Bhagavata Purana - Translations

Translations

• A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada has written a multi-volume edition that includes English translation and commentary. Translation also available in more than 40 languages. For free online reading, see: http://www.vedabase.net

• A Telugu version was rendered by the poet Pothana in the fifteenth century.

• The transcreated work, known as the Bhagavata of Sankaradeva, is the primary theological source for Mahapurushiya Dharma in the Indian state of Assam. Sankaradeva (1449-1568 AD) drew inspiration chiefly from the Bhagavata and he himself undertook the task of rendering of the major portion, namely Books I, II, III, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI and XII. Besides the rendering, he composed a large number of works with materials from the Bhagavata such as the Kirttana Ghosha which is an anthology (kavya-kosh) of more than two dozen epics of various magnitudes. Most of the poems of the Kirttana are renderings or adaptations from the Bhagavata Purana. His Nimi Nava Siddha Samvada is a doctrinal treatise based on Book XI of the Bhagavata. His Anadi Patana is mainly an adaptation from Book III of the Bhagavata. The Gunamala, the 'Garland of Praises (for Lord Krishna)' written by Sankaradeva is a little handbook capturing in racy, rhyming and sonorous verses, the essence of the Bhagavata Purana. Within the compass of a single laudatory verse, the poet recounts many incidents from Krishna's life making them easy to remember. This 'pocket-Bhagavata' is a sacred text for all Assamese Vaisnavas and is often placed in the pedestal or the Guru-Asana (sacred throne) in the congregational prayer-house called Namghar as the object of veneration. See English translation of Sankaradeva's Gunamala

• A condensed Srimad Bhagavatam in Sanskrit, the Narayaneeyam, was composed by Melpathur Bhattathiri of Kerala in 1586.

• The 16th century Maharashtrian poet Eknath wrote a scholarly commentary on the 11th Canto of the Shrimad Bhagavatam named "Ekanathi Bhagavata" in Marathi, the vernacular language of the Indian state of Maharashtra.

• The first translation of the Bhagavata into French was made by Eugene Burnouf in 1840.

• Swami Tapasyananda has written an English translation in four volumes.

• Swami Prabhavananda wrote an English version that is part translation, part summary and paraphrase, titled The Wisdom of God: Srimat Bhagavatam.

• Asthana Vidwan Motaganahalli Ramashesha Shastri has written a Kannada translation, Bhagavata Maha Purana.

• Gita Press has a two-volume English and Hindi translation (with Sanskrit text and English translation).

• Kamala Subramanian has written a concise version of this book in English.

• Another translation of Book X was published on Writers Workshop in 1997, transcreated by Nandini Nopani and P. Lal.

• Edwin Bryant published an English translation of Book X in 2003, through Penguin Books.