164. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 10.87.12–41, esp. 16, 21.
165. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 8.21.2; cf. 10.8.45.
166. A Māhātmya, as a genre of Sanskrit literature, is a type of eulogy that extols the glories of a deity, a person, a text, or a pilgrimage place.
167. The Southern recension of the Padma Purāṇa is also at times referred to as the “Western” recension and is distinguished from the Bengali recension, which is available only in manuscripts and is generally considered the older of the two recensions. Regarding the two recensions and the composite structure of the Padma Purāṇa, see Hazra 1975: 107–127; Rocher 1986: 206–214. Among the printed editions of the Southern (Western) recension of the Padma Purāṇa, the Bhāgavata Māhātmya is found in chapters 189–194 of the Uttara Khaṇḍa in the Ānandāśrama Sanskrit Series (ĀnSS) edition (1893–1894) and in chapters 193–198 of the Uttara Khaṇḍa in the Veṅkaṭeśvara Press (Veṅk) edition (1927; reprint 1984–1985). As mentioned earlier, all citations of the Bhāgavata Māhātmya refer to the Ānandāśrama Sanskrit Series edition of the Padma Purāṇa, which I cite as “Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS).”
168. In her extended analysis and critique of scholarly constructions of “the bhakti movement,” Sharma (1987: 296–314) devotes a special appendix to the Bhāgavata Māhātmya and concludes that the text most likely originated in Vṛndāvana in the sixteenth century. In a more recent critical assessment of the “‘bhakti movement’ trope,” Hawley (2007) ascribes central importance to the Bhāgavata Māhātmya in providing a classical formulation of bhakti’s history that is frequently invoked to this day by exponents of the notion of a singular pan-Indian bhakti movement. He challenges Sharma’s reconstruction of the date and provenance of the Bhāgavata Māhātmya and more specifically her conclusion that the text “must have been written at a time by which all the four Vaishṇava systems of Vedānta [established by Rāmānuja, Madhva, Nimbārka, and Vallabha] had been evolved” (Hawley 2007: 224 n. 6, quoting Sharma 1987: 307). Hawley (2007: 221) suggests that the Bhāgavata Māhātmya may have been written in the late seventeenth century in Haridvāra rather than Vṛndāvana, since the text depicts the seven-day recitation of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa as occurring on the bank of the Gaṅgā River in Haridvāra. (See Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa [ĀnSS] Uttara 191.4–12.) However, based on a close analysis of the textual evidence, as outlined in the following discussion, I have concluded that the Bhāgavata Māhātmya most likely derives from a Gauḍīya milieu in Vraja in the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century.
169. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 189.41.
170. See, for example, Brooks 1990: 262.
171. For analyses of the scholarly debates, see Sharma 1987: 296–314 and Hawley 2007, discussed in n. 168.
172. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 189.54–56.
173. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 189.68–69.
174. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 190.16–22. As will be discussed later, the Bhāgavata Māhātmya, in Uttara 193.55; 193.78; 193.85–87, maintains that Kṛṣṇa’s transcendent abode, Kṛṣṇaloka or Goloka, is attained through participation in a Bhāgavata saptāha, seven-day recitation of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, which is celebrated as the highest form of devotional practice in Kali Yuga.
175. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 190.23–35.
176. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 190.48.
177. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 190.61–64.
178. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 191.67–71; 194.73–76.
179. See, for example, Bhakti Sandarbha 7, 4, in which Jīva Gosvāmin refers to jñāna and vairāgya as the “offspring” (svātma-ja) of bhakti and maintains that knowledge (jñāna) of Bhagavān’s essential nature (svarūpa) and nonattachment (vairāgya) from everything unrelated to the Lord spontaneously follow (anugāmin) from bhakti. See also Bhaktirasāmṛtasindhu 1.2.248–258, in which Rūpa Gosvāmin discusses the relationship between jñāna, vairāgya, and bhakti and distinguishes between yukta vairāgya, “proper renunciation,” which is properly yoked in the service of bhakti, and phalgu vairāgya, “worthless renunciation,” which is devoid of bhakti and therefore ineffectual.
180. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 194.64; 194.85.
181. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 190.73 invokes this formulaic phrase, which is found verbatim in Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.3.40; 2.1.8; cf. 2.8.28.
182. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 194.83 reproduces verbatim Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.1.3, although it does not explicitly credit the Bhāgavata as the source of the verse.
183. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 190.65–66.
184. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 190.69–72.
185. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 190.74–76.
186. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 191.12–22.
187. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 191.30–32; 194.56.
188. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 189.21.
189. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 191.55–60.
190. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 191.62–64.
191. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 194.85–86.
192. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 194.1–70.
193. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 194.30–32.
194. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 194.58–59.
195. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 194.67–69.
196. Brown 1986: 82.
197. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 191.42.
198. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 191.64. See also Uttara 191.51–53, quoted immediately below.
199. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 191.51–53.
200. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 194.56.
201. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 194.8–9; 194.53–56.
202. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 194.105.
203. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 192.9; 191.65. The Bhāgavata Māhātmya repeatedly emphasizes, especially in chapters 191 to 194, the purifying power of a Bhāgavata saptāha, which destroys the sins and vices of the participants.
204. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 193.55–57.
205. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 192.9; 192.11–14.
206. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 193.66–67. The Bhāgavata Māhātmya repeatedly emphasizes, especially in chapters 191 to 194, the power of a Bhāgavata saptāha to engender liberation (mukti) in those who participate in the seven-day yajña.
207. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 191.71–74; 192.1; 192.4; 194.84; 194.94.
208. See Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 191.67–71; 194.73–76, discussed earlier.
209. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 192.1–4; 194.87.
210. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 194.87–94.
211. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 191.75; 193.63; 194.78–79.
212. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 193.55; 193.78; 193.85–87. Elsewhere the Bhāgavata Māhātmya suggests that those who recite or hear the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, and more specifical
ly those who participate in a Bhāgavata saptāha, attain residence in Vaikuṇṭha. See Uttara 189.21; 193.68–69; 193.78; 194.79; cf. 191.41.
213. Bhāgavata Māhātmya of the Padma Purāṇa (ĀnSS) Uttara 193.55.
214. For a brief discussion of the Caitanya Bhāgavata, which was probably completed between 1546 and 1550 CE, see Dimock 1999: 85–87.
215. Caitanya Bhāgavata 2.21.14.
216. Caitanya Bhāgavata 2.21.81–82. The other three forms are the tulasī plant, Gaṅgā River, and bhaktas.
217. According to Dimock (1999: 31), Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja most likely completed the Caitanya Caritāmṛta around 1615 CE, over sixty years after Vṛndāvana Dāsa completed the Caitanya Bhāgavata. In the Caitanya Caritāmṛta Kṛṣṇadāsa pays tribute to Vṛndāvana Dāsa as the “Vyāsa of the Caitanya līlā,” while at the same time he expands on the earlier hagiography and presents his own narrative of the Caitanya līlā as the most complete and authoritative account that is the culmination of the entire hagiographic tradition. For Kṛṣṇadāsa’s praise of Vṛndāvana Dāsa and his hagiography—which he calls by its earlier name, Caitanya Maṅgala—see Caitanya Caritāmṛta 1.8.29–45; 1.8.76–77; 1.11.52; 1.13.46; 2.1.3–9; 3.20.63–80. For an analysis of Kṛṣṇadāsa’s understanding of the relationship between the Caitanya Caritāmṛta and the Caitanya Bhāgavata, see Stewart 2010: 257–263.
218. Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.25.218; 2.24.231–232.
219. In Caitanya Caritāmṛta 2.22.71 the four things that are ascribed the status of tadīya and are therefore worthy of veneration (sevā) are the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, tulasī plant, Mathurā, and Vaiṣṇavas. Three of these correspond to three of the four forms (vigrahas) of Kṛṣṇa mentioned in Caitanya Bhāgavata 2.21.81–82: Bhāgavata Purāṇa, tulasī plant, Gaṅgā River, and bhaktas. Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja’s enumeration also appears to be indebted to Bhaktirasāmṛtasindhu 1.2.88–89, in which Rūpa Gosvāmin mentions four things that should be venerated (sevana) as tadīya. Rūpa’s list coincides with that of Kṛṣṇadāsa with respect to three of the four things—tulasī plant, Mathurā, and Vaiṣṇavas—but in place of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa he designates the fourth by the more generic term śāstras.
220. Bhaktirasāmṛtasindhu 1.2.244. As discussed in Chapters 1 and 2, the five transmundane realities to which Rūpa Gosvāmin refers in this verse are the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, nāman, Vraja-dhāman, mūrti, and Kṛṣṇa bhaktas, which he describes as the focal points of the five most important practices of vaidhī-bhakti in Bhaktirasāmṛtasindhu 1.2.239–243. In Bhaktirasāmṛtasindhu 1.2.91; 1.2.226–227, as I will discuss in a later section, Rūpa describes the central practice associated with the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, which involves savoring (āsvāda) its meanings (artha) with other connoisseurs of rasa (rasikas).
221. Tattva Sandarbha 26.
222. For a brief account of Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmin’s interactions with Caitanya and his expertise in Bhāgavata-paṭhana, see Caitanya Caritāmṛta 3.13.88–134.
223. Tattva Sandarbha 27. For a scholarly translation and study of the Tattva Sandarbha, see Elkman 1986.
224. Tattva Sandarbha 18.
225. Tattva Sandarbha 22.
226. For analyses of the Mīmāṃsaka philosophy of language and of veda-prāmāṇya as expounded by Śabara, Prabhākara, and Kumārila, see D’Sa 1980; Holdrege 1996: 115–123; Jha 1964: 97–135, 147–186.
227. Among the numerous commentators and exponents of Śaṃkara’s teachings, three are of particular importance in that they offer differing interpretations of the Advaitin perspective concerning the status and authority of the Vedas: the Vivaraṇa school, which originated from Padmapāda (c. ninth century CE), a direct disciple of Śaṃkara; the Bhāmatī school, which originated from Vācaspati Miśra (ninth century CE), who wrote a commentary on Śaṃkara’s Brahma-Sūtra Bhāṣya; and Sāyaṇa (fourteenth century CE), an exponent of Advaita who is renowned for his commentaries on the Ṛg-Veda and other Saṃhitās. For discussions of the arguments developed by Śaṃkara and other exponents of Advaita Vedānta regarding the status and authority of the Vedas, see Murty 1959; Holdrege 1996: 123–129.
228. For an extended analysis of Jīva Gosvāmin’s arguments regarding the nature, status, and authority of the Vedas, see Broo 2006: 5–17.
229. Sarva-Saṃvādinī 10.
230. Sarva-Saṃvādinī 10. Jīva Gosvāmin cites prooftexts from Vedic texts, in which Prajāpati is the primary designation for the creator, and from post-Vedic texts, in which the figures of Prajāpati and Brahmā become fused and Brahmā becomes the principal designation for the creator principle.
231. Sarva-Saṃvādinī 10.
232. Sarva-Saṃvādinī 10–11. See n. 227.
233. Sarva-Saṃvādinī 10.
234. Sarva-Saṃvādinī 10.
235. For an extended analysis of mythological speculations concerning the Veda in Vedic and post-Vedic texts, see Holdrege 1996: 29–112, 227–251.
236. See Sarva-Saṃvādinī 10, discussed earlier.
237. Sarva-Saṃvādinī 10, citing a variant of Mahābhārata 12.224.55, with n. 671*; 12.224.56, with n. 672*.
238. Sarva-Saṃvādinī 10.
239. Tattva Sandarbha 14–16.
240. Tattva Sandarbha 14–16.
241. Tattva Sandarbha 19, 21, 26, 30–31.
242. Tattva Sandarbha 12; Sarva-Saṃvādinī 12.
243. Tattva Sandarbha 12.
244. Tattva Sandarbha 12, citing Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.4.10. This same passage appears in Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4.5.11 and also with slight variations in Maitri Upaniṣad 6.32.
245. Tattva Sandarbha 13, citing Skanda Purāṇa 7.1.2.3–5. This passage will be quoted in full in the following section.
246. See Sarva-Saṃvādinī 10, quoted on p. 143.
247. Tattva Sandarbha 15. In his commentary on this section in Sarva-Saṃvādinī 15, Jīva Gosvāmin argues that the Vedic status of the Itihāsas and Purāṇas is confirmed by the Brahma-Sūtras.
248. Tattva Sandarbha 13, citing Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.12.37; 3.12.39, quoted earlier on p. 122. Jīva Gosvāmin also cites Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.4.20, quoted earlier on p. 121, which speaks of the Itihāsas and Purāṇas as the fifth Veda.
249. Tattva Sandarbha 13, citing Mahābhārata 12.327.18.
250. Tattva Sandarbha 13, citing Chāndogya Upaniṣad 7.1.2. This same passage also appears in Chāndogya Upaniṣad 7.1.4; 7.2.1; 7.7.1. A number of other references in Vedic texts associate the term Purāṇa (singular) with the Veda(s), although these passages are not cited by Jīva Gosvāmin. For example, Atharva-Veda 11.7.24, in discussing the remnant of the sacrificial offering, speaks of the “ṛcs, sāmans, meters, Purāṇa, together with the yajus.” Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 13.4.3.13, in describing the procedures for a particular sacrificial ritual, specifies that the adhvaryu should say, “The Purāṇa is the Veda; this it is,” and then should “relate some Purāṇa.” For a discussion of the meaning of the term Purāṇa in the earliest Vedic text, the Ṛg-Veda Saṃhitā, see Rocher 1977.
251. Tattva Sandarbha 16.
252. Tattva Sandarbha 17, citing Skanda Purāṇa 7.1.2.90–93. Jīva Gosvāmin also emphasizes the role of the Purāṇas in providing a firm foundation for the Vedas in Tattva Sandarbha 15 and 16.
253. See pp. 121–122.
254. Tattva Sandarbha 13.
255. See Elkman 1986: 80 nn. 2–3.
256. Tattva Sandarbha 13, citing Skanda Purāṇa 7.1.2.3–5.
257. See Matsya Purāṇa 3.3–4, quoted on p. 121. The variants of this tradition are mentioned in n. 89.
258. Tattva Sandarbha 14, citing Matsya Purāṇa 53.8–11. The Matsya Purāṇa’s account was discussed earlier, on p. 122. In Tattva Sandarbha 15 Jīva Gosvāmin cites a variant of this tradition found in Śiva Purāṇa Vāyavīya 1.1.37–38.
259. Tattva Sandarbha 14.
260. For a full account of this tradition, which is found in the Brahmāṇḍa, Vāyu, and V
iṣṇu Purāṇas, see p. 122.
261. Tattva Sandarbha 14, citing Vāyu Purāṇa 60.17–18; 60.21–22.
262. See p. 122.
263. Coburn 1980: 344–345.
264. See Tattva Sandarbha 14.
265. Tattva Sandarbha 18.
266. Tattva Sandarbha 18.
267. Tattva Sandarbha 22.
268. Tattva Sandarbha 21, citing an unidentified passage from the Garuḍa Purāṇa. As Elkman (1986: 59, with n. 4) notes, these verses are important for the Gauḍīyas and are also cited in the Caitanya Caritāmṛta (2.25.108, with ślokas 35–36) and in the Haribhaktivilāsa (10.394–395), although they are never identified by chapter and verse number. These verses are not found in extant editions of the Garuḍa Purāṇa.
269. Tattva Sandarbha 20.
270. Tattva Sandarbha 24, citing Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.2.3.
271. Tattva Sandarbha 18.
272. Tattva Sandarbha 22, citing Skanda Purāṇa 2.5.16.33.
273. Tattva Sandarbha 21.
274. Tattva Sandarbha 22.
275. Tattva Sandarbha 18.
276. Tattva Sandarbha 24, citing Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.3.42. See also Tattva Sandarbha 18.
277. Tattva Sandarbha 21.
278. Tattva Sandarbha 21–22.
279. Tattva Sandarbha 21–22, which include citations from Bhāgavata Purāṇa 3.5.12; 1.4.25.
280. Tattva Sandarbha 18.
281. Tattva Sandarbha 24, citing Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.1.3.
282. Tattva Sandarbha 24, citing Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.3.42.
283. Tattva Sandarbha 26, citing Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.4.7.
284. Tattva Sandarbha 24, citing Bhāgavata Purāṇa 1.2.3.
285. Tattva Sandarbha 26, 18.
286. Tattva Sandarbha 21.
287. Tattva Sandarbha 22.
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