[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879) › c5.233 # A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.233 A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.233 - **Language:** English ### [c5.233](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.233) BHĀGAVATA PURĀNA. The Purāna “in which ample details of duty are described, and which opens with (an extract from) the Gāyatrī; that in which the death of the Asura Vritra is told, and in which the mortals and immortals of the Sāraswata Kalpa, with the events that then happened to them in the world, are related, that is celebrated as the Bhāgavata, and consists of 18,000 verses.” Such is the Hindu description of this work. “The Bhāgavata,” says Wilson, “is a work of great celebrity in India, and exercises a more direct and powerful influence upon the opinions and feelings of the people than perhaps any other of the Purānas. It is placed fifth in all the lists, but the Padmá ranks it as the eighteenth, as the extracted substance of all the rest. According to the usual specification, it consists of 18,000 slokas, distributed amongst 332 chapters, divided into twelve skandhas or books. It is named Bhāgavata from its being dedicated to the glorification of Bhāgavata or Vishnu.” The most popular and characteristic part of this Purāṇa is the tenth book, which narrates in detail the history of Krishna, and has been translated into perhaps all the vernacular languages of India. Colebrooke concurs in the opinion of many learned Hindus that this Purāṇa is the composition of the grammarian Vopadeva, who lived about six or seven centuries ago at the court of Hemādri, Rāja of Deva-giri (Deogurh or Daulatābād), and Wilson sees no reason for calling in question the tradition which assigns the work to this writer. This Purāṇa has been translated into French by Burnouf, and has been published with the text in three volumes folio, and in other forms. - [Previous: c5.232](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.232) - [Next: c5.234](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.234) - [Up: c5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5) ## Cites (2) - [Padmapurāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.padma) — Vyāsa, Sanskrit - [Bhāgavatapurāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.bhagavata) — Vyāsa, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.233](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.dowson-1879.c5.233) · Pramāṇa