Bhakti and Embodiment

by Barbara A Holdrege

  23. Viṣṇu Purāṇa 3.3.30.

  24. Viṣṇu Purāṇa 6.4.42.

  25. Viṣṇu Purāṇa 3.3.22; 1.22.81.

  26. Viṣṇu Purāṇa 3.3.29–30.

  27. Viṣṇu Purāṇa 2.22.81–83. See also Viṣṇu Purāṇa 2.11.7–11, which describes the threefold Veda—ṛcs, yajuses, and sāmans—as the body (aṅga) of Viṣṇu and as identical with his supreme energy (śakti) that abides within the sun and is responsible for the preservation of the universe. Cf. Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa 102.15–16; 102.20–22; 103.6; 104.28.

  28. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 8.16.31.

  29. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 7.11.7; cf. 10.16.44.

  30. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 6.16.51. For the relationship between Kṛṣṇa and the Veda as Śabdabrahman, see also 11.21.36–43.

  31. See, for example, Bhāgavata Purāṇa 7.3.30; 1.5.38; 5.22.3.

  32. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.13.34–44, esp. 34, 41, 44. Similar descriptions of the boar as Veda incarnate are found in earlier Purāṇas, as discussed in n. 33.

  33. Like the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, a number of the Purāṇas extol Viṣṇu-Nārāyaṇa as Veda incarnate when he assumes the form of a boar, Varāha, whose body is composed of the Vedic mantras and the elements of the sacrificial ritual, to rescue the earth that lies submerged beneath the cosmic waters. See, for example, Kūrma Purāṇa 1.6.15; Viṣṇu Purāṇa 1.4.9; 1.4.21–25; 1.4.32–34; Matsya Purāṇa 248.67–73. Cf. Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa 47.3–9, esp. 8, which depicts the creator Brahmā, not Viṣṇu, as Nārāyaṇa, who assumes the form of a boar composed of the Vedas to save the earth.

  34. Matsya Purāṇa 164.20; 167.12.

  35. See, for example, Śiva Purāṇa Rudra 2.15.46; 2.15.52; 2.15.64. The Śaiva sections of the Kūrma Purāṇa similarly celebrate Śiva as the eternal Brahman whose Self is knowledge (jñānātman or vidyātman) and who, as the secret essence of the Veda (veda-rahasya), is the embodiment of the very self of Veda (vedātma-mūrti). See Kūrma Purāṇa 2.3.6; 2.3.20; 1.10.46–47; 1.10.68.

  36. Śiva Purāṇa Rudra 1.8.1–53, esp. 13, 31, 40, 41.

  37. Viṣṇu Purāṇa 4.1.4.

  38. Kūrma Purāṇa 1.2.26.

  39. Kūrma Purāṇa 1.4.39.

  40. Kūrma Purāṇa 1.9.19.

  41. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.11.34; 3.12.48.

  42. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.8.15; 3.9.43; cf. 2.6.34.

  43. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.12.1; 3.13.6.

  44. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.12.34–35; 3.12.37–40; 3.12.44–48.

  45. Viṣṇu Purāṇa 1.5.52–55. This account is given in nearly identical words in Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa 48.31–34; Kūrma Purāṇa 1.7.54–57; Liṅga Purāṇa 1.70.243–246; Śiva Purāṇa Vāyavīya 1.12.58–62.

  46. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.12.34; 3.12.37; cf. 12.6.44.

  47. Viṣṇu Purāṇa 1.5.62–63. This passage appears with slight variations in Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa 48.42–43; Kūrma Purāṇa 1.7.64–65; Liṅga Purāṇa 1.70.257–259; Śiva Purāṇa Vāyavīya 1.12.67–69. For parallel passages in the Manu-Smṛti and Mahābhārata, see Manu-Smṛti 1.21; Mahābhārata 12.224.56, with n. 672*. I will examine this passage more closely in Chapter 4.

  48. For a discussion of Purāṇic conceptions of cycles of creation and units of time, see Chapter 1, pp. 49–50.

  49. See, for example, Viṣṇu Purāṇa 6.4.1–7.

  50. Viṣṇu Purāṇa 3.2.44; cf. Vāyu Purāṇa 61.121–122; Bhāgavata Purāṇa 8.14.4.

  51. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.1.1.

  52. See, for example, Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.6.44–46; cf. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 11.14.3–7; Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa 45.20–23.

  53. See, for example, Viṣṇu Purāṇa 3.3.9–20; 3.4.1–5; Vāyu Purāṇa 23.119–218; Kūrma Purāṇa 1.49.47–1.50.10; Liṅga Purāṇa 1.7.11–18; 1.24.12–140. Cf. Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa 1.2.35.116–126, which asserts that the Vedas have been divided twenty-eight times in the current manvantara but then proceeds to list the names of thirty-two Vyāsas. For a discussion of manvantaras and the other units of time that make up a kalpa, see Chapter 1, pp. 49–50.

  54. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.4.14; 1.5.21; 12.6.48–49; 1.3.21.

  55. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.4.16–18; 1.5.13; 1.5.21.

  56. The Viṣṇu Purāṇa devotes four chapters (3.3–3.6) to its discussion of the process through which the Veda was divided and disseminated by Vyāsa and his disciples.

  57. See, for example, Viṣṇu Purāṇa 3.2.56; 3.3.5–7; 3.4.1–14; Vāyu Purāṇa 60.11–22; Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa 1.2.34.11–22; Kūrma Purāṇa 1.50.10–20; Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.4.14–20; 1.4.24; 12.6.46–50.

  58. Viṣṇu Purāṇa 3.4.13–14; cf. Vāyu Purāṇa 60.19–20; 60.22; Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa 1.2.34.19–20; 1.2.34.22; Kūrma Purāṇa 1.50.17; Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.6.50.

  59. See, for example, Viṣṇu Purāṇa 3.4.7–9; 3.4.15–26; 3.5.1–3.6.14; Vāyu Purāṇa 60.12–15; 60.24–31; 60.63–66; 61.1–55; Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa 1.2.34.12–15; 1.2.34.24–32; 1.2.35.1–62; Kūrma Purāṇa 1.50.12–14; Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.4.21–23; 12.6.51–12.7.4.

  60. Viṣṇu Purāṇa 3.4.15.

  61. Viṣṇu Purāṇa 3.6.31–32; cf. Vāyu Purāṇa 61.75; Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa 1.2.35.84.

  62. See Viṣṇu Purāṇa 3.2.44, quoted earlier. Cf. Vāyu Purāṇa 61.121–122.

  63. For a summary of the scholarly debates, see Rocher 1986: 13–17. Among more recent discussions, see F. Smith 1994.

  64. See Bonazzoli 1979. For a discussion of central issues in the scholarly debates concerning the nature and origin of the genre of texts known as Purāṇas, see Coburn 1980. For extended analyses of the problems involved in the study and dating of the individual Purāṇas, along with descriptions of the character and contents of individual Purāṇas, see Rocher 1986; Hazra 1975.

  65. In his examination of twenty Purāṇas, Bonazzoli (1979: 132–134; table 1, 144–149) notes that twenty-seven lists of Purāṇas are given in seventeen of the Purāṇas, with only the Brahma, Brahmāṇḍa, and Vāmana Purāṇas containing no lists. All of the lists, with the exception of two cases, contain eighteen Purāṇas. See also Gupta 1965: 334–340. It is important to note that the term Mahāpurāṇa is rarely used in Purāṇic enumerations of the eighteen Purāṇas.

  66. For variants of this list, see Bonazzoli 1979: table 1, 144–149; Gupta 1965: 336–338.

  67. See Bonazzoli 1979: 134–137; table 2, 150–151; Gupta 1965: 348–351. The actual number of ślokas in extant editions of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa is 16,256.

  68. One of the earliest formulations of this definition is found in the Amarakośa (c. fifth century CE), which defines Purāṇa as “that which has five characteristics (pañca-lakṣaṇa)” (Śabdādivarga 5). Cited in Kane 1977: 838, with n. 1364. For a collation of relevant Purāṇic passages concerning pañca-lakṣaṇa, see Kane 1977: 838–839, with n. 1365. For an extended study, see Kirfel 1927.

  69. Kane (1977: 841), for example, remarks: “The extant Purāṇas contain far more subjects than the five. Some Purāṇas barely touch these five and deal at great length with altogether different topics. Only a few of the extant Purāṇas can be said to deal with all the five topics at some length. The five characteristic topics occupy less than three percent of the extent of the extant Mahāpurāṇas.”

  70. Bonazzoli 1979: 131.

  71. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.7.10; 12.7.22.

  72. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.13.4–8 lists the eighteen principal Purāṇas in the standard order noted earlier. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.7.23–24 lists the same eighteen texts in a different order.

  73. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.13.4–9.

  74. See Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.7.8–20. An alternative enumeration of the ten characteristics is given in Bhāgavata Purāṇa 2.10.1–7.

  75. For a comparison of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa and the Viṣṇu Purāṇa, see Bonazzoli 1982: 160–162, 182–183.

  76. For a comparative analysis of the gopī narratives in the Bhāgavata Purā
ṇa and in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa, see Hardy 1983: 497–510.

  77. Hacker 1959: vol. 1, 98, 111 n. 1; vol. 2, 224.

  78. For an analysis of the contrasting portrayals of the devotee Prahlāda in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa and the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, see Hacker 1959: esp. vol. 1, 93–147. For an extended discussion of the distinctive character of the “emotional Kṛṣṇa bhakti” of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, see Hardy 1983: esp. 36–43.

  79. Winternitz 1963: 488. Among other scholars who have noted the homogeneous character of the Bhāgavata, see Hardy 1983: 486; Hopkins 1966: 4; Prasad 1984: 66.

  80. See Salomon 1986.

  81. See, for example, Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.4.20; 3.12.39; Skanda Purāṇa 5.3.1.18.

  82. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.4.20; cf. 3.12.39.

  83. See, for example, Vāyu Purāṇa 1.18; Matsya Purāṇa 289.9.

  84. See, for example, Vāyu Purāṇa 1.11; Śiva Purāṇa Vāyavīya 1.1.22; 1.1.49; Nārada Purāṇa Pūrva 1.36.

  85. See, for example, Śiva Purāṇa Vāyavīya 1.1.57; 1.1.18; Nārada Purāṇa Pūrva 9.97; Devī-Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.14.26. See also Skanda Purāṇa 5.3.1.22, which claims that the Purāṇas are the “self (ātman) of the Vedas.”

  86. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.3.40; 2.1.8; 2.8.28; 12.4.42; 1.2.3; 1.3.42; 12.13.12; 12.13.15.

  87. Vāyu Purāṇa 1.200–201. Variants of these two ślokas appear in Śiva Purāṇa Vāyavīya 1.1.39–40 and Skanda Purāṇa 7.1.2.93; 7.1.2.91 and are also found in separate places in the Mahābhārata, in 1.2.235 and 1.1.204.

  88. These two alternative Purāṇic traditions concerning the origins of the Purāṇas have been noted by a number of scholars, including Coburn 1980: 344–346; Bonazzoli 1982: 174–175, 1979: 139–140; Gupta 1965: 323–326. For additional discussions of these traditions, see Rocher 1986: 45–48; Kane 1977: 829, with n. 1349; 858, with n. 1392; 861–862; Agrawala 1966: 232–239; Hazra 1962: 244; Dikshitar 1932: 751–755; Pargiter 1922: 21–23.

  89. Matsya Purāṇa 3.3–4. Variants of this tradition are given in Matsya Purāṇa 53.3–4; Vāyu Purāṇa 1.60–61; Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa 1.1.1.40–41; Skanda Purāṇa 5.3.1.23–24; Śiva Purāṇa Vāyavīya 1.1.31–32; Padma Purāṇa (Veṅk) Sṛṣṭi 1.45–46. See also Skanda Purāṇa 7.1.2.3–5, quoted on p. 147, which provides a different version of this tradition in which the Vedas manifest first, after which the primordial Purāṇa issues forth from Brahmā’s mouth.

  90. Matsya Purāṇa 53.3–11. Variants of this account are found in Skanda Purāṇa 5.3.1.23–29; Śiva Purāṇa Vāyavīya 1.1.31–38; Nārada Purāṇa Pūrva 92.22–26; Padma Purāṇa (Veṅk) Sṛṣṭi 1.45–53; Liṅga Purāṇa 1.1.1–3.

  91. Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa 1.2.34.17–22; Vāyu Purāṇa 60.17–22; Viṣṇu Purāṇa 3.4.11–14; 3.6.16.

  92. Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa 1.2.34.12–16; 1.2.35.63–69; Vāyu Purāṇa 60.12–16; 61.55–61; Viṣṇu Purāṇa 3.4.7–10; 3.6.17–20; cf. Agni Purāṇa 271.10–12.

  93. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.12.37; 3.12.39.

  94. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.4.14–24; 12.6.46–12.7.7.

  95. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.6.46–12.7.7; cf. 1.4.19–23.

  96. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.7.8–24.

  97. In the brahmanical discourse of dharma elaborated in the Dharma-Śāstras, male members of the three higher varṇas—brahmins, kṣatriyas, and vaiśyas—are referred to as “twice-born” (dvija), for they have undergone the “second birth” of the upanayana, the Vedic rite of initiation. Śūdras and women are “once-born” in that they are excluded from the upanayana and are therefore subject to the inherent deficiency associated with biological birth without recourse to a ritual remedy. The brahmanical discourse of dharma and the differential norms of varṇāśrama-dharma will be discussed further in Chapter 4.

  98. See Coburn 1984: esp. 445–455.

  99. Brown 1986: 75–76.

  100. For a discussion of relevant references, see Brown 1986: 77–78. For an analysis of the role and interrelationship of oral and written transmission in the Purāṇas, see Bonazzoli 1983.

  101. Brown 1986: 78.

  102. For a discussion of the Purāṇic “cult of the book,” see Brown 1986: 76–83.

  103. Padma Purāṇa (Veṅk) Uttara 236.18–21.

  104. Matsya Purāṇa 53.68–69.

  105. Śiva Purāṇa Vāyavīya 1.1.22; 1.1.49.

  106. Śiva Purāṇa Vāyavīya 1.1.57.

  107. Śiva Purāṇa Vāyavīya 1.1.18.

  108. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.4.7.

  109. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.3.40; 2.1.8; 2.8.28; 12.4.42.

  110. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.2.3.

  111. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.13.12; 12.13.15.

  112. Devī-Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.14.31.

  113. Devī-Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.14.26.

  114. Devī-Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.14.31.

  115. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.3.28.

  116. The earliest reference to Kṛṣṇa is in Chāndogya Upaniṣad 3.17.6, which represents “Kṛṣṇa, the son of Devakī,” as a disciple of Ghora Āṅgirasa.

  117. F. Smith 1994: 98.

  118. See Meier 1931; Renou 1956: 120–121; van Buitenen 1966; Hardy 1983: 489–490; Rocher 1986: 145–146. For a formal analysis of the linguistic peculiarities of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, see Biswas 1968. For a general study of the language, style, and meter of the Bhāgavata, see Prasad 1984: 65–97.

  119. Van Buitenen 1966: 31, 33.

  120. F. Smith 1994: 98. Smith’s essay analyzes how the Bhāgavata Purāṇa attempts to establish its Vedic identity through reinterpreting and reshaping three central Vedic categories: the infallibility of the Veda, the Vedic deities Agni and Soma, and the institution of sacrifice.

  121. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.13.14–17.

  122. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.3.42.

  123. This assertion appears not only as part of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa’s declaration of its superior status among the Purāṇas (12.13.15) but also immediately before this declaration (12.13.12).

  124. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.2.3.

  125. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.4.7.

  126. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.3.40; 2.1.8; 2.8.28; 12.4.42.

  127. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.1.3.

  128. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.1.11; cf. 1.3.42.

  129. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.4.14–1.5.40.

  130. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.5.13; 1.7.3–4.

  131. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.7.3–8.

  132. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 8.16.31.

  133. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 7.11.7; cf. 10.16.44.

  134. See, for example, Bhāgavata Purāṇa 7.3.30; 1.5.38; 5.22.3. For additional references regarding Kṛṣṇa as the embodiment of Veda, see the earlier discussion on p. 114, with nn. 28–32.

  135. See the earlier discussion on pp. 114–118.

  136. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.12.34; 3.12.37; 12.6.44.

  137. See, for example, Bhāgavata Purāṇa 8.14.4; 12.6.44–46; 11.14.3–7.

  138. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.4.14–20; 1.4.24; 12.6.46–50.

  139. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.1.1.

  140. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 11.14.3.

  141. See, for example, Bhāgavata Purāṇa 7.9.47; 1.2.28; 5.22.3; 11.5.10; 11.21.42–43; 11.14.3.

  142. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 10.68.37; 2.6.31.

  143. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.18.15; 3.9.43; cf. 2.6.34. See also 3.12.34–35; 3.12.37–40; 3.12.44–48, which, as discussed earlier, describe Brahmā as Śabdabrahman, whose body is composed of the Sanskrit varṇas and the Vedic mantras and meters.

  144. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.12.1; 3.13.6.

  145. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.9.24; cf. 3.12.34.

  146. See, for example, Bhāgavata Purāṇa 8.14.4; 8.14.8.

  147. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.6.49; 1.4.14; 1.5.21; 1.3.21.

  148. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 2.8.28; 12.13.10; 12.13.19–20; 2.9.43.

  149. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 2.9.43–44; 12.13.19; cf. 12.4.41.

  150. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.3.21; 1.3.40; 1.4.14; 1.5.21; 12.6.48–49.


  151. See, for example, Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.5.22; 12.12.62; cf. 12.13.1.

  152. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.3.40; 2.1.8; 2.8.28.

  153. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.3.40; 1.3.42; 1.3.45.

  154. See, for example, Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.13.13. The ritual veneration of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa in its written-visual form as a book is particularly emphasized in the Bhāgavata Māhātmya, as I will discuss in a later section.

  155. See esp. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.12.58–64.

  156. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.12.62.

  157. See, for example, Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.12.64; 4.23.32, which mention the specific fruits that śūdras, as well as members of the twice-born varṇas, obtain through recitation of the narratives of the Bhāgavata. Cf. 1.4.25; 1.4.29, which suggest that Vyāsa composed the Mahābhārata for the benefit of women, śūdras, and others who are excluded from even hearing the Vedic mantras. As I will discuss in Chapter 4, the socially inclusive model of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa is particularly evident in its discussion of the practices of kīrtana, singing, and śravaṇa, hearing, through which the names of Kṛṣṇa are engaged. For an analysis of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa’s attitudes towards the brahmanical social system, see Hopkins 1966.

  158. See, for example, Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.1.3; 12.13.11; 12.13.15; 12.4.40; 4.29.40–41; 3.13.50; 10.87.16; 10.87.21.

  159. See, for example, Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.12.58–59; 12.12.64; cf. 1.5.11.

  160. See, for example, Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.5.40; 1.7.6–7; 4.29.40; 12.4.40; 3.8.2; 12.12.57.

  161. See, for example, Bhāgavata Purāṇa 12.4.40; 3.13.50; 12.13.18; 1.5.13.

  162. See, for example, Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.7.6–7; 2.1.9–10; 1.1.2; 12.12.63; 10.85.59; 10.90.50.

  163. See Bhāgavata Purāṇa 10.28.11–17, in which Kṛṣṇa reveals his transcendent loka beyond the material realm of prakṛti to the gopas. The passage concludes: “Having seen that [loka] as well as Kṛṣṇa being glorified there by the Vedas, Nanda and the other gopas were exhilarated with supreme bliss (paramānanda) and were greatly amazed.” I will discuss this passage, along with the commentary of Jīva Gosvāmin, in Chapter 5, pp. 210, 264–266.