The Story of Lord Shree Krishna (Srimad Bhagavatha Maha Purana, Canto X)

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Dr. Giridhar is a computer scientist by training and has held leadership roles in multinationals such as Alcatel, Nokia, Sharp, Motorola. He also served as an adjunct professor at Southern Methodist University, Texas. He has published technical articles in leading international journals and has authored an eBook on Machine Learning. He had his early sastric studies under his father Prof. Krishnaswamy Rao and in recent years was blessed to have studied under His Holiness Sri Vidyasagara Madhava Teertha, head of Sri Madhava Teertha pontificate in Karnataka. He has authored many books on divinity and his book on the Bhagavad Gita based on Gita Vivruti of Sri Raghavendra Teertha was recently published by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams.

Bhagavata Maha Purana (BMP) is foremost among 18 major Puranas (epics) in the Vedic tradition. It was composed in Sanskrit by sage Vedavyasa, an incarnation of Lord Almighty who also composed the great epic Mahabharata. This epic has 12 cantos with about 18000 verses. While the Vedas (which are not composed by anyone human or divine) contain the eternal truth about the Lord, universe, living beings, inert matter, and their interactions, they are often cryptic, numerous in number and are difficult for most people to understand. The puranas serve to convey the message in the Vedas using real life examples of the Lord's various incarnations over the ages.

Sage Vedavyasa composed the Bhagavata Purana at Shamya Prasa Ashrama at Adair on the banks of holy river Ganges. He initially delivered lecture to Sage Shuka, an incarnation of deity Rudra who in turn taught this to the entire world through his disciples. This Purana has five facets.

It expands on the concepts of Brahma Sutras (which are conclusive texts on the Vedas)

It imparts the true meanings of many aspects of Mahabharata

It illustrates the message in the Vedas with real life examples

It is a commentary on the holy hymn Gayatri

It is a summary of the entire Purana literature

It is thus appropriate that sage Shuka, an incarnation of five faced Lord Rudra, was tasked with spreading the message of this five faceted epic to the entire world.

Structure of Bhagavata Maha Purana

The 12 cantos of this great epic are organized into chapters with each chapter dealing with a specific topic. The Bhagavata Purana is an embodiment of Lord Al- mighty with the cantos representing the divine organs of the Lord as follows:

The first and second cantos represent His feet

The third and fourth cantos represent His thighs

The fifth canto represents His navel

The sixth canto represents His heart

The seventh and eight cantos represent His shoulders