Parashurama leads Krishna and Balarama toward Mount Gomanta

The ''Harivamsa'' ( , literally "the genealogy of

Hari Hari ( sa, हरि) is among the primary epithets of the Hindu preserver deity Vishnu, meaning 'the one who takes away' (sins). It refers to the one who removes darkness and illusion, the one who removes all obstacles to spiritual progress ...

") is an important work of

Sanskrit literature Sanskrit literature broadly comprises all literature in the Sanskrit language. This includes texts composed in the earliest attested descendant of the Proto-Indo-Aryan language known as Vedic Sanskrit, texts in Classical Sanskrit as well as s ...

, containing 16,374 shlokas, mostly in the '' anustubh''

metre The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pref ...

. The text is also known as the ''Harivamsa Purana.'' This text is believed to be a ''khila'' (appendix or supplement) to the

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

The Mahabharata in Sanskrit: Book I: Chapter 2
in sacred-texts.com website and is traditionally ascribed to

Vyasa Krishna Dvaipayana ( sa, कृष्णद्वैपायन, Kṛṣṇadvaipāyana), better known as Vyasa (; sa, व्यासः, Vyāsaḥ, compiler) or Vedavyasa (वेदव्यासः, ''Veda-vyāsaḥ'', "the one who cl ...

. The most celebrated commentary of the ''Mahabharata'' by

Neelakantha Chaturdhara Neelakantha Chaturdhara ( sa, नीलकण्ठ चतुर्धर, IAST: ''Nīlakaṇṭha Caturdhara'') (also referred as Neelakantha Chaturdhar) was a scholar who lived in Varanasi in the later half of the 17th century, famous for his ...

, the ''Bharata Bhava Deepa'' also covers the ''Harivamsa''. According to a traditional version of the

, the ''Harivamsa'' is divided into two ''parvas'' (books) and 12,000 verses. These are included with the eighteen ''parvas'' of the ''Mahabharata''. The Critical Edition has three ''parvas'' and 5,965 verses. The Adi Parva of describes the creation of the cosmos and the legendary history of the kings of the Solar and Lunar dynasties leading up to the birth of

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

. Vishnu Parva recounts the history of Krishna up to the events prior to the ''Mahabharata''.Maurice Winternitz (1981), History of Indian Literature, Vol. 1, Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 426-431 Bhavishya Parva, the third book, includes two alternate creation theories, hymns to Shiva and Vishnu and provides a description of the

Kali Yuga ''Kali Yuga'', in Hinduism, is the fourth and worst of the four ''yugas'' (world ages) in a ''Yuga Cycle'', preceded by '' Dvapara Yuga'' and followed by the next cycle's '' Krita (Satya) Yuga''. It is believed to be the present age, which is ...

. While the ''Harivamsa'' has been regarded as an important source of information on the origin of

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...

's incarnation Krishna, there has been speculation as to whether this text was derived from an earlier text and what its relationship is to the

Brahma Purana The ''Brahma Purana'' ( sa, ब्रह्मपुराण or ; ) is one of the eighteen major Puranas collections of Hindu texts in Sanskrit Language. It is listed as the first Maha-Purana in all the anthologies, and therefore also called Adi ...

, another text that deals with the origins of Krishna.

Chronology

The bulk of the text is derived from two traditions, the tradition, that is, the five marks of the

Purana Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...

corpus one of which is the ' genealogy, and stories about the life of Krishna as a herdsman. The text is complex, containing layers that go back to the 1st or 2nd centuries BCE. The origin of this appendix is not precisely known but it is apparent that it was a part of the ''Mahabharata'' by the 1st century CE because "the poet Ashvaghosha quotes a couple of verses, attributing them to the ''Mahabharata'', which are now only found in the ''Harivamsa''" (Datta 1858). Edward Washburn Hopkins considers the ''Harivamsa'' the latest parva of the ''Mahabharata''. Hazra has dated the Purana to the 4th century CE on the basis of the description of the

rasa lila The rasalila (), also rendered the raslila or the ras dance, is part of the traditional story of Krishna described in Hindu scriptures such as the Bhagavata Purana and literature such as the Gita Govinda, where he dances with Radha and the gopis ...

in it. According to him, the '' Visnu Purana'' and the ''

Bhagavata Purana The ''Bhagavata Purana'' ( sa, भागवतपुराण; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' or simply ''Bhagavata'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen great Puranas (''Mahapuranas''). Composed in Sa ...

'' belong to the 5th century CE and 6th century CE respectively. According to Dikshit, the date of the ''

Matsya Purana The ''Matsya Purana'' (IAST: Matsya Purāṇa) is one of the eighteen major Puranas (Mahapurana), and among the oldest and better preserved in the Puranic genre of Sanskrit literature in Hinduism. The text is a Vaishnavism text named after the h ...

'' is 3rd century CE. When we compare the biography of Krishna, the account of Raji, and some other episodes as depicted in the , it appears to be anterior to the former. Therefore, the and the can be dated to at least the 3rd century CE. By its style and contents, the appears to be anterior to the and . The verses quoted by Asvaghosa belong to this parva. On this basis, we can safely assume the (except for the later interpolations) to be at least as old as the 1st century CE.

Editions

The is available in three editions. The vulgate text of the has total 271 s (chapters), divided into three ''parvas'', (55 chapters), (81 chapters) and (135 chapters). The traditional edition contains 12000 shlokas (verses) 2 sub-parvas, the Harivamsa Parva (187 chapters) and the Bhavishya Parva (48 chapters) with a total of 235 chapters. The Critical Edition or CE (1969–71, Ed. P.L.Vaidya) is around a third (118 chapters in 6073 slokas) of this vulgate edition. Like the vulgate, the chapters in the CE are divided into three parvas, (chapters 1-45), (chapters 46-113) and (chapters 114 -118). Vaidya suggests that even the CE represents an expanded text and proposes that the oldest form of probably began with chapter 20 (which is where ''

Agni Purana The ''Agni Purana'', ( sa, अग्नि पुराण, ) is a Sanskrit text and one of the eighteen major Puranas of Hinduism. The text is variously classified as a Purana related to Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism and Smartism, but also co ...

'' 12 places its start) and must have ended with chapter 98 of his text.

Translations

The ''Harivamsa'' has been translated in many Indian vernacular languages; The vulgate version containing 3 books and 271 chapters has not been translated into English yet. The only

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

translation of the traditional version (2 sub-parvas (Harivamsa parva - 187 chapters and Bhavishya parva - 48 chapters, a total of 235 chapters) is by Manmatha Nath Dutt in 1897 and it is in the public domain. The critical edition has been translated into English twice so far. once in 2016 by Bibek Debroy and by Simon Brodbeck in 2019);

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

(M. A. Langlois, 1834–35); and other languages. Translations of the Harivamsa
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Notes

References

* Bowker, John, The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, New York, Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 410 * Winternitz, Maurice (1981) History of Indian Literature Vol. I. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. * Ruben, Walter (1941) "The Krsnacarita in the Harivamsa and Certain Puranas.” ''Journal of the American Oriental Society''. Vol. 61, No.3. pp. 115–127. * Lorenz, Ekkehard (2007) ''The Harivamsa: The Dynasty of Krishna'', in Edwin F. Bryant (ed.), Krishna, A Source Book, Oxford University Press. * Shastri, Rajendra Muni, ''Jaina Sahitya mein Sri Krishna Charita'', Jaipur, Prakrit Bharati Akademi, 1991.

External links