Brahma Vaivarta Purana Pdf English
Adele Strecker
The Brahmavaivarta Purana (Sanskrit: ब्रह्मवैवर्त पुरण; Brahmavaivarta Purāṇa) is a voluminous Sanskrit text and a major Purana (Maha-purana) of Hinduism.[1] It is an important Vaishnava text. This Purana majorly centers around the Hindu deities Radha and Krishna.[2][3][4]
Although a version may have existed in late 1st millennium CE, its extant version was likely composed in the Bengal region of Indian subcontinent in 15th-16th century.[1][2][3] Later, it was likely revised somewhere in South India.[2] Numerous versions of this Purana exist and are claimed to be the part of manuscripts of the Brahmavaivarta Purana or the Brahmakaivarta Purana.[5]
The text is notable for identifying Krishna as the supreme reality and asserting that all gods such as Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, Ganesha are one and the same and in fact, all are the incarnations of Krishna.[6] Goddesses like Radha, Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati and Savitri are asserted to be equivalent and are mentioned as the incarnations of Prakruti in this text, with legends similar to those found in the Devi-Bhagavata Purana and the Devi Mahatmya.[7] The text is also notable for glorifying the feminine aspect of god through Radha and its egalitarian views that all women are manifestations of the divine female, co-creators of the universe, and that any insult to a woman is an insult to goddess Radha.[2][8]
The mythology and stories of Brahmavaivarta Purana, along with Bhagavata Purana, have been influential to the Krishna-related Hindu traditions, as well as to dance and performance arts such as the Rasa Lila.[9][10][11]
In this Purāna, Radha (or Rādhikā), who is inseparable from Krishna, appears as the main goddess. She is the personification of the mūlaprakriti, the "root nature", that original seed from which all material forms evolved. In the company of the Purusha ("Man", "Spirit", "Universal soul") Krishna, she is said to inhabit the Goloka, which is a world of cows and cowherds far above the Vishnu's Vaikuntha. In this divine world, Krishna and Radha relate to one another in the way body relates to soul. (4.6.216)[12]
This text is mostly legends, worship, mythology and drama during the life of Radha and Krishna, with discussion of ethics, dharma, four stages of life and festivals embedded as part of the plot.[13][14][15] The specific details in this Purana show the influence or knowledge of events traced to mid 2nd-millennium CE developments associated with Tantra and Bhakti saints such as Chaitanya and others.[16] This text is unlike the encyclopedic style found in almost all other major Puranas, and for these reasons, predominant portions of this Purana are likely to be a 15th or 16th century composition.[16]
The text very likely existed much earlier, and the older version likely was complete in the 8th to 10th century period.[16][15] A version probably existed by 700 CE, adds Hazra.[17] However, in its history, this Hindu text also underwent major revisions, over the centuries.[16][15] This text was likely revised in the Bengal region of South Asia.[16] Another related text, called Brahmakaivarta Purana, also relatively modern but traced to South India, exists in many versions.[16] There are a few manuscripts titled Adi brahmavaivarta purana, of unclear date of composition, proposed as the older possibly original Purana, but these are very different from the Brahmavaivarta Purana text generally considered one of the 18 Mahapuranas.[18]
The older version of the Brahmavaivarta Purana was once influential in its own way, because Nibandha authors of 15th and 16th century quoted nearly 1,500 lines in texts such as the Smriti Candrika, which they claimed is in this Purana.[15] However, only 30 of these lines are found in the extant manuscripts of Brahmavaivarta Purana suggesting massive rewrite of the original Purana over its history, in or after the 15th or 16th century.[15]
The text includes Smriti chapters that, states Hazra, were likely inserted into the text after the 16th century.[15] This modern content includes chapters on "mixed castes, duties of women, duties of varna, duties of individuals during their ashrama (stages of life), worship and glorification of Brahmins, theory of hell in after-life, and religious gift giving for merit".[15] The only Smriti chapters in currently surviving manuscripts, that can be found in older versions of this text are two, namely 4.8 and 4.26.[15] These relate to vrata.[15][a]
The Padma Purana categorizes Brahma Vaivarta Purana as a Rajas Purana.[22] Sanskrit scholar Ludo Rocher considers the Sattva-Rajas-Tamas classification as "entirely fanciful" and argues there is nothing in this text that actually justifies this classification.[23]
The text's title Brahmavaivarta means "metamorphosis of Brahman", who is identified with Krishna.[4][2] This Purana takes a view on the creation where the Brahman as Krishna creates the universe and is the universe.[25][26] The evolution and the nature of the universe is presented through the legend of Radha and Krishna in this Purana.[27] The seduction stories and legends of this text have attracted many scholarly studies.[28][29]
The Purana presents an egalitarian view towards women, wherein it asserts ideas such as, "all female beings have come forth out of the divine female" in chapter 4.13, and that "every insult to a woman is an offence against divine Rdh" in Prakrti-khanda.[32] Along with equating all women with goddess Radha, the text equates all men with Krishna.[8] These sections may be from possible influences of the ancient Shaktism tradition of Hinduism.[33]
The Brahmavaivarta Purana focuses on Vishnu and in particular Krishna like the Bhagavata Purana, but its stories and legends have been far less popular than the Bhagavata text. Its style has been called "insipid, puerile",[34] and its content and layout of a form so different from the other Puranas that Wilson wrote, "the Brahmavaivarta Purana has not the slightest title to be regarded as a Purana".[34]
In contrast to Wilson's views, Parmeshwaranand states that this is a bhakti text oriented towards a mystical experience, and that this text, in its own way, tries to discuss religious and philosophical questions as in other religious works, such as duality and non-duality between God and the world.[30]
The Brahmavaivarta Purana emphasizes the unity, interdependence and inseparability of the feminine and the masculine, through Radha and Krishna, across its various chapters, and through the concept of Ardhanari-Krishna (also called Ardha-radha-venudhara-murti), a concept similar to Ardhanarishvara in Shaivism. This idea of Purana has been traced to an art work found in Maharashtra where a Krishna murti is sculpted as half man and half woman.[35]
Brahmavaivarta Purana (c 8th-16th century AD) belongs to the category of a Upapurana. The major Puranas are 18 in number and the Puranas without authors other than the major Puranas are called Upapuranas. This particular one is called Brahmavaivarta Purana because Brahma has been defined in this Purana.
The word Purana means old narrative (puranam akhyanam), that is to say, narrative relating probably to mythological and legendary lore. The Puranas, as a species of literature, constitute a major source of information to historians of early Indian society and culture, though their information should be used carefully for historical purposes.
It has been observed that there might have been an original Brahmavaivarta Purana written before 700 AD, but it is now lost. This original Purana might have been a Laghu-Brahmavaivarta Purana. The present voluminous work of the Brahmavaivarta Purana, however, has been dated to 8th century AD. From about the 10th century AD, the Purana began to be changed by different authors at different times. In the 16th century, it reached its present form.
The Brahmavaivarta Purana consists of four parts (khandas): Brahma Khanda, Prakrti Khanda, Ganexa Khanda and Xrikrsna Janma Khanda. The number of chapters in each of the khandas is 30, 67, 46 and 131 respectively. The Brahma Khanda verses describe creation, birth of Mars, Daksa-Samvada, mixed castes, medical treatment, Krsna-Kavacha, Visnu-dhyana, Visnu-mantra, duties to be done and not to be done by human beings etc. The Prakrti Khanda describes the origins of the gods and goddesses, eulogies of and salutation to the goddess Sarasvati, Gabga Puja; the Vedavati Ravana, Tulasi and Savitri legends; the stories about the goddesses Mahalaksmi, Sasthi, Mabgala-Chandi etc, Radha-Xruti, Chandra story, and Durga puja by King Suratha etc. The Ganexa Khanda is primarily concerned with the birth stories and exploits of Ganexa who is known to have been an incarnation (avatara) of Krsna. The Xrikrsna Janma Khanda hints literally at the birth of Krsna, but describes elaborately the entire life of Lord Krsna with particular emphasis on his adventures relating to Kaliyanaga-damana, Kamsa-vadha, Jarasandha-damana, annihilation of Yadu Vamxa etc. Elaborate descriptions are also available about Xri Radha's representation as Krsna's Xakti.
In addition, Smrti matters of diverse character have been described in different khandas of the present Purana. Thus they contain discussions about mixed castes in the 10th chapter (adhyaya) of the Brahma Khanda; about land donations in the 9th chapter of the Prakrti Khanda; about worship in the 10, 22-23, 39, 43-46, 55 and 65 chapters of Prakrti Khanda and 13, 19, 32 chapters of the Ganexa Khanda; about hell and results of actions done in the 24-27, 29-33, 52 chapters of the Prakrti Khanda; about the worship and glorification of the Brahmanas in the 54th chapter of the Prakrti Khanda and 21st chapter of the Xrikrsna Janma Khanda; about vratas such as Harivrata, Ekadaxi vrata etc in the 3-4 chapters of the Ganexa Khanda and 8, 26, and 27 chapters of the Xrikrsna Janma Khanda; and about Varnaxramadharma and the duties of women in the 83-84 chapters of the Xrikrsna Janma Khanda.
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