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Modern Scholarship: Al Biruni Abhinavagupta Vedas Upanishads Brahma Sutra Vedanta

Modern scholarship dates the composition of the Bhagavata Purana between 500-1000 CE, most likely between 800-1000 CE. The text references other important Hindu scriptures like the Vedas, Upanishads, and Bhagavad Gita, suggesting it was composed after these texts. Scholars debate the precise date and location but many place its origins in South India in the post-Alvar period around the 9th century, influenced by the Alvar saints. Manuscripts of the text are highly inconsistent, challenging precise dating and suggesting it was revised and added to over time.

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112 views

Modern Scholarship: Al Biruni Abhinavagupta Vedas Upanishads Brahma Sutra Vedanta

Modern scholarship dates the composition of the Bhagavata Purana between 500-1000 CE, most likely between 800-1000 CE. The text references other important Hindu scriptures like the Vedas, Upanishads, and Bhagavad Gita, suggesting it was composed after these texts. Scholars debate the precise date and location but many place its origins in South India in the post-Alvar period around the 9th century, influenced by the Alvar saints. Manuscripts of the text are highly inconsistent, challenging precise dating and suggesting it was revised and added to over time.

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mahendra varman
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Modern scholarship

Modern scholarship dates its composition to between 500 CE to 1000 CE, but most likely
between 800 and 1000 CE.[16] A version of the text existed no later than 1030 CE, when it is
mentioned by al Biruni[16] and quoted by Abhinavagupta. The Bhagavata Purana abounds in
references to verses of the Vedas, the primary Upanishads, the Brahma Sutra of Vedanta school
of Hindu philosophy, and the Bhagavad Gita, suggesting that it was composed after these
texts.[48] The text contains more details of Krishna's biography than the 3rd- 4th-century
Harivamsha and Vishnu Purana, and is therefore likely to have been composed after these texts,
suggesting a chronological range of 5001000 CE.[16][49] Within this range, scholars such as R. C.
Hazra date it to the first half of the 6th century CE, Bryant as well as Gupta and Valpey citing
epigraphical and archaeological evidence suggest much of the text could be from the 4th to 7th
century,[50][51] while most others place it in the post-Alvar period around the 9th century.[16][52][53]
Parts of the text use an archaic Vedic flavour of Sanskrit, which may either suggest that its
authors sought to preserve or express reverence for the Vedic tradition, or that some text has an
earlier origin.[48] There are two flavors of Krishna stories, one of warrior prince and another of
romantic lover, the former composed in more archaic Sanskrit and the later in a different
linguistic style, suggesting that the texts may not have been composed by one author or over a
short period, but rather grew over time as a compilation of accretions from different hands.[9][54]

The Bhagavata Purana contains apparent references to the South Indian Alvar saints and it makes
a post factum prophecy of the spread of Vishnu worship in Tamil country (BP XI.5.3840);[26][49]
these facts, along with its emphasis on "emotional Bhakti to Krishna" and the "Advaita
philosophy of Sankara", lead many scholars to trace its origins to South India.[5] However, J. A.
B. van Buitenen points out that 10th11th CE South Indian Vaishnava theologians Yamuna and
Ramanuja do not refer to Bhagavata Purana in their writings, and this anomaly needs to be
explained before the geographical origins and dating are regarded as definitive.[26][49]

Since the 19th-century, most scholars believe that the Bhagavata Purana was written by a group
of learned Brahmin ascetics, probably in South India, who were well versed in Vedic and ancient
Indian literature and influenced by the Alvars.[55] Postmodern scholars have suggested alternate
theories.[56]

Inconsistent manuscripts

Bhagavata Purana Manuscript, Bengal, India, 16th century

The Puranas are a type of traditional Hindu texts that took form during the medieval period,
often both informed by earlier material and undergoing later interpolations.[7] It is therefore
problematic to assign a precise date to any Purana text.[6][52][57]

Modern scholarship on Puranas manuscripts, including those of Bhagavata Purana, has been
challenging because each Purana exists in numerous versions which are highly inconsistent.[58][59]
Most editions of Puranas, in use particularly by Western scholars, are "based on one manuscript
or on a few manuscripts selected at random", even though divergent manuscripts with the same
title exist. Scholars have long acknowledged the existence of Purana manuscripts that "seem to
differ much from printed edition", and it is unclear which one is accurate, and whether
conclusions drawn from the randomly or cherrypicked printed version were universal over
geography or time.[58] This problem is most severe with Purana manuscripts of the same title,
including the Bhagavata Purana, that are in regional languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Bengali
and others which have largely been ignored.[58]

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