| Brahma Vaivarta Purana | |
|---|---|
 A manuscript of the Brahma Vaivarta Purana in Assamese | |
| Information | |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Author | Vyasa |
| Language | Sanskrit |
| Chapters | 276 |
| Verses | 18,000 |
| Part of a series on |
| Hindu scriptures and texts |
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The Brahmavaivarta Purana (Sanskrit: ब्रह्मवैवर्त पुराण; 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]
- ^ a b Dalal 2014, p. 83.
- ^ a b c d Rocher 1986, p. 163.
- ^ a b Hazra 1987, p. 166.
- ^ Monier-Williams 1992, p. 740, entry on Brahmavaivarta.
- ^ Rocher 1986, pp. 161, 163–164.
- ^ Rocher 1986, pp. 161, 163.
- ^ Rocher 1986, pp. 161–162.
- ^ Gietz 1992, pp. 248–249, with note 1351
- ^ Rocher 1986, pp. 161–163.
- ^ Kinsley 1979, pp. 112–117.
- ^ Richmond, Swann & Zarrilli 1993, pp. 177–181.
- ^ Dimitrova & Oranskaia 2018.