From Puråna-Veda to Kårß∫a-Veda: Journal of Vaishnava Studies

Abstract

The Bhågavata Purå∫a is one of the most important textual monuments to Vaiß∫ava bhakti (devotional) traditions. This preeminent
Vaishava text, which is generally held to have originated in South India between the eighth and tenth centuries,1 invests its teachings with canonical authority by securing for itself a place within the brahmanical Hindu canon of Ωruti and sm®ti texts. The interplay of Ωruti and sm®ti can be vividly illustrated through an inquiry into the strategies through which the Bhågavata Purå∫a assimilates itself to two principal categories of brahmanical scripture: Purå∫a, one of the principal categories of sm®ti texts; and Veda, the paradigmatic canonical category that is synonymous with Ωruti. The Bhågavata Purå∫a utilizes a variety of strategies, first, to establish its status as
“Purå∫a-Veda,” a status that it shares with other Purå∫as; and, second, to claim for itself the transcendent authority of “Kårsna-Veda,” the Veda that is identical with K®ß∫a, the supreme Godhead, and the culminating scripture of the entire Ωruti and smrti canon.