Bhagavata Purana

Bhagavat Purana (also known as Srimad Bhagavata, Bhagavatam or Bhagwat) is the most popular and widely circulated of all the Puranas. Dear to devotees of Lord Vishnu, Bhagavat Purana consists of eighteen thousand slokas, distributed amongst 332 chapters and divided into twelve cantos (skandhas). It is named Bhagavata from its being dedicated to the glorification of Lord Vishnu, a premier Hindu deity. Though originally written in Sanskrit, Bhagavat has been explored and translated in major vernacular languages of India. Bhagavat, an epic philosophical and literary classic, holds a prominent position in India’s voluminous written wisdom. Bhagavat exercises a more direct and powerful influence upon the opinions and feelings of the people than perhaps any other of the Puranas. Bhagavat is considered essence of Hindu mythology like Geeta being considered as essence of upanishads. Bhagavat deals mainly with innumerable exploits of Krishna, an avatar or incarnation of Vishnu and stresses on devotion, as way to salvation (mukti). Sage Vyas, author of many great scriptures like Mahabharat and Vedas, compiled it . The 18,000-verse treatise centers on the science of God and devotion to Him,…