Friday, May 25, 2007

Srimad Bhagavatam



Shun all pride and jealousy.
Give up all idea of 'me' and 'mine'.
As long as there is consciousness of diversity
and not of unity in the Self,
a man ignorantly thinks of himself as a separate being,
as the 'doer' of actions and the'experiencer' of effects.
He remains subject to birth and death,
knows happiness and misery,
is bound by his own deeds good or bad."
-Srimad Bhagavatam
The Srimad Bhagavatam is one of the Puranas. European historical scholarship suggests that the text was written in the 9th or 10th century as part of the development of the bhakti traditions. However, Hindu religious tradition holds it to be one of the works of Vyasa written at the beginning of Kali Yuga (about c.3100 BCE). Some argue that the Purana's mention of the Vedic Sarasvati River as a great river (maha-nadi) is evidence of the Purana's traditional date, since the river dried up about 2000 BCE. Interdisciplinary and intertextual studies are appearing which try to confirm the ancient status of this Purana.

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