Srimad Bhagavata, Volume 1

Srimad Bhagavata #1

by Tapasyananda

The Srimad Bhagavata is one of the Puranas. It consists of 18,000 verses and is regarded as an encyclopedia of spiritual philosophy. Attributed to the sage Vyasa, the Bhagavata (also Bhagavatam) illustrates religious truths with stories of ancient India's saints, seers, and kings. The book also deals in part with the life of Krishna (which makes the book especially sacred to the Vaishnavas) The set consists of four volumes, each with Devanagri Sanskrit, and English translation, mainly in the lines of Sridhara's interpretation. The verses are numbered. A thorough introduction explains the methodology and outlook of Pauranika literature in respect to space, time, nature and man. Prologues are also included with each Skanda to further the reader's understanding of the text.

Genres: Religion

456 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2015

About the author

Swami Tapasyananda (1904-1991) was a senior monk of the Ramakrishna Mission. He was a disciple of Swami Shivananda, one of the eminent disciples of Sri Ramakrishna. The Swami was a vice-president of the Ramakrishna Order from 1985-1991. He has to his credit many books in English, including the translations of many scriptures. He was the president of Ramakrishna Math, Chennai from 1971-1991. He was a prolific writer. He translated many Hindu classics into English from original Sanskrit.

Reviews

[The Conch · Rating 5 out of 5]

By the grace of Macaulay, we are unable to understand Samskrit, thus completely separated from Bharat's shastra, puranic history, culture, way of life, philosophy, Dharma based politics etc. In the same line, we have to trust deformed translation of western indologist like doniger etc. Hence, we need to have trust on our Indian authors who are free from western influence.

Swami Tapasyananda of Ramakrishna Math order translated the Bhagavata, so it could be reliable, though first preference should be to gain knowledge direct from reading Samskrit verses.

It is amazing to know history of puranic kings of Bharata. Authors like DP, may call it Mythology, but reading this texts gives amazing feeling of keeping history in India's own way. With this we get boost to cast this world of Maya and devote ourselves to worship of Shri Hari, because after death there will remain only Shri Narayana.

[Allen O'Dell Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book of a four volume set. It is a thorough translation of the mahapurana, and at the same time it is quite readable. I must admit that I am currently working my way through the entire work, but I can state that it is the best translation I have read. The Sanskrit shlokas are also included, which is a major plus in my book. This translation deserves more recognition.