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Harivamsha
A gorgeous, lucid rendering of the majestic conclusion to the Mahabharata
As an epilogue to the greatest epic of all time, the Harivamsha further elaborates on the myriad conflicts of dharma and the struggle between good and evil. Stories abound—from the cosmogony of the universe to the legends of the solar and lunar dynasties and even a foreshadowing of kali yuga in the future. At the centre of all these magnificent tales is the mercurial figure of Krishna, whose miraculous life and wondrous exploits are recounted with vivid detail. In offering a glimpse into Krishna’s life—as a mischievous child, as an enchanting lover, as a discerning prince—this luminous text sheds light on many questions left unanswered in the Mahabharata.
Brimming with battles and miracles, wisdom and heroics, philosophical insight and psychological acuity, Bibek Debroy’s splendid translation of the Harivamsha is absolutely essential reading for all those who love the Mahabharata.
As an epilogue to the greatest epic of all time, the Harivamsha further elaborates on the myriad conflicts of dharma and the struggle between good and evil. Stories abound—from the cosmogony of the universe to the legends of the solar and lunar dynasties and even a foreshadowing of kali yuga in the future. At the centre of all these magnificent tales is the mercurial figure of Krishna, whose miraculous life and wondrous exploits are recounted with vivid detail. In offering a glimpse into Krishna’s life—as a mischievous child, as an enchanting lover, as a discerning prince—this luminous text sheds light on many questions left unanswered in the Mahabharata.
Brimming with battles and miracles, wisdom and heroics, philosophical insight and psychological acuity, Bibek Debroy’s splendid translation of the Harivamsha is absolutely essential reading for all those who love the Mahabharata.
- GenresReligion
606 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 30, 2019
39 people are currently reading
226 people want to read
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* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author
Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.
See also: Anonymous
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 13, 2018
I did not know that I had ordered a part of Mahabharat when I ordered this book.
But since I had already read the first thousand pages from the translation of Kisari Mohan Ganguly, I could surely relate to the characters and the style of expression.
The footnotes are really informative in this translation. Bibek Debroy seems to have done an excellent job.
As far as the story is concerned, it follows almost the same pattern as other parvas of mahabharat: The first half or so recounts different lineages and kingdoms starting from the very beginning, the second part explains the specific characters.
The more I read these books, the more I am convinced with the viewpoint that there was a basic text which has been used to incorporate a lot of other stories later on to be used as propaganda machine for the newer kings during the much later period.
A good read nonetheless.
But since I had already read the first thousand pages from the translation of Kisari Mohan Ganguly, I could surely relate to the characters and the style of expression.
The footnotes are really informative in this translation. Bibek Debroy seems to have done an excellent job.
As far as the story is concerned, it follows almost the same pattern as other parvas of mahabharat: The first half or so recounts different lineages and kingdoms starting from the very beginning, the second part explains the specific characters.
The more I read these books, the more I am convinced with the viewpoint that there was a basic text which has been used to incorporate a lot of other stories later on to be used as propaganda machine for the newer kings during the much later period.
A good read nonetheless.
January 4, 2018
Harivamsha is the Appendix to the Hindu Epic Mahabharatha penned by Ved Vyasa. Ved Vyasa himself appears as a character through the story.
Harivamsha devotes itself to the one of the Greatest Character of Mahabharatha, Krishna Vasudeva. Krishna appears in Mahabharatha almost abruptly as the cousin and counsel to the Pandavas who eventually leads them to victory in the Battle.
Harivamsha is the complete story of Krishna, his birth and till the time he enters the main story of Mahabharatha.
Whether one believes in the Godhood of Krishna, or not, Krishna is the most fascinating character in the Epic who almost turns the story on his finger, just like the conical disc he holds through the story.
He counsels, conspires, confuses and convinces all the characters to bring about the result he desires. Although, there is nothing for his self gratification from the end of the war he puts the universal belief and values as his ideal for the desired outcome, even by the means of winning the lopsided contest by controversial means.
Bibek Debroy, the masterful economist and linguist, does a stellar job to translate the raw Epic into English Language for the lovers of the Epic like myself. Seldom, one does a great translation of such an Epic as is without contaminating the translation with the opinion of the translator.
Harivamsha devotes itself to the one of the Greatest Character of Mahabharatha, Krishna Vasudeva. Krishna appears in Mahabharatha almost abruptly as the cousin and counsel to the Pandavas who eventually leads them to victory in the Battle.
Harivamsha is the complete story of Krishna, his birth and till the time he enters the main story of Mahabharatha.
Whether one believes in the Godhood of Krishna, or not, Krishna is the most fascinating character in the Epic who almost turns the story on his finger, just like the conical disc he holds through the story.
He counsels, conspires, confuses and convinces all the characters to bring about the result he desires. Although, there is nothing for his self gratification from the end of the war he puts the universal belief and values as his ideal for the desired outcome, even by the means of winning the lopsided contest by controversial means.
Bibek Debroy, the masterful economist and linguist, does a stellar job to translate the raw Epic into English Language for the lovers of the Epic like myself. Seldom, one does a great translation of such an Epic as is without contaminating the translation with the opinion of the translator.
September 24, 2021
Debroy has done very honest work in translating the text as it is. It helped me demolish the faith angle I had towards Hinduism. Krishna is not all fairy tales and sunshine. He has a dark side too, like an explicit evil side. No attempt has been made to drag the narratives and make them fit into the concept of God can do no wrong.
August 25, 2021
A wonderful & simple (yet not so simple) translation has 3 parvas: Harivamsha Parva (1-45 chapters) where everything about generations of the Chandravanshis & more are explained with detailed explanations of certain battles. Most of them are said to Janamejaya. The next parva is Vishnu Parva (46-113 chapters) speaks in detail about Krishna's life pre-Hastinapura and post Hastinapura meaning none from Mahabharata. The final parva is the Bhavishya Parva (114-118 chapters) speaks about how will adharma manifest.
While reading this, I could feel the losing history as there are parts where there is confusion and the author mentions it as that's exactly how it was while he translated it from the critical versions. I believe if someone with an open mind wants to learn about the history of Krishna, this should be the very first book to go for as this puts every other book (or visual story telling) to shame with their exaggerated love for Krishna. Very true & very worthy book.
While reading this, I could feel the losing history as there are parts where there is confusion and the author mentions it as that's exactly how it was while he translated it from the critical versions. I believe if someone with an open mind wants to learn about the history of Krishna, this should be the very first book to go for as this puts every other book (or visual story telling) to shame with their exaggerated love for Krishna. Very true & very worthy book.
April 1, 2017
The first parva gave me some unpleasant flashbacks of Bhishma on his bed of arrows. But then we get to the fairly delightful stories of baby Krishna, which were a combination of absurd and cute. We end with some less exciting adventures of adult Krishna, with, surprisingly, very little in the way of Mahabharata references.
May 25, 2018
The hitherto unknown events in the life of Sri Krishna, can be found in this piece of work. This book carries information on the life of shri krishna in addition to what is already contained in the Bhagavata purana. A must read for men of all generations.
July 16, 2018
Excellent account of Krishna Vasudeva's life. Must-read for Purana lovers.
May 5, 2023
Though the book Harivamsha, translated by Bibek Deb Roy must have been available for a few years, I bought this only a month ago and could complete my first reading only a few days ago. Not that I was unaware of its existence, but I didn't think of buying it as I had already read Harivamsha in the vernacular version, besides Mahabharata and Bhagavata. However, it remained on my 'to read' list and I bought it now.
As I know the story broadly, what interested me is its deviations from Srimad Bhagavatam and the new information, if any available. I was satisfied on both counts.
The original was written by none other than Veda Vyasa which itself is good enough to award the five stars even without turning the pages. One can understand how difficult it must be to read the original, shloka by shloka, and to translate it into English. Full credit to the translating author for having come up with a great job. Wherever the Sanskrit text was not clear, he gave the exact translation and explained the inconsistency by way of footnotes. I think that is a perfect method of translation indicating no liberties were taken with the text while translating.
A RETELLING?
I found that the same story of Bhagavata was retold by the author( Veda Vyasa) in Harivamsha. Why I say 'retold' is because there are some differences in the narration between this and Bhagavatha. There is no dramatic announcement from the sky ( Akashvani's oracle) that Kamsa's nemesis is going to be born in Devaki's womb. This fact was revealed by Narada to Kamsa directly. Nanda and Yashoda went to Vraja and settled near the hill of Govardhana only after Krishna was born and the switching of babies was done by Vaudeva. No crossing of Yamuna by Vasudeva carrying little Krishna in a basket on his head and multi-hooded Adisesha acting as an umbrella. So much demystification! Or was that what actually happened and Bhagavata mystified later? Scholars might have an opinion on this. Devaki is not a cousin of Kamsa as in Bhagavatam but is his aunt ( father's sister) which looks like a major deviation or even an error not pointed out by the translator in his footnotes. ( Interestingly, that makes Krishna a cousin of Kamsa and not his nephew!) Another small detail I noticed was Putana feeds Krishna her breast milk but goes there in the night donning the shape of a bird. When she died, people would only find a dead bird! Like this, you may find some more. I urge you to discover yourself.
Coming to new information which you can't find in other epics, there was plenty. As the name of the book itself suggests the book had devoted a large portion of it to describe the lineages of various kings. You come to know how closely all the characters of Mahabharata and Bhagavata were related among themselves. You will know in detail about various lineages of Yadavs, such as Bhojas, Kukurs, Andhakas, and Vrishnis.
Ekalavya was none other than a son of Devashrava, a brother of Vasudeva and he was raised by Nuishadas. He was not at all a Nishada by birth. Akrura was a son-in-law of King Ugrasena. Even Poundraka Vasudeva seems to be closely related to Krishna. He was the son of Shouri (Vasudeva, the father?) and Sutanu, one of his many wives. The translator had taken pains to explain in footnotes at various places to clarify who is Krishna and who is Krishna's father as both were spelt as Vasudeva. Here the translator has mentioned Shouri as Krishna ( Page 362, footnote 993), but Poundraka more looks like the son of Krishna's father. (This point was clarified to me when I raised this with a good friend of mine to clear my doubt) Shouri is a name equally applicable to both father and son Vasudevas. Maybe that was the reason he was claiming that he was the real Vaasudeva. This point may be further clarified by the translating author.
There are a lot of points worth noting by those enthusiastic about epics. Unless one reads this book, their knowledge of Bhgavata and Bharata is not complete.
The story starts and ends as a dialogue between SHOUNAKA and Suta and Suta recites what happened between JANAMEJAYA and Vysampayna after the famous Sarpa Yaga was stopped. The book ends with the failure of Aswamedha Yajna by Janamejaya which looks like an anti-climax. But the final message was delivered by Vishvavasu, the king of Gandharvas who makes Janamejaya realise his folly in trying to perform the three hundred first sacrifice and blaming his wife when the supposedly dead horse was found to be alive spoiling the sacrifice. Janamejaya realises the philosophical truth and continues to rule the kingdom following dharma along with his wife Vapushtama.
There is a lot to find in this book and the readers should be grateful to the translator Sri. Bibek Deb Roy, whose translation makes it accessible to one and all. Readers get more enlightenment on the finer aspects of the epic and the translation was excellent and easy to grasp with the help of beautiful footnotes. A book worth having and a book you can say with pride that you had read.
As I know the story broadly, what interested me is its deviations from Srimad Bhagavatam and the new information, if any available. I was satisfied on both counts.
The original was written by none other than Veda Vyasa which itself is good enough to award the five stars even without turning the pages. One can understand how difficult it must be to read the original, shloka by shloka, and to translate it into English. Full credit to the translating author for having come up with a great job. Wherever the Sanskrit text was not clear, he gave the exact translation and explained the inconsistency by way of footnotes. I think that is a perfect method of translation indicating no liberties were taken with the text while translating.
A RETELLING?
I found that the same story of Bhagavata was retold by the author( Veda Vyasa) in Harivamsha. Why I say 'retold' is because there are some differences in the narration between this and Bhagavatha. There is no dramatic announcement from the sky ( Akashvani's oracle) that Kamsa's nemesis is going to be born in Devaki's womb. This fact was revealed by Narada to Kamsa directly. Nanda and Yashoda went to Vraja and settled near the hill of Govardhana only after Krishna was born and the switching of babies was done by Vaudeva. No crossing of Yamuna by Vasudeva carrying little Krishna in a basket on his head and multi-hooded Adisesha acting as an umbrella. So much demystification! Or was that what actually happened and Bhagavata mystified later? Scholars might have an opinion on this. Devaki is not a cousin of Kamsa as in Bhagavatam but is his aunt ( father's sister) which looks like a major deviation or even an error not pointed out by the translator in his footnotes. ( Interestingly, that makes Krishna a cousin of Kamsa and not his nephew!) Another small detail I noticed was Putana feeds Krishna her breast milk but goes there in the night donning the shape of a bird. When she died, people would only find a dead bird! Like this, you may find some more. I urge you to discover yourself.
Coming to new information which you can't find in other epics, there was plenty. As the name of the book itself suggests the book had devoted a large portion of it to describe the lineages of various kings. You come to know how closely all the characters of Mahabharata and Bhagavata were related among themselves. You will know in detail about various lineages of Yadavs, such as Bhojas, Kukurs, Andhakas, and Vrishnis.
Ekalavya was none other than a son of Devashrava, a brother of Vasudeva and he was raised by Nuishadas. He was not at all a Nishada by birth. Akrura was a son-in-law of King Ugrasena. Even Poundraka Vasudeva seems to be closely related to Krishna. He was the son of Shouri (Vasudeva, the father?) and Sutanu, one of his many wives. The translator had taken pains to explain in footnotes at various places to clarify who is Krishna and who is Krishna's father as both were spelt as Vasudeva. Here the translator has mentioned Shouri as Krishna ( Page 362, footnote 993), but Poundraka more looks like the son of Krishna's father. (This point was clarified to me when I raised this with a good friend of mine to clear my doubt) Shouri is a name equally applicable to both father and son Vasudevas. Maybe that was the reason he was claiming that he was the real Vaasudeva. This point may be further clarified by the translating author.
There are a lot of points worth noting by those enthusiastic about epics. Unless one reads this book, their knowledge of Bhgavata and Bharata is not complete.
The story starts and ends as a dialogue between SHOUNAKA and Suta and Suta recites what happened between JANAMEJAYA and Vysampayna after the famous Sarpa Yaga was stopped. The book ends with the failure of Aswamedha Yajna by Janamejaya which looks like an anti-climax. But the final message was delivered by Vishvavasu, the king of Gandharvas who makes Janamejaya realise his folly in trying to perform the three hundred first sacrifice and blaming his wife when the supposedly dead horse was found to be alive spoiling the sacrifice. Janamejaya realises the philosophical truth and continues to rule the kingdom following dharma along with his wife Vapushtama.
There is a lot to find in this book and the readers should be grateful to the translator Sri. Bibek Deb Roy, whose translation makes it accessible to one and all. Readers get more enlightenment on the finer aspects of the epic and the translation was excellent and easy to grasp with the help of beautiful footnotes. A book worth having and a book you can say with pride that you had read.
September 7, 2022
JAI SHREE KRISHNA!!
This book should be considered a supplement to Mahabharata. Although the author mentions that this book isn’t a Purana, based on the definition of Purana given in the book itself, it definitely reads like one. The book chronicles the exploits of Shri Krishna starting from his family history, birth story, and till old age.
The book is divided into three sections or Parvas. The first Parva, Harivamsha Parva, explains the long genealogies of numerous gods (for which Hindu religion is famous), Asuras, Daityas, and various royal dynasties. It could get quite confusing sometimes due to the same names for different persons and sometimes due to stories themselves. The whole book follows framed storytelling technique but that doesn’t come much in way of understanding due to the language being simple and elegant. Only one main war could be of interest due to its characters being reborn again later. This section would give a lot of info about Hindu mythology in terms of the creation of various gods, semi-gods, Asuras, Adityas, Daityas, etc.
The next Parva, Vishnu Parva, is what tells the story of Shri Krishna. Starting from his birth, youth, and till old age. The death of Shri Krishna is not recounted in this. From the reason for his birth, to transfer to other parents, his killing of various Danavas, killing his uncle Kamsa, his marriage, and then further exploits of him and his lineage. There is one controversial event in the book that truly makes you think about how upright and ‘fair’ Shri Krishna is and whether any famous figure always has shades of grey. The next Parva, Bhavishya Parva, as the name suggests, is wholly dedicated to future predictions about Kaliyuga and is the shortest section of the book.
As always, author Bibek Debroy sir has done a very good translation of the Critical Edition of the book. The language is easy to understand and footnotes have been used abundantly throughout the book wherever explanation was needed. In fact, footnotes have been indispensable in understanding the story.
Overall, you can read this book if you really want to know about a part of the ‘mythology’ of Sanatan Dharma and are a true devotee of Shri Krishna.
This book should be considered a supplement to Mahabharata. Although the author mentions that this book isn’t a Purana, based on the definition of Purana given in the book itself, it definitely reads like one. The book chronicles the exploits of Shri Krishna starting from his family history, birth story, and till old age.
The book is divided into three sections or Parvas. The first Parva, Harivamsha Parva, explains the long genealogies of numerous gods (for which Hindu religion is famous), Asuras, Daityas, and various royal dynasties. It could get quite confusing sometimes due to the same names for different persons and sometimes due to stories themselves. The whole book follows framed storytelling technique but that doesn’t come much in way of understanding due to the language being simple and elegant. Only one main war could be of interest due to its characters being reborn again later. This section would give a lot of info about Hindu mythology in terms of the creation of various gods, semi-gods, Asuras, Adityas, Daityas, etc.
The next Parva, Vishnu Parva, is what tells the story of Shri Krishna. Starting from his birth, youth, and till old age. The death of Shri Krishna is not recounted in this. From the reason for his birth, to transfer to other parents, his killing of various Danavas, killing his uncle Kamsa, his marriage, and then further exploits of him and his lineage. There is one controversial event in the book that truly makes you think about how upright and ‘fair’ Shri Krishna is and whether any famous figure always has shades of grey. The next Parva, Bhavishya Parva, as the name suggests, is wholly dedicated to future predictions about Kaliyuga and is the shortest section of the book.
As always, author Bibek Debroy sir has done a very good translation of the Critical Edition of the book. The language is easy to understand and footnotes have been used abundantly throughout the book wherever explanation was needed. In fact, footnotes have been indispensable in understanding the story.
Overall, you can read this book if you really want to know about a part of the ‘mythology’ of Sanatan Dharma and are a true devotee of Shri Krishna.
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July 20, 2021Enjoyed the book. It is written in English, but the feeling is like reading in Sanskrit.
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July 15, 2024we can safely assume the Harivamsa [or Harivamsa Purana] (except for the later interpolations up to 3rd/4th CE?) to be at least as old as the 1st century CE.
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