Although some of the legends believed to be ancient are scattered through the different portions of this Puráńa, yet the great mass of it is taken up with tiresome descriptions of Vrindavan and Goloka, the dwellings of Krishńa on earth and in heaven; with endless repetitions of prayers and invocations addressed to him; and with insipid descriptions of his person and sports, and the love of the Gopís and of Rádhá towards him. There are some particulars of the origin of the artificer castes, which is of value because it is cited as authority in matters affecting them, contained in the Bráhma Khańd́a; and in the Prákrita and Ganeśa Khańd́as are legends of those divinities, not wholly, perhaps, modern inventions, but of which the source has not been traced. In the life of Krishńa the incidents recorded are the same as those narrated in the Vishńu and the Bhágavata; but the stories, absurd as they are, are much compressed to make room for original matter, still more puerile and tiresome. The Brahma-vaivartta has not the slightest title to be regarded as a Puráńa 65.

Footnotes

xli:64

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xlii:65 Analysis of the Brahma-vaivartta Puráńa: Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, June 1832.

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Hinduism

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