The Bhagavata Purana is traditionally attributed to Vyasa, the compiler-cum-composer of The Mahabharata. The focal figure of The Mahabharata is Krishna on Kurukshetra; the focal figure of The Bhagavata Purana is Krishna of Gokula, Mathura and Vrindavana. The Itihasa and the Purana together complete the personality of Krishna: baby Krishna (Krishna-Gopala), Romantic any mystic Krishna (Krishna of the Rasa-Lila), and Krishna on the battlefield of life (Parthasarathi in the Bhagavad-Gita). The sweetness of Bhakti, compassion and divine grace is the rasa of this Purana, and the essence of this rasa is in the Tenth Book, whose core is the magical, mystical moonlit dance of the Rasa-Lila in the garden of Vrindavana. Lyricism, in fact, pervades all of Book Ten, which is why the major portion of this transcreation is in verse. The vers in libre, but the melodic line is given emphasis. The lyrical beauty should emerge from the heard not the read word. So should the philosophy, the ethics, the theology. The Bhagavata Purana has all of these—and much more. The ninety cantos of Book Ten are a wonderful feast of the values, beliefs and rituals of Vaishnavism. There is no more inspiring blend of story, poetry and Dharma in the literature of Hinduism.
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