Little Krishna, who is a part of mischievous activities in his village, Vrindavan, decides to save the villagers from the evil king Kansa, who sends ferocious demons upon them.
The story is about the Kauravas and the Pandavas and the battle fought between them, in which the Pandavas were victorious. Krishna known as the divine avatar of Vishnu guided the Pandavas to victory.
Little Krishna is a 3D computer-animated series which is a co-creation between BIG Animation and India Heritage Foundation The series started showing on Indian television on Nickelodeon from 11 May 2009. It depicts the childhood pastimes of Lord Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who appeared in the ...
భగవద్గీత మహాభారతము యుద్ధానికి ఆదిలో ఆవిర్భవించింది. దాయాదులైన కౌరవ పాండవులు రాజ్యాధికారం కోసం యుద్ధానికి సన్నద్ధమయ్యారు. పాండవవీరుడైన అర్జునునకు రథసారథి శ్రీకృష్ణుడు. యుద్ధానికి ఇరువైపువారూ శంఖాలు పూరించారు. అర్జునుని కోరికపై కృష్ణుడు రణభూమి మధ్యకు రథాన్ని తెచ్చాడు. అర్జునుడు ఇరువైపులా పరికించి చూడగా తన బంధువులు, గురువులు, స్నేహితులు కనిపించారు. వారిని చూచి అతని హృదయం వికలమైంది. రాజ్యం కోసం బంధుమిత్రులను చంపుకోవడం నిష్ప్రయోజనమనిపించింది. దిక్కుతోచని అర్జునుడు శ్రీకృష్ణుని "నా కర్తవ్యమేమి?" అని అడిగాడు. అలా అర్జునునికి అతని రథ సారథి శ్రీకృష్ణునికి మధ్య జరిగిన సంవాదమే భగవద్గీత.నంత కాలం ఈ పేజీలో మార్పులు చేయకండి.
The Vishnudharmottara Purana (or the Vishnudharmottara) is a Hindu text, encyclopedic in nature. Along with the narratives, it also deals with cosmology, cosmogony, geography, astronomy, astrology, division of time, pacification of unfavourable planets and stars, genealogies (mostly of kings and sages), manners and customs,
penances, duties of Vaishnavas, law and politics, war strategies, treatment of diseases of human beings and animals, cuisine, grammar, metrics, lexicography, metrics, rhetoric, dramaturgy, dance, vocal and instrumental music and arts. It is considered as a supplement or appendix to the Vishnu Purana. It is included in the list of eighteen Upapuranas given in the Brihaddharma Purana (i.25.23-26).
The extant text is divided into three khandas (parts). The first khanda comprises 269 adhyayas (chapters), the second khanda comprises 183 adhyayas and the third khanda comprises 118 adhyayas.
The third Khanda
Chapter I of the third khanda deals with the origin of image making and the interdependence of arts. Chapters 2-17 deal with grammar, lexicography, metrics and rhetoric. Chapters 18-19 deal with vocal and instrumental music. Chapters 20-34 deal with dance and dramturgy. Chapters 35-43 give an account of the various branches, methods and ideals of Indian painting. It deals not only with its religious aspect but also, and to a far greater extent, with its secular employment. It "proclaims the joy that colours and forms and the representation of things seen and imagined produce". Chapters 44-85 deal with Pratimalakshana (iconography). Chapters 86-93 deal with temple construction. Chapters 94-108 deal with avahana (induction of deities into images). Chapters 109-118 deal with rites and rituals.
Stella Kramrisch says that while the Vishnu Purana cannot be earlier than the 2nd half of the 4th century CE, the chapters of the Vishnudharmottara that deal with painting must have been compiled in the 7th century CE.
The Saura Purana (Sanskrit: सौर पुराण, Saura Purāņa) is one of the Shaiva Upapuranas, a genre of Hindu religious texts. The printed editions of this text have 69 chapters. The chapter colophons of this text mention it as a part of the Brahma Purana. It is presumed that a version of this text, different from the extant one, existed earlier.
The extant Saura Purana, though proclaimed by Surya, eulogises Shiva and his shakti Parvati. This text praises Varanasi and describes its various sacred places and lingas. It consists of a version of the narrative of Urvasi and Pururavas in chapter 31. It also deals with Devi worship, merits of dānas (donations), vratas (vows) and brief descriptions of the Puranas. Chapters 38-40 contain attacks on Madhvacharya, an early medieval philosopher and his works in the form of a prophecy.
The early printed editions of this text published by the Anandashrama (Anandashrama Sanskrit Series 18), Poona in 1889 and the Vangavasi Press, Calcutta in 1908 (along with a Bengali translation) are practically identical.
The Samba Purana (Sanskrit: साम्ब पुराण, Sāmba Purāṇa) is one of the Saura Upapuranas. This text is dedicated to Surya. The recension of the text found in the printed editions has 84 chapters. Chapters 53-68 of this text are also divided into 15 Paṭalas. After the customary beginning in Chapter 1, the text consists the narrative of Krishna's son Samba's getting infected by leprosy, after being cursed by sage Durvasa and consequently getting cured by worshipping Surya in the temple constructed by him in Mitravana on the banks of the Chandrabhaga at what was Multan Sun Temple. The whole narrative is presented as a conversation between the king Brihadbala of Ikshvaku dynasty and the sage Vashishtha. Chapters 26-27 of this text narrate the story of bringing the eighteen Maga Brahmins from Śākadvīpa by Samba and appointing them as the priests of the Surya temple in Mitravana.
This text comprises a number of narratives dealing with creation, details of solar system, eclipses, geography of the earth, description of Surya and his attendants, construction of images of these deities, details of yoga, manners and customs, rites and rituals, dissertations of mantras and dana (gift). Later chapters of the Sāmba Purāṇa are influenced by Tantra.
The NIlamata Purana (नीलमत पुराण) is an ancient text (6th to 8th century AD) from Kashmir which contains information on its history, geography, religion, and folklore. It was used by Kalhana as one of sources of his history. The dating of the text is based on the following reasoning: "The textual study of the work shows that some alterations and additions have been made in it after the ninth or tenth century A.D. in order to incorporate into it the monistic Saiva Philosophy of Kasmira. Had the Nilamata been composed after the ninth century A.D. there would have been no scope for such change. The lower limit of the date thus may be eighth century A. D. and the upper one about the sixth century A.D. as Buddha began to be regarded as an incarnation of Vishnu from about 550 A.D."
According to the historian Ved Kumari: "If the Rajatarangini is important from the point of view of the political history of 'Kashmira', the Nilamata is no less important for the cultural history of that part of the country." Its critical edition was published in 1924. It is the national epic of Kashmir along with Rajatarangini encompassing modern day regions of modern day India, Pakistan Afghanistan, Khorasan, Tajikistan, Modern Dardic regions of world.
Narasimha Purana (Narasiṁha Purāṇa) (Sanskrit:नरसिंह पुराण) is one of the Upapuranas. R.C. Hazra in his Studies in the Upapuranas came to the conclusion that the original text was written in the later part of the 5th century, though several portions of it were added much later. This work was translated into Telugu about 1300.
The recension presented by the printed editions of the text has 68 chapters. The 8th chapter of the text is one of the three versions of the Yama Gītā (other two versions are the Vishnu Purana, Book 3, ch.1-7 and the Agni Purana, Book 3, ch.381). The chapters 36-54 consist the narratives of the ten Avatars of Vishnu. Chapter 21 and 22 contain the short genealogical lists of the kings of the Surya Vamsha (Solar dynasty) and the Soma Vamsha (Lunar dynasty), the former ending with Buddha,
son of Shuddhoana and the latter with Kshemaka, grandson of Udayana. Chapters 57-61 of this work is also found as an independent work, the Harita Samhita or Laghuharita Smriti.
The Kalki Purana (IAST: Kalki purāṇa) is a Vaishnavism-tradition Hindu text about the tenth avatar of Vishnu named Kalki. The myth-genre Sanskrit text was likely composed in Bengal during an era when the region was being ruled by the Bengal Sultanate or the Mughal Empire. Wendy Doniger dates it to sometime between 1500 CE and 1700 CE. It has a floruit of 1726 CE based on a manuscript discovered in Dacca, Bangladesh.
The extant text exists in many versions, which vary in structure and details. Some do not divide the text into sections and have about 35 chapters, others have three aṃśa (sections) with the first containing 7 chapters, second section another 7, and the third with 21 chapters. It is not one of the 18 Maha-Puranas (great Puranas), and is counted as an Upapurana or secondary Purana.
The text is a Vaishnavism tradition text, where Brahma and other gods approach Vishnu for protection from the evils of the Kali-yuga. After listening to stories of persecution, Vishnu promises to be born as Kalki in the family of Sumati and Vishnuyasha, in a village called Shambhala. He studies the Vedas and other texts, then marries a princess named Padmavati of Simhala kingdom. Kalki and his army then fight various wars and destroy all those who had persecuted and driven Hindu dharma out of their land. After the annihilation of the evil and restoration of the good, Kalki returns to Shambhala. This marks the end of Kali yuga, and the start of the new cycle of existence, with Satya yuga (also called Krita yuga). Kalki then returns to heaven, according to Kalki Purana.
According to Edwin Bernbaum, the Kalki Purana is a Hindu version of Shambala and its mythology has many features found in the Buddhist counterpart. Other scholars agree that Buddhists borrowed the Hindu concept of Kalki and implemented in Kalachakra The Buddhist texts also mention a king named Kalki from Shambhala who leads an army to destroy the persecutors of dhamma; then after the victory of good over evil and attainment of religious freedoms, Kalki ushers in a new era. The Buddhist text is dated to about the 10th-century.
The Kapila Purana (Sanskrit: कपिल पुराण, Kapila Purāṇa) (ca. 11th century) is a Hindu religious text. The text is considered as one of the 18 Upapuranas. It contains 21 chapters which mostly narrate glories about the puņyakṣetras (sacred places) of Utkala. It subsequently describes the greatness of Purusottama Kshetra, Viraja Kshetra, Maiterya Vana, and Ekamra Tirtha. Sage Kapila is the main narrator of this Purana. He describes to king Shalyajit regarding the glorified virtue of Utkala Kingdom, which he reports as a conversation
between sage Bharadvaja and the sages performing tapas (austerities) in Pushkarakshetra. It describes the Shiva, Durga, Vishnu and Surya shrines in and around Orissa. The Jnana yoga is described in the final chapter of this Purana.
The Kalika Purana (Sanskrit: Kālikā Purāṇa, ca. 10th century) is a religious text of Hinduism considered as one of the eighteen Upapuranas. The extant text contains 98 chapters with over 9000 stanzas and is the only work of the genre dedicated to the worship of the goddess Kali in her manifold forms such as Girija, Devi, Bhadrakali, and Mahamaya. This text describes in detail the rivers and mountains at Kamarupatirtha and mentions the Kamakhya Temple. It glorifies the
goddess Kamakhya, or Kamakshi and details the ritual procedures required for worshiping her. The Kalika Purana is equally well known, and both feared and slandered, for its detailed description of human sacrifice, an ancient and very common ritual most humans/cultures don't like to be reminded of. However, the main purpose of the text seems to be an attempt to close the gap between mainstream religious practice and the "forbidden" tantric methods, like use of the panchamakara (meat, wine, fish, parched grain and sexual intercourse) in a ritual context. The work belongs, therefore, to the goddess-oriented Shakta branch of Hinduism. Most probably it was composed in Kamarupa (modern Assam). It is an important work which has been quoted as an authority by the comparatively late Nibandha (digests of the smritis) writers from all over India, especially regarding Shakti worship. This Upapurana contains gratuitous material which refers to events and conditions of the remote past. It is also one of the rare Hindu texts that actually mentions the word "Hindu".
According to Hazra, there existed a text that was older than the extant one, and that the origin of that text was Bengal. This is denied by Shastri, who claims that the evidence provided by Hazra for an earlier text can be explained by other means, without invoking an older text. According to Shastri, the local descriptions; the exposition of the myth of Naraka from who all the dynasties of Kamarupa drew their lineage; the description of the myth of Brahmaputra river; and the claim in the text that Kamarupa was holier than even Varanasi points to the text having been composed in Kamarupa.
References to Kālidāsa and Magha (7th century), provide the upper limit of the text. Since Ratna Pala (920-960), the second of Kamarupa-Pala kings, moved his capital from Harupeshwar to Durjaya, the reference in the Kalika Purana to Durjaya hills with Pragjyotisha in the east makes Ratna Pala's reign (10th century) the lower limit of the text. The explanation in the text for the Mlechchha population, and the indication of a parallel explanation in Harjaravarman's (815-832) Hyunthal copper plate inscription places the text closer to his reign. Thus, the text is dated to late 9th to early 10th centuries.
The earliest printed edition of this text was published by the Venkateshvara Press, Bombay in 1829 Saka Era (1907 CE), followed by the Vangavasi Press, Calcutta in 1316 Bangabda (1909 CE).
The Ganesha Purana (Sanskrit:गणेश पुराणम्; gaṇeśa purāṇam) is a Sanskrit text that deals with the Hindu deity Ganesha (Gaṇeśa). It is an upapurāṇa (minor Purana) that includes mythology, cosmogony, genealogy, metaphors, yoga, theology and philosophy relating to Ganesha.
The text is organized in two voluminous sections, one on mythology and genealogy (Krida-khanda, 155 chapters), and the other on theology and devotion (Upasana-khanda, 92 chapters). It exists in many versions. The text's composition and expansion date has been estimated to be the late medieval period, between the 13th- to 18th-century CE, during a period of political turmoil during the Islamic rule period of South Asia. The text shares the features and stories found in all major Puranas, and like all Puranas, it is, states Bailey, also a cultural object and reflects the cultural needs and mores, in the environment it was written.
The Ganesha Purana, along with the Mudgala Purana, BrahmaPurana and Brahmanda Purana, is one of four Puranic genre encyclopedic texts that deal with Ganesha. The four texts, two Upa-Puranas and two Maha-Puranas, differ in their focus. The Brahmanda Purana presents Ganesha as Saguna (with attributes and physical form), the Brahma Purana presents Ganesha as Nirguna (without attributes, abstract principle), Ganesha Purana presents him as a union of Saguna and Nirguna concept wherein saguna Ganesha is a prelude to nirguna Ganesha, and the Mudgala Purana describes Ganesha as Samyoga (abstract synthesis with absolute reality and soul).
The Ganesha Purana is significant because it is, with Ganapati Upanishad, the two most important texts of the Ganapatya sect of Hinduism. The Ganapatyas consider Ganesha as their primary deity, and the mythology of Ganesha found in this Purana is part of their tradition. The text is also significant because it relates to Ganesha, who is the most worshipped god in Hinduism, and revered as the god of beginnings by all major Hindu traditions, namely Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism and Smartism. The text integrates ancient mythology and Vedantic premises into a Ganesha bhakti (devotional) framework.
The Ganesa Purana is divided into two sections. The Upasanakhanda (upāsanākhaṇḍa) or "section on devotion" has 92 chapters, and the Kridakhanda (krīḍākhaṇḍa) or "section on the divine play (of Gaṇeśa)" has 155 chapters. The Kridakhanda is also called the Uttarakhanda (uttarakhaṇḍa) in the colophons. Chapter 46 of the Upasanakhanda includes a stotra (hymn) that is the source text for one of the best-known versions of the Ganesha Sahasranama (hymn of praise listing 1,000 names and attributes of Ganesha).
The text has five literary units, found in all Puranas: khanda, mahatmya, upakhyana, gita and a narrative unit. It is structured as a recitation by sage Vyasa, traceable to sages in the mythical Naimisa forest in Hinduism.The composition style is didactic and mythic, the imagery and framing of story is similar to the other Puranas. The text has four idiosyncrasies, states Bailey, in that it contains no pancalaksana content, minimal didactic presentation of dharmashastra, the myths are structured as involving Ganesha's intervention in ancient Hindu mythology, and the mythical plots invariably present Ganesha as the life and inner principle of all other Hindu deities.
Upasanakhanda: Abstract meditation or Bhakti Puja
The Upasanakhanda, or the first part of the Ganesha Purana, presents two modes of worship. One is meditation and mystic contemplation of Ganesha as the eternal Brahman presented in Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy, the metaphysical absolute and Paramatma (Nirguna, supreme spirit), where he is same as the Atman (soul, innermost self) within oneself. The second approach, suggests the Ganesa Purana, is through preparing an image of god (Saguna, murti), decorating it with flowers, presenting it offerings and festively remembering him in Puja-style homage. The Upasanakhanda presents these ideas in a series of episodic stories and cosmogony, that weaves in ancient mythologies as dynamic empirical reality and presents Ganesha as the Vedantist Brahman, or the absolute unchanging reality.
Kridakhanda: The Ganesha Gita
Chapters 138-48 of the Kridakhanda constitute the Ganesha Gita, which is modeled on the Bhagavad Gita, but adapted to place Ganesha in the divine role. The discourse is given to King Varenya during Ganesha's incarnation as Gajanana.
According to Yuvraj Krishan, the Ganesha Gita shows that ninety percent of its stanzas are, with slight modifications, taken from the Bhagavad Gita. Their topics are the same: karma yoga, jnana yoga and bhakti yoga. However, Ganesha replaces Krishna in the divine role, states Yuvraj Krishan.
In contrast, Greg Bailey states that while Bhagavad Gita is a strong possible source, the Ganesha Gita has only 412 verses in this section and skips a large number of verses in Bhagavad Gita, and it is incorrect to presume that the text is identical in all respects and merely replaces Ganesha for Krishna. The discussion develops differently, and the character of Varenya is far weaker than the inquisitive philosophical questions of Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita, as Varenya asks questions of Ganesha. However, agrees Bailey, that the theology found in Bhagavad Gita and Ganesha Gita are substantially the same.
Kridakhanda: Ganesha in four Yugas
The Kridakhanda of the Ganesha Purana narrates the stories of four incarnations (Avatars) of Ganesha, each for the four different yugas. The 155 chapters of this section are separated into the four Yugas. Chapters 1 through 72 present Ganesha in Krita Yuga, chapters 73 through 126 present Ganesha's story in the Treta Yuga, while chapters 127 through 137 present his stories in Dvapara Yuga. Chapter 138 through 148 present the Ganesha Gita, followed by a short section on Kali Yuga (current era) in chapter 149. The rest of chapter 149 through chapter 155 are interlocutory, following the literary requirements of a valid Puranic genre.
Ganesha is presented as Vinayaka in Krita Yuga, with ten arms, huge, very generous in giving gifts and riding a lion. In Treta Yuga, Ganesha is in the form of Mayuresvara (Mayūreśvara), who has six arms, with a white complexion, and rides a peacock. He manifests in the form of Gajanana (Gajānana) in Dvapara Yuga, with four arms, a red complexion and riding a mouse. He is born to Shiva and Parvati in the Dvapara yuga. In the Kali Yuga, he is Dhumraketu (Dhūmraketu), with two arms, of smoke complexion, mounted on a horse. He fights barbarian armies and kills demons in the Kali Yuga, according to Ganesha Purana.
The Devi Bhagavata Purana (Sanskrit: देवी भागवतपुराण, Devī Bhāgavatapurāṇa), also known as the Shrimad Devi Bhagvatam and the Devi Bhagavatam, is a Sanskrit text that belongs to the Purana-genre of Hindu literature. The text is considered a Mahapurana (major Purana) in parts of India, while others include it as one of the Upa Puranas (minor Puranas), but all traditions consider it as an important Purana.
The text consists of twelve Skandha (sections) with 318 chapters. Along with Devi Mahatmya, it is one of the most important works in Shaktism, a tradition within Hinduism that reveres Devi or Shakti (Goddess) as the primordial creator of the universe and the Brahman (ultimate truth and reality). It celebrates the divine feminine as the origin of all existence, the creator, the preserver and the destroyer of everything, as well as the one who empowers spiritual liberation. While all major Puranas of Hinduism mention and revere the Goddess, this text centers around her as the primary divinity. The underlying philosophy of this text is Advaita Vedanta-style monism combined with devotional worship of Shakti (feminine power).
The Devi Bhagavata Purana has been variously dated. A few scholars suggest an early date, such as Ramachandran who suggested that the text was composed before the 6th-century CE. However, this early date has not found wide support, and most scholars date it between the 9th and the 14th century. Rajendra Hazra suggests 11th or 12th century, while Lalye states that the text began taking form in the late centuries of the 1st millennium, was expanded over time, and its first complete version existed in the 11th century. Tracy Pintchman dates the text to between 1000 and 1200 CE.
The last ten chapters (31 to 40) of the Book 7 consist of 507 verses, a part which has often circulated as an independent handout just like the Bhagavad Gita of the Mahabharata circulates independently. The handout from Book 7 of this Purana is called Devi Gita. This handout may have been composed with the original text, or it might be a later interpolation, states C Mackenzie Brown. He suggests that this portion of the text was probably composed by the 13th century and may be later but before the 16th century.
The Book 9 of the Devi Bhagavata Purana contains many verses that reference Mlecchas (barbarians) and Yavanas (foreigners). These words may just refer to hill tribes, but the details contained in the description of Mlecchas within these verses, state some scholars such as Hazra, that the writer of these parts knew about Islam and its spread in India, leading scholars to date these parts of the ninth book to 12th to 15th century compared to the older core of the ninth book.
The Devi Bhagavata Purana is not the earliest Indian text that celebrates the divine feminine, the 6th-century Devi Mahatmya embedded in Markandeya Purana asserts the goddess to be supreme, and multiple archaeological evidence in different parts of India such as Mathura and Bengal suggests that the concept of divine feminine was in existence by about the 2nd-century CE. Both Devi Mahatmya and Devi Bhagavata Purana have been very influential texts of the Shakta tradition, asserting the supremacy of the female and making goddess a figure of devotional (bhakti) appeal.
This text – along with all Puranas, all Vedas and the Mahabharata – is attributed to sage Veda Vyasa in the Hindu tradition. The title of the text, Devi Bhagavata, is composed of two words, which together mean "devotee of the blessed Devi". The terms Devi and Deva are Sanskrit terms found in Vedic literature of 2nd millennium BCE, wherein Devi is feminine and Deva is masculine. Monier Williams translates it as "heavenly, divine, terrestrial things of high excellence, exalted, shining ones". Etymologically, the cognates of Devi are Latin dea and Greek thea. The term Bhagavata means "devotee of the blessed one".
The Devi-Bhagavata Purana consists of 12 skandhas (sections) with 318 adhyayas (chapters).
Chapters in Devi Bhagavata Purana
Book #
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Total
Chapters
20
12
30
25
35
31
40
24
50
13
24
14
318
The Hindu tradition and the text itself asserts that it has 18,000 verses. The actual text, in different versions, is close.
The theosophy in the text, state Foulston and Abbott, is an encyclopedic mix of mythology, metaphysics and bhakti. This mythology, states C Mackenzie Brown, is of the same type found in other Puranas, about the perpetual cycle of conflict between the good and the evil, the gods and the demons. These legends build upon and extend the ancient Hindu mythology, such as those found in the Mahabharata. However, this Purana's legends refocus the legends around the divine feminine, integrate a devotional theme to goddesses, and the Devi is asserted in this text to be the eternal truth, the eternal source of all of universe, the eternal end of everything, the nirguna (without form) and the saguna (with form), the supreme unchanging reality (Purusha), the phenomenal changing reality (Prakriti), as well as the soul within each living being.
Mythology: Books 1 to 6
The first book (skandha) like other major Puranas, states Rocher, presents the outline, the structure of contents, and describes how in the mythical Naimisha forest, the Devi-Bhagavata Purana was first recited among the sages. It also asserts that all of Reality was initially nirguna (without form, shape or attributes; in other words, there was nothingness except Truth). However, asserts the text, this nirguna Reality was a Bhagavati (woman), and she manifested herself as three Shaktis - Sattviki (truth, creative action), Rajasi (passion, aimless action) and Tamasi (delusion, destructive action).
The second book is short, and mythological. It weaves in the characters well known in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, states Rocher, and introduces in the key characters that appear in remaining books of the Devi-Bhagavata Purana. The third book begins the discussion of Devi and her bhakti (devotional worship), how the Devi created from herself the three Tridevi: Maha-saraswati to be the Shakti of Brahma (creator), Maha-lakshmi to be the Shakti of Vishnu (preserver), and Maha-kali to be the Shakti of Shiva (destroyer). The third book also weaves in legends from the well known epic the Ramayana.
The fourth book presents more legends, including those of interaction between Krishna and Shiva, but also introduces tantric themes and presents yoga meditation. The fifth and sixth books continue these legends, states Rocher, with half of the chapters focussed on the greatness of Goddess, how male gods are befuddled by problems, how they run to her for help, and how she solves them because she is enlightened knowledge. The text presents the feminine to whom all masculine deities are subordinate and dependent on.
Philosophy: Books 7 to 9
The seventh book of the Devi-Bhagavata Purana shifts towards more philosophy, asserting its version of the essence of the Vedas. This book contains the philosophical text called Devi Gita, or the "Song of the Goddess". The Goddess explains she is the Brahman that created the world, asserting the Advaita premise that spiritual liberation occurs when one fully comprehends the identity of one's soul and the Brahman. This knowledge, asserts the Goddess, comes from detaching self from the world and meditating on one's own soul.
Devi Gita
The Devi Gita, like the Bhagavad Gita, is a condensed philosophical treatise. It presents the divine female as a powerful and compassionate creator, pervader and protector of the universe. She is, states Brown, presented in the opening chapter of the Devi Gita as the benign and beautiful world-mother, called Bhuvaneshvari (literally, ruler of the universe, and the word is feminine). Thereafter, theological and philosophical teachings become the focus of the text, covering chapters 2 to 10 of the Devi Gita (or, chapters 32 to 40 of this Purana's Book 7). Some of the verses of Devi Gita are almost identical to the Devi Upanishad.
The soul and the Goddess
[My sacred syllable ह्रीम्] transcends,
the distinction of name and named,
beyond all dualities.
It is whole,
infinite being, consciousness and bliss.
One should meditate on that reality,
within the flaming light of consciousness.
Fixing the mind upon me,
as the Goddess transcending all space and time,
One quickly merges with me by realizing,
the oneness of the soul and Brahman.
—Devi Gita, Transl: Lynn Foulston, Stuart Abbott Devi Bhagavata Purana, Book 7
The Devi Gita frequently explains Shakta ideas by quoting from the Bhagavad Gita. The Devi is described by the text as "universal, cosmic energy" resident within each individual, weaving in the terminology of Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy. It is suffused with Advaita Vedanta ideas, wherein nonduality is emphasized, all dualities are declared as incorrect, and interconnected oneness of all living being's soul with Brahman is held as the liberating knowledge. However, adds Tracy Pintchman, Devi Gita incorporates Tantric ideas giving the Devi a form and motherly character rather than the gender-neutral concept of Adi Shankara's Advaita Vedanta.
The Bhakti theology of the Devi Gita part of this Purana may have been influenced by the Bhagavad Gita, and with Vaishnava concepts of loving devotion to Krishna found in the Bhagavata Purana. All these texts highlight different types of devotion in a Samkhya philosophy framework.Tamasic Bhakti is one, asserts the text, where the devotee prays because he is full of anger, seeks to harm others, induce pain or jealousy to others. Rajasic Bhakti is one where the devotee prays not to harm others, but to gain personal advantage, fame or wealth. Sattvic Bhakti is the type where the devotee seeks neither advantage nor harm to others but prays to purify himself, renounce any sins and surrender to the ideas embodied as Goddess to liberate himself.
The Devi Bhagavata Purana adds Para Bhakti as the highest level of devotion, states McDaniel, where the devotee seeks neither boon nor liberation, but weeps when he remembers her because he loves the Goddess, when he feels her presence everywhere and sees the Goddess in all living beings, he is intoxicated by her ideas and presence.
Festivals and culture
This seventh book, states Rocher, also includes sections on festivals related to Devi, pilgrimage information and ways to remember her. Her relationship with Shiva and the birth of Skanda is also briefly mentioned in the 7th book. The last ten chapters (31 to 40) of the Book 7 is the famous and philosophical Devi Gita, which often circulates in the Hindu tradition as a separate text. The eighth book of the Devi-Bhagavata Purana incorporates one of the five requirements of Puranic-genre of Hindu texts, that is a theory of the geography of the earth, planets and stars, the motion of sun and moon, as well as explanation of time and the Hindu calendar.
The largest book is the 9th skandha, which is very similar in structure and content of the Prakriti-kanda of the Brahmavaivarta Purana. Both are goddesses-focused, and discuss her theology, but have one difference. The Prakriti-kanda of the Brahmavaivarta Purana also includes many verses which praise Vishnu using various names (incarnations), which re-appear in the 9th book of the Devi-bhagavata Purana with Vishnu names substituted with Devi names (incarnations).
Goddess, cosmos and Dharma: Books 10 to 12
The 10th book of the Devi-Bhagavata Purana is one of the shortest, and integrates manavantaras, another structural requirement for this text to be a major Purana, but wherein the Devi is worshiped in every cosmic time cycle, because she is the greatest, she kills the evil and she nurtures the good.
The 11th book of the text discusses Sadachara (virtues) and Dharma to self as an individual, as belonging to a Grama (village, community) and to a Desha (country).The text praises Sruti and asserts it to be the authoritative source, adding that Smriti and Puranas are also sources for guidance. This section is notable for adding that Tantra is also a source of guidance, but only if it does not conflict with the Vedas. Verses in the 11th books also describe sources for Rudraksha as rosary beads, the value of Tripundra mark on the forehead, fives styles of Sandhyas (reflection, meditation) and five types of Yajnas.
The last and 12th book of the Devi-Bhagavata Purana describes the Goddess as the mother of the Vedas, she as the Adya Shakti (primal, primordial power), and the essence of the Gayatri mantra. The verses map every syllable of the Gayatri mantra to 1008 names of reverence in the Hindu tradition. These names span a spectrum of historic sages, deities, musical meters, mudras and the glories of the goddesses.
The verses and ideas in the Devi-Bhagavata Purana, state Foulston and Abbott, are built on the foundation of the Upanishads wherein the nonduality and oneness of Brahman and Atman (soul) are synthesized. The text makes references to the philosophy and metaphors used in the Advaita Vedanta tradition of Adi Shankara. However, those ideas are reformulated and centered around the Goddess in the Devi Bhagavata Purana, states C Mackenzie Brown, as well as other scholars. In Devi Bhagavata text, states Tracy Pintchman, the Devi is not only Brahman-Atman (soul, interconnected oneness), she is also the always-changing empirical reality (Maya).
The Goddess, in Devi Bhagavata Purana, is both the source of self-bondage through Avidya (ignorance) and the source of self-liberation through Vidya (knowledge), state Foulston and Abbott.[30] She is identical to the Vedic metaphysical reality concept of Brahman, the supreme power, the ruler of the universe, the hero, the hidden energy, the power, the bliss innate in everything, according to the text. The Devi, states Kinsley, is identified by this Purana to be all matter, mother earth, the cosmos, all of nature including the primordial. The Goddess is presented, states Brown, as "the womb of the universe", who observes the actions of her children, nurtures them to discover and realize their true nature, forgive when they make mistakes, be fearsomely terrible to the wicked that threaten her children, and be friend of all souls.
Cynthia Humes compares the depiction of Goddess in the 6th-century Hindu text Devi Mahatmya, with that in this later Devi-Bhagavata Purana text. Both revere the feminine, states Humes, but there are some important differences. Nowhere does the Devi Mahatmya state anything negative about women, and it is explicit in asserting that "all women are portions of the Goddess". By contrast, states Hume, the portrayal of women in Devi-Bhagavata Purana is more complex. It includes verses critical of the feminine, with the text stating that women behavior can be "reckless, foolish, cruel, deceitful" and the like. The Devi Bhagavata also praises women and describes their behavior can be "heroic, gentle, tenacious, strong" and the like.
The Devi-Bhagavata Purana is an important and historic Shakta Bhakti text, states June McDaniel.
