. 

NILAI-NILAI DALAM RITUAL BASARAH

Devotion to God is a necessity for every religious person.Hindus explain the teachings of Bhakti in the Bhagavata Purana known as Navavida Bhakti.The actualization of devotional service in Hinduism has diversity but is essentially the same. Therefore, there are differences in the practice of devotional service for Hindus in various regions.This happened to Hinduism in Central Kalimantan (Hindu Kaharingan).This paper describes four important things related to the implementation of the Basarah for Hindu Kaharingan in Central Kalimantan. The four things are basarah philosophy, the procedure of basarah, sajen basarah, and the values ​ ​ contained in the implementation of basarah.

The Bhagavata Purana: Selected Readings, by Ravi M. Gupta and Kenneth R. Valpey

The Bhagavata Purana: Selected Readings, by Ravi M. Gupta and Kenneth R. Valpey. New York: Columbia University Press, 2016. xx + 303 pp., $105/£81 (hb), $35/£27 (pb), $34.99/£27 (ebook). ISBN 978-0-23116-900-4 (hb), 978-0-23116-901-1 (pb), 978-0-23154-234-0 (ebook).

Ancient Indian epics: essence and existence

Статья посвящена исследованию вопроса о месте эпоса в социальной памяти на примере индийского общества. Актуальность темы обусловлена как теоретически, так и практически. Теоретический аспект заключается в эпистемическом измерении нарративов, что в них отражает действительность, а что есть результат коллективного творчества? Практический аспект актуальности связан с потребностью осмысления новых мифов в условиях глобальной конкуренции и когнитивизма, когда граница между фейком и фактом пронизана нитями нарративизма.В условиях глобализации мы имеем беспрецедентные возможности изучать мировые эпосы и их влияние на динамику культур, определить внутренние институциональные и структурные условия, обусловливающие социально-политическую роль эпоса в развитии цивилизаций; установить решающие факторы модернизации мифа; наметить главные направления его трансформации в эпохе модерна.Цель работы – провести ценностно-смысловой анализ древнеиндийского эпоса. Задачи работы: 1) определить место эпоса в древнеиндийской литературе, 2) предложить классификацию индийского эпоса с точки зрения эстетического отношения к миру, 3) дать характеристику эстетических нарративов.Предмет исследования: рассматривается семиосфера индийских эпических произведений. Методы исследования: общелогические, общенаучные (структурный, системный и генетический виды анализа) и частнонаучные (герменевтический, частотный).Результаты: индийский эпос представлен как ценностно-смысловой эстезис, эволюция эстетического отношения, трансцендирование прагматического и гностического. Эстетизация эпического массива объясняется реакцией на рутинизацию текстов, потерю их онтопоэтической значимости.Новизна статьи определяется следующими ракурсами: 1) выделяется особый эстетический тип мифотворчества, 2) акцентирование значение Бхагавата пураны, 2) ставится вопрос о различном этосе и эстезисе ритуальных, гностических текстов и эпический нарраций. Перспективы исследования: изучение социокультурной инноватики эпических текстов Индии, их участия в современной социокультурной динамике, влияние на ноосферные процессы глобального синтеза.Исследование индийского эпоса приурочено к выходу в 2018 г. на российские экраны грандиозного индийского телевизионного проекта 2015-2016 гг. «Сита и Рама», который включает в себя 304 серии и выполнен по мотивам древнеиндийского эпоса «Рамаяна». The paper is devoted to the study of the place of the epics in social memory on the example of Indian society. The relevance of the topic is determined both theoretically and practically. The theoretical aspect is the epistemic dimension of narratives: how do they correspond to the reality and what is there from creative imagination? The practical aspect of research is related to the need to comprehend new myths in the conditions of global competition and cognitivism, when the border between fake and fact is marked with the fine line of narrativity.In the midst of globalization, we have unprecedented opportunities to study the world epics and their influence on the dynamics of cultures, determine their internal institutional and structural conditions that influence the socio-political role of the epic in the development of civilizations; to fix the decisive factors in the modernization of myth; to outline the main directions of its transformation in the era of modernity.The purpose of the work is to conduct a value-semantic analysis of the ancient Indian epic. The tasks of the work are: 1) to determine the place of the epic in the ancient Indian literature, 2) to propose the classification of the Indian epic from the point of view of the aesthetic attitude to the world, and 3) to characterize the aesthetic narratives.The subject of the study: the semiosphere of ancient Indian epics. Research methods: structural, systemic and genetic types of analysis and philosophical hermeneutic.Results: The Indian epic is presented as a value-semantic aesthesis, the evolution of the aesthetic attitude, the transcendence of the pragmatic and the Gnostic. The aesthetic dynamics of the epics is explained by the reaction to the routinization of texts, the loss of their ontopoietic significance.The novelty of the article is determined by the following perspectives: 1) a special aesthetic type of myth-making is singled out, 2) the emphasis of the aesthetic meaning of the Bhagavata Purana is stressed, 2) the question is raised about the different ethos and aiesthesis of ritual, Gnostic texts and epic narrations. Prospects for the study: the study of socio-cultural innovation of India's epic texts, their participation in modern socio-cultural dynamics, the impact of Indian narratives on the noospheric processes of global cultural synthesis.The study of the Indian epic is timed to coincide with the launch in 2018 on Russian screens of the grand Indian television project 2015-2016 “Sita and Rama”, which includes 304 series and is based on the ancient Indian epic “Ramayana”.

Advanced astronomy in Bhagavata Purana: the role of the Sun and a tale from 108

Advanced astronomy in Bhagavata Purana: the role of the Sun and a tale from 108

The concept of Liberation as treated in the Bhagavata Purana

The concept of Moks.a or liberation occupies the paramount position in the different branches of Indian philosophy as well as literature. Bha-gavata Puran.a mentions the concept of liberation is nothing but the realization of the real nature of the self and also the elimination of the false nature. The Bha-gavata Puran.a has mentioned all the paths for attaining liberation viz., the path of jn~a-nayoga, karmayoga, bhakti yoga etc. It also mentions he practices of the eightfold-yoga to attain liberation. Liberation is the eternal and indestructible status, free from all troubles including from birth and death cycle. It is the transcendental perfection of individual self which is not affected by any evil attributes. Moks.a is abiding in Brahman and that’s why it is the supreme perfection.

The Bhagavata Purana: Sacred Text and living Tradition, eds. Ravi Gupta and Kenneth Valpey

The Bhagavata Purana: Sacred Text and living Tradition, eds. Ravi Gupta and Kenneth Valpey. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013. xiii +279. ISBN 978-0-321-14998-3 (hb), 0978-0-231-14999-0 (pbk).

The Bhagavata Purana: sacred text and living tradition

PrefaceIntroduction. Churning the Ocean of L?l?: Themes for Bhagavata StudyPart One: The World of the Bh?gavata1. Reading: Pur??ic Trekking Along the Path of the Bh?gavatas2. Time and Narrative: A Ma??ala of Remembrance: The Bh?gavata Pur??a's Time-Transcending Narrative of L?l?3. Cosmology: Dialogues on Natural Theology: The Bh?gavata Pur??a's Cosmology as Religious Practice4. Ethics: May Calamities Befall Us at Every Step: The Bh?gavata's Response to the Problem of Evil5. Commentary: Vallabha, the Bh?gavata Pur??a, and the Path of Grace6. Sacred Geography: Vraja-Dh?man: Krishna Embodied in Geographic Place and Transcendent Space7. Theology: The R?sa L?l? of Krishna and the Gop?s: On the Bh?gavata's Vision of Boundless LovePart Two: The Bh?gavata in the World8. Boundaries: Heresies and Heretics in the Bh?gavata Pur??a9. Dance: Krishna Come Soon: Bharata Natyam and the Bh?gavata Pur??a on Stage10. Song: Two Braj Bh??? Versions of the R?sa L?l? Pa c?dhy?y? and Their Musical Performance in Vai??ava Worship11. Recitation:12. Text History: Modern Reception and Text Migration of the Bh?gavata Pur??aBibliographyList of ContributorsIndex

The curious case of Sudyumna: A tale of sex reversal from the Bhagavata Purana

Tracking endocrine disease in mythology especially one as old and diverse as Indian mythology is a challenge. A curious case of sex reversal in the bhagavata purana is described and hunches about the disorder of sexual differentiation that manifested itself in the hapless Sudyumna the son of Manu is attempted. 5 alpha reductase deficiency appears to be the closest candidate but some twists in the tale are required to fill in the gaps.

Palliative Health Care

An ancient story from Bhagavata Purana may be relevant to the psychology and spirituality of palliative care in modern medicine. This article brings an ancient Indian story that people still use during the grieving process. Symbolism of the old story is explained in a modern perspective.

God at Play: Seeing God Through the Lens of the Young Krishna

Abstract: This article begins with the absence of biblical stories about Jesus' youth. This lack means that typical boyhood characteristics, such as playfulness, are absent from a traditional Christian picture of the divine. Using the lens of stories told about Krishna's youth in the Bhagavata Purana, I suggest that Christians could learn from the Hindu idea of a “god at play,” as such a concept enhances a Christian understanding of who God has revealed Godself to be, and how Christians are called to be in relationship to God.

The Characteristics of Religious Thoughts and Rituals of Vaishnavismin Bhagavata Purana*

The Characteristics of Religious Thoughts and Rituals of Vaishnavismin Bhagavata Purana*

A Caitanya Vaisnava Response to the Nineteenth-century Bengal Renaissance Movement According to the Works of Bhaktivinoda Thakura

Bhaktivinoda Thakura (1838–1914) was both a Bhadraloka and a Caitanya Vaisnava reformer. Consequently, he played a unique role in the nineteenthcentury Bengal Renaissance movement. This paper first briefly analyses Western impact on nineteenth-century Bengal and the responses to it from the Bhadralokas and the traditionalists, in terms of their attitude to six points, namely 1) ethics/morality, 2) monotheism, 3) the Bhagavata Purana, 4) image worship, 5) the caste system, and 6) the status of women. Then the paper examines Bhaktivinoda’s unique contribution in relation to the above-mentioned six issues.