Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, an epic philosophical and literary classic, holds a prominent position in Indias voluminous written wisdom. The timeless wisdom of India is expressed in the Vedas, ancient Sanskrit texts that touch upon all fields of human knowledge. Originally preserved through oral tradition, the Vedas where first put into writing by Śrīla Vyāsadeva, the "literary incarnation of God". After compiling the Vedas, Śrīla Vyāsadeva was inspired by his spiritual master to present their profound essence in the form of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. Known as "the ripened fruit of the tree of Vedic literature," Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is the most complete and authoritative exposition of Vedic knowledge. This volume contains the first 370 verses (chapters 1 through 7) of the first canto with sanskrit to english word to word -translations and elaborate purports by His Divine Grace. ~ Librarian's note: an alternate cover edition ISBN: 0-912776-27-7
His Divine Grace Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (अभय चरणारविन्द भक्तिवेदान्त स्वामी प्रभुपाद)was born as Abhay Charan De on 1 September 1896 in Calcutta, India.
He first met his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami, in Calcutta in 1922. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, a prominent devotional scholar and the founder of sixty-four branches of Gaudiya Mathas (Vedic institutes), liked this educated young man and convinced him to dedicate his life to teaching Vedic knowledge in the Western world. Srila Prabhupada became his student, and eleven years later (1933) at Allahabad, he became his formally initiated disciple.
At their first meeting, in 1922, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura requested Srila Prabhupada to broadcast Vedic knowledge through the English language. In the years that followed, Srila Prabhupada wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad-gita and in 1944, without assistance, started an English fortnightly magazine.
In the last ten years of his life, in spite of his advanced age, Srila Prabhupada circled the globe twelve times on lecture tours that have took him to six continents. In spite of such a vigorous schedule, Srila Prabhupada continued to write prolifically. His writings constitute a veritable library of Vedic philosophy, religion, literature and culture.
I like the verse translations as they are easy to understand and tell everything clearly. I despise the commentary because it is all a way to push service to what this "holy man" author believes is God. I don't like the way he completely buys in to Krsna being the ultimate godhead and then pushes it onto the reader.
This canto provides us the most important questions asked by parikshit maharj, that what should a mortal man do. This canto provides detailed information about why one should study it and what are its results.
Excellent Book, actually we are fortunate enough to have the full set, which is a God-send for re-search. It takes many year's to read the S.B. But it is very worth-while and answers every question concerning, creation, mankind and his struggles, where we come from and our ultimate destination. It's coverage is extensive.