Bhakti and Embodiment

by Barbara A Holdrege

  The Puranic synthesis of sound and meaning…involved a number of new conceptualizations regarding the nature of scripture. Earlier, the “artha tradition” was subservient to the “śabda tradition.”… In the Purāṇas, the narrative or story literature has become the primary holy word, reincorporating the old mantric tradition under new terms. The saving story itself has taken on the character of mantric efficacy though not the mantric immutability. The shift to an emphasis on meaning and the greater flexibility in the epic-Puranic traditions were crucial factors in the evolution of written scripture.99

  As Brown notes, this shift in emphasis from sound to meaning in the Purāṇic tradition is accompanied by a shift in modes of scriptural transmission, in which the Purāṇas depart from the Vedic paradigm of exclusively oral transmission by emphasizing the importance of written transmission as well. They declare the fruits not only of hearing a Purāṇa recited but also of writing or copying the text itself and subsequently giving the book away as a gift.100 The giving of gifts, including the giving of books, is in principle open to everyone, and thus this Purāṇic practice, like that of Purāṇic recitation, serves to consolidate the Purāṇas’ claims to be the Veda of the general populace. As Brown points out, it makes possible “a significant reversal of roles: when scripture was purely oral, it was given by the Brahmans to others; in its written form, it can now be given by others to Brahmans.”101 This emphasis on the written form of the Purāṇas leads to the development of the Purāṇic “cult of the book” in which the book itself is ritually venerated, as I will discuss later with reference to the Bhāgavata Purāṇa.102

  Bhāgavata Purāṇa as the Culmination of Śruti and Smṛti

  Beyond making claims regarding the Vedic status of the Purāṇas generally, each of the Purāṇas is also concerned to set itself apart as the preeminent Purāṇa that most perfectly embodies Veda. In this context the Purāṇas, in addition to delineating the characteristics that are shared by all members of the Purāṇic canon, also employ taxonomies to differentiate and classify the various Purāṇas according to specific criteria. These taxonomies are at times invoked to hierarchize the members of the Purāṇic canon and to establish the preeminence of a particular Purāṇa within the hierarchy.

  One of the principal modes of classifying the Purāṇas pertains to the deity who—in accordance with the sectarian emphasis of the particular Purāṇa—is identified with Brahman and revered as the supreme Godhead. According to this criterion, the Viṣṇu Purāṇa and Bhāgavata Purāṇa, which celebrate Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa as the supreme Godhead, are classified as Vaiṣṇava Purāṇas; the Śiva Purāṇa and Liṅga Purāṇa, which revere Śiva as the ultimate reality, are classified as Śaiva Purāṇas; and the Devī-Bhāgavata Purāṇa, which proclaims Devī to be the highest Godhead, is classified as a Śākta Purāṇa. Cross-sectarian Purāṇas that contain both Vaiṣṇava and Śaiva material, such as the Matsya and Kūrma Purāṇas, and nonsectarian Purāṇas, such as the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, prove difficult to classify in this type of taxonomic schema.

  A second mode of classification involves correlating the various Purāṇas with the three guṇas, the three constituents of prakṛti, primordial matter—sattva (purity), rajas (activity), and tamas (inertia). The Padma Purāṇa, for example, classifies the Purāṇas according to this criterion, declaring that the Viṣṇu, Nārada, Bhāgavata, Garuḍa, Padma, and Varāha Purāṇas are dominated by sattva; the Brahmāṇḍa, Brahmavaivarta, Mārkaṇḍeya, Bhaviṣya, Vāmana, and Brahma Purāṇas, by rajas; and the Matsya, Kūrma, Liṅga, Śiva, Skanda, and Agni Purāṇas, by tamas.103 The three great gods of the trimūrti—Viṣṇu, Brahmā, and Śiva—are represented in the Purāṇas as presiding over the domains of sattva, rajas, and tamas, respectively, and thus the two modes of classification—deity worshiped and guṇas—are at times combined in a single taxonomy. The Matsya Purāṇa provides an example of this type of hybrid taxonomy:

  The sāttvic Purāṇas primarily glorify Hari [Viṣṇu]; the rājasic Purāṇas primarily glorify Brahmā; and the tāmasic Purāṇas glorify Śiva and Agni. Those Purāṇas with a mixture of guṇas proclaim the glory of Sarasvatī and of the pitṛs (ancestors).104

  While Vaiṣṇava Purāṇas may revel in their ascribed status as the most sāttvic—the most pure and luminous—of all the Purāṇas, at the same time they insist that this sāttvic status is itself secondary. Rather, their primary claim to supremacy is that Viṣṇu or Kṛṣṇa—the deity whom they glorify—is the supreme Godhead who is identical with Brahman and who is the source of Brahmā, Śiva, Devī, and all the other deities. Śaiva Purāṇas and Śākta Purāṇas make comparable claims about the supreme status of their respective deities, Śiva and Devī.

  It is above all in this arena of divine power plays that the sectarian Purāṇas vie for hegemony in their contending claims to be the preeminent Purāṇa-Veda. The Śiva Purāṇa, for example, declares that, as the “ocean of knowledge of Śiva” (Śiva-jñānārṇava), it is equal to the Veda (veda-samita),105 the essence of the Veda (veda-sāra),106 and the essence of all the Upaniṣads (vedānta-sāra-sarvasva).107 The Bhāgavata Purāṇa—using almost identical terms—similarly proclaims that, as the “śruti pertaining to Kṛṣṇa” (sātvatī śruti),108 it is equal to the Veda (brahma-sammita or veda-sammita),109 the essence of the entire śruti (akhila-śruti-sāra),110 and the essence of all the Upaniṣads (sarva-vedānta-sāra).111 The Devī-Bhāgavata Purāṇa declares that, as the “Purāṇa pertaining to Durgā” (Daurga Purāṇa),112 it is the essence of the Veda (veda-sāra)113 and conveys the secret teachings of the Veda (nigama-guhya).114

  As discussed earlier, one of the key strategies deployed by the Purāṇas to invest their respective teachings with Vedic authority involves asserting the identity of their respective deities with the Veda, which is represented as the inner essence and the outer form of the supreme Godhead who is revered as Brahman. The identification of the personal God who is the object of devotion with the Upaniṣadic Brahman and with the eternal reality of Veda is one of the essential mechanisms through which the devotional teachings of the Purāṇas attained legitimacy as part of the normative brahmanical tradition. However, even more than the other Purāṇas, the Bhāgavata is confronted with a significant problem in connecting itself with the Veda: Kṛṣṇa, the supreme Godhead who is the focus of the text’s devotional teachings, is not mentioned in the Vedic Saṃhitās. Although Kṛṣṇa is identified in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa with Viṣṇu—who does appear as a minor deity in the Vedic Saṃhitās—it is as Kṛṣṇa, not Viṣṇu, that he is above all celebrated as Bhagavān, the supreme Lord. As discussed in Chapter 1, the Bhāgavata proclaims that “Kṛṣṇa is Bhagavān himself (Bhagavān svayam)”115—and yet nowhere in the Vedic Saṃhitās is a deity named Kṛṣṇa mentioned.116 Frederick Smith remarks:

  [R]arely is any single Purāṇic deity so estimably beyond the boundaries of Vedic discourse than is Kṛṣṇa.… It is well known that Śiva, as Rudra, as well as the Goddess reside at the peripheries of Vedic mythology and ritual; more central is Viṣṇu. But nowhere in the Vedas is Kṛṣṇa mentioned, at least in any form that could predict his future course on the subcontinent.117

  The Bhāgavata Purāṇa seeks to overcome this problem by vedacizing the text and its teachings in a number of ways.

  Vedacizing the Bhāgavata Purāṇa

  The Bhāgavata Purāṇa makes use of a variety of vedacizing strategies—in terms of its language, content, and self-representations—to invest itself with the transcendent authority of the Veda. First, in terms of language, the Bhāgavata Purāṇa regularly makes use of Vedic archaisms, employing Vedic grammatical forms and vocabulary, in an attempt to imitate the language of the Vedas.118 J. A. B. van Buitenen interprets the Bhāgavata’s use of Vedic archaisms as an attempt to Sanskritize and legitimate Kṛṣṇa bhakti by establishing itself as an orthodox scripture suffused with the power of the Vedic mantras: “I
am not only orthodox in the Vedic tradition, I even sound like the Veda.”119 Second, in terms of content, Vedic material is incorporated throughout the text, with the exception of the tenth book, which celebrates the life of Kṛṣṇa. Smith notes that “the Purāṇa, taken as a whole, is saturated with references to Vedic deities, sages, rituals, and myths.”120 Third, in terms of self-representations, the Bhāgavata Purāṇa adopts the common Purāṇic strategy of simply asserting its identity and equality with the Veda, as I will discuss in the following section. However, in order to substantiate its claims to Vedic status it must overcome the problem posed by the Vedic Saṃhitās’ lack of mention of Kṛṣṇa, the supreme Godhead who is the focus of its teachings. The Bhāgavata addresses this problem by representing Kṛṣṇa as the embodiment of Veda and the source and abode of the Vedic mantras. Moreover, as we shall see, it goes further and claims for itself the special status of the Kārṣṇa-Veda that is the embodiment of Kṛṣṇa and that is therefore, by extension, the embodiment of Veda.

  By deploying each of these vedacizing strategies, the Bhāgavata Purāṇa is concerned to establish its transcendent authority as the preeminent Purāṇa-Veda that, in its special status as the Kārṣṇa-Veda, is the culminating scripture of the entire brahmanical canon of śruti and smṛti texts.

  Bhāgavata Purāṇa as the Culminating Scripture of the Brahmanical Canon

  In support of its claim to be the culminating scripture of the brahmanical canon, the Bhāgavata Purāṇa must establish its paramount status among the Purāṇas, among the smṛti texts generally, and among the śruti, or Vedic, texts.

  The Bhāgavata Purāṇa unabashedly declares its unsurpassed status among the Purāṇas:

  The other Purāṇas shine forth in the assembly of the righteous only as long as the supreme Śrīmad Bhāgavata is not directly beheld. The glorious Bhāgavata is considered to be the essence of all the Upaniṣads (sarva-vedānta-sāra). One who has relished (root tṛp) the ambrosial nectar of its rasa (rasāmṛta) does not find delight anywhere else. Its position among the Purāṇas is comparable to that of the Gaṅgā among the rivers, Acyuta [Kṛṣṇa] among the gods, and Śiva among the Vaiṣṇavas. O brahmins, as Kāśī [Vārāṇasī] is unsurpassed among all the sacred places, so the Śrīmad Bhāgavata is unsurpassed among all the Purāṇas.121

  To consolidate its authority among the smṛti texts generally, the Bhāgavata must establish its preeminence not only among the Purāṇas but also among the second major category of smṛti texts with which the Purāṇas are closely associated: the Itihāsas. The Bhāgavata does so by asserting that it is the “very essence (sāra) extracted from all the Itihāsas and Vedas.”122

  In both of these statements—concerning its superior status among the Purāṇas and Itihāsas, respectively—the Bhāgavata Purāṇa invokes the authority of the Vedas as one of the means of establishing its superiority: the Bhāgavata is superior to the other Purāṇas in part because of its special status as the essence of all the Upaniṣads (sarva-vedānta-sāra);123 it is superior to the Itihāsas because it is not only the essence (sāra) of the Itihāsas but also of the Vedas. The Bhāgavata reserves for itself the special status of the purāṇa-guhya, the Purāṇa that contains the deepest mysteries, because it alone is the concentrated essence of the entire śruti literature (akhila-śruti-sāra)—not only the Upaniṣads but also the Saṃhitās, Brāhmaṇas, and Āraṇyakas.124 This śruti pertaining to Kṛṣṇa125 ultimately asserts that it is equal to the Veda (brahma-sammita or veda-sammita)126 and proclaims itself the “ripe fruit (phala) of the wish-fulfilling tree of Veda (nigama-kalpa-taru)” that is full of amṛta or rasa, ambrosial nectar.127 Finally, the Bhāgavata goes even further and declares itself the quintessential scripture that is the concentrated essence (sāra) of all the śāstras—śruti and smṛti.128

  The Bhāgavata Purāṇa seeks to substantiate its claims to be the quintessential scripture of the entire brahmanical canon by representing itself as the culminating achievement of Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa’s life. In this context, in addition to its accounts of the origins of the Purāṇas that I discussed earlier, the Bhāgavata provides a separate account of its own unique origins. The account emphasizes how Vyāsa, after dividing the one Veda into four, composing the Mahābhārata, and compiling the other seventeen principal Purāṇas, was not satisfied. Even though he had accomplished these great literary feats, had mastered the Vedas, and had attained realization of Brahman, he did not feel fulfilled. While Vyāsa was lamenting his lack of fulfillment, the celestial ṛṣi Nārada approached him and explained to him that although he had attained mastery of all knowledge, jñāna, and was adept in the practice of yoga, his heart was not satisfied because he had not yet sung the praises of Kṛṣṇa, the supreme Bhagavān, and extolled the glories of devotion to him.129 Nārada instructed him to engage in contemplative recollection (root smṛ + anu) of Kṛṣṇa’s exploits (viceṣṭita) while established in samādhi. Thus inspired by Nārada, Vyāsa returned to his hermitage and meditated, and, while immersed in samādhi, “in his mind, freed of impurity by bhakti-yoga and completely collected, he saw (root dṛś) the primordial Puruṣa.”130 He then recorded his cognitions of Kṛṣṇa in the form of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, his heart overflowing in blissful celebration of the līlā of the supreme Bhagavān and of the path of bhakti through which he is realized.131

  Bhāgavata Purāṇa as Kārṣṇa-Veda

  The Bhāgavata Purāṇa, as the Kārṣṇa-Veda, celebrates Kṛṣṇa as Bhagavān, the supreme Godhead who is Veda incarnate. As mentioned earlier, by identifying Kṛṣṇa with the Veda, the Bhāgavata overcomes the problem posed by the lack of reference to Kṛṣṇa in the Vedic Saṃhitās: Kṛṣṇa is not mentioned in the Vedas because he himself is the Veda on an ontological level. Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate reality who is celebrated in the Upaniṣads as Brahman, whose inner essence is Veda, knowledge, and whose outer form is constituted by the Vedic mantras. His Self is the threefold Veda (trayī-vidyātman),132 his very substance is Veda (sarva-veda-maya),133 and his body (tanu or mūrti) is composed of the ṛcs, yajuses, sāmans, and atharvans.134 Realization of the supreme reality of Kṛṣṇa, which is the goal of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa’s devotional teachings, is understood in this context to be tantamount to realization of the eternal Veda.

  Kṛṣṇa is extolled in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa not only as the embodiment of Veda but also as the means through which the Vedic mantras are manifested on earth in every cycle of creation. He is celebrated as the ultimate source of the tradition of Vedic transmission and is also identified with each of the three principal agents in the transmission process that I discussed earlier: the creator Brahmā, the Vedic ṛṣis, and Vyāsa.135 Brahmā, as we have seen, is the first agent in the process of transmission, who brings forth the Vedic mantras from his four mouths at the beginning of each cycle of creation.136 The second link in the process of transmission consists of the Vedic ṛṣis, who “see” (root dṛś) and preserve the Vedic mantras, establishing the tradition of recitative transmission through which the mantras are passed down generation after generation.137 The third principal agent in the process of Vedic transmission is the great ṛṣi Vyāsa, who in Dvāpara Yuga divides the Veda into four Saṃhitās to facilitate its preservation and understanding.138

  The opening verse of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa proclaims that it is Kṛṣṇa himself, as the supreme Bhagavān, who reveals the Veda to Brahmā, the first seer (ādi-kavi).139 After the Veda disappears during the cosmic dissolution at the end of each cycle of creation, it is he who transmits it to Brahmā at the beginning of the next creation. Kṛṣṇa himself declares:

  In the course of time this Word (vāṇī) known as Veda disappeared during the dissolution (pralaya). At the beginning [of the next creation] I imparted to Brahmā this [Word, Veda], in which resides the dharma of devoting oneself to me.140

  Kṛṣṇa’s transmission of the Veda to Brahmā is represented by the Bhā
gavata as a process of self-disclosure, for he himself is the eternal reality of Veda. The Veda finds differentiated expression in the Vedic mantras, which issue forth as the impulses of primordial speech from Brahmā’s mouths and are preserved by the ṛṣis and their lineages as recited texts. The Vedic texts preserved through recitative transmission are the precipitated expressions of the eternal Veda, Kṛṣṇa, and thus the Bhāgavata claims that their true purpose is to reveal the manifest and unmanifest forms of the supreme Bhagavān and to teach the dharma of devotion to him.141

  The creator Brahmā is described in the Bhāgavata Purāṇa as a fraction of a portion (kalā) of Kṛṣṇa and the manifest form that Kṛṣṇa assumes at the beginning of each kalpa in order to bring forth the worlds and animate and inanimate beings.142 He thus participates in Kṛṣṇa’s nature as Veda incarnate and is correspondingly said to be composed of Veda (veda-maya)143 and the abode of Veda (veda-garbha).144 When he embarks on his role as demiurge, Brahmā brings forth the Vedic mantras from his four mouths, and it is through his utterance of the Vedic words that the manifold phenomena of creation are projected into concrete manifestation. As he proceeds with his cosmogonic activities, Brahmā extols the glories of Bhagavān, whose creative powers he expresses, and beseeches him not to allow his utterance of the Vedic words to fail.145