Narrative Analysis of Bhagavata Purana: Selected Episodes from The Tenth Skandha

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This book presents an analytical study of selected narratives of the tenth skandha of the Bhāgavata Purāna with the framework of Narratology. It checks the possibilities of interpretation of some popular narratives from Kṛṣṇa saga.

Book gives an exhaustive introduction dealing with Purānas, the growth of Vaisnavism and Narratology with special reference to Bhagavata Purāṇa which sets precursor to the further analysis. It undertakes hermeneutic interpretation of episodes Lord Kṛṣṇa's birth story, Lifting of Govardhana Mountain, Syamantaka jewel, exploits of Pūtana and other demons, uprooting of Arjuna trees, the expulsion of Kaliya, Gopiciraharaṇam, Rāsapañcādhyāyī, story of Kubja, story of Śrīdaman and Rukmini Svayamvara. All these narratives are categorised into three themes - 1) Assimilation and acculturation 2) Exploits of demons and 3) Bhakti Narratives.

The Narrative structure of each episode is analysed to derive the meaning from it. Theoretical frameworks developed by K. Ayyappa Paniker, Genette and Roland Barthes are applied to the selected narratives of the tenth skandha of Bhag. P. to understand the deeper meaning of the narratives. The toolbox approach is taken into consideration while doing textual exegesis and hermeneutic interpretation. It explores socio-historical, psychological and philosophical aspects of the above narratives through textual analysis of the tenth skandha of Bhagavata Purana using the tools like intertextuality and intratextuality.

Dr. Shakuntala Gawde is Head and Assistant Professor in the Department of Sanskrit, University of Mumbai. She was the coordinator for the section of World religion and Philosophy (Jagatika dharma ani Tattvadnyana) for Marathi Vishwakosha (2016-2022). She is engaged in teaching and research of Sanskrit and allied subjects for more than a decade.

She is the first ranker and gold medallist in B.A. (Sanskrit) and M.A. (Sanskrit-Vedanta specialisation). She has done M.Phil in the topic 'Eschatology in Upanisads' and Ph.D (Sanskrit) on the topic 'Eschatology in Vedic Literature compared with the Western Philosophy'.

Her areas of interest include Vedanta, Religious studies, Purāņa studies and Aesthetics. She has presented research papers in National and International seminars including World Sanskrit Conference. She has delivered more than 50 guest lectures at various colleges, institutions and organisations. She has more than 35 publications including a co-edited book, articles in National and international journals, chapters in book and encyclopaedias out of which 13 articles are published in Encyclopaedia of Hinduism and Tribal Religion published by Springer.

She received doctoral Fellowship from Heras Institute of Indian Culture and Dorabji Tata Trust. She was invited as a 'Visiting Fellow' and 'Key note speaker' by Kelaniya University, Sri Lanka in 2017.

She has completed the project of 'Govardhanamāhātmya' under the auspices of Minor Research Project Grant of University of Mumbai received for the year 2019-2020. She received Academisthan best teacher award in September 2021.

Bhāgavata Purana is considered as the very manifestation of Lord Krsna. Its esoteric nature has given a scope to many commenta- tors to understand the significance of Bhagavata from different perspectives. Bhagavata has influenced different regional traditions, arts, culture and philosophical schools. Bhāgavata has not just remained a text but is a living tradition.

Present book studies the narrative aspect of the Bhagavata Purana. This book is based on the project carried out as the doctoral fellowship conferred by Heras Institute of Indian Culture and Dorabji Tata Trust. The journey of this project started from the paper presented at the 16th World Sanskrit Conference 2015 held in Bangkok. The title of the paper was 'Putană episode from Bhagavata Purana- various interpretations. It was an enriching experience to work on this research paper. Lord Kṛṣṇa captivated my mind in such a manner that my heart and intellect wanted to take this topic further. When there was a call for proposals from Heras Institute, I thought to undertake a project on exploring the meaning of different episodes of Bhāgavata Purana from the per- spective of Narratology. The idea sprung and took the form of a research proposal. The Proposal was approved by the committee established by Heras Institute and a fellowship was granted for the same in 2015. It was Kṛṣṇalila that inspired me to study the Bhagavata Purana for this project.

The tenth skandha can be considered the very soul of the Bhāgavata Purana. Though the stories from this section are very popular, the meaning of some narratives was an enigma. After going through preexisting research material, I felt that the tool- box approach would be the right kind of perspective to decode this complex text. Therefore, it was a challenging task to explore the meaning of every episode with a new set of tools from Narratol- ogy. Etymological, sociological, psychological and philosophical approaches were employed using the framework of Narratology while studying selected narratives from Bhagavata Purana's tenth skandhia.

It was an enriching journey to study Bhagavata Purana from a new approach of Narratology. Scholars who have already worked on Bhagavata Purana were torchbearers throughout the study. They gave me directions to elaborate on certain ideas and also to develop certain new insights. It's indeed Lord Krsna's grace by which I'm moving towards the publication of this project in the form of this book.

I thank my gurus for their blessings and support. I'm thankful to my parents and entire family for supporting me in this endeavour. I thank Heras Institute of Indian History and Culture, St. Xavier's college, Mumbai' and 'The Sir Dorabji Tata Trust' for conferring a fellowship on me and allowing me to undertake studies on Bhagavata Purana. I wholeheartedly thank Bhaktivedanta Research Centre for undertaking publication of this book as a part of the Vaisnava series. I thank Dr. Sumanta Rudra, Academic Dean, BRC for constantly supporting me throughout my endeav- ours and taking forward the publication of this book.

Narrative Analysis of Bhagavata Purana constitutes the first book of the Vaisnava Studies Series-a new religious studies serial publication. In India, religious studies is a developing scholarly field that incorporates disciplines such as anthropology, psychology, history, literature and so forth, contributing new understandings of Indic religions as well as religions around the world. The series focuses on the publication of original research concentrating on the ways that Vaisnavism contributes to socio-cultural transformation in India and around the world, and enriches both individual and communal life. The study of Vaisnavism is of general importance since this tradition represents one of Hinduism's largest branches, dating back several millenia. Among the series' major features will be the historical, philosophical and ethical analysis of important Vaisnava texts, including the Purana, and especially the Bhāgavata Purana-the subject of Dr. Gawde's wonderful book, which contains reflections on the early socio-cultural development of Bhāgavata dharma and Vaisnavism itself. The book provides a very scholarly presentation of the Bhagavata Purana's 10th Canto that systematically employs Narratology to illuminate the quality of bhakti in several of the Canto's episodes. It also contains a detailed chapter on Narratological theories and methods as well as chapters on cultural assimilation and acculturation, the exploits of demons, and bhakti narratives, with allegorical episodes interpreted from the point of view of bhakti. The book is highly detailed, systematically structured, and analytical. We are very much indebted to Dr. Gawde for this very important work.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages