The Devi Bhagavata Purana (, ), also known as the Devi Purana or simply Devi Bhagavatam, is one of the major Puranas of Hinduism. Composed in Sanskrit, the text is considered a Mahapurana for Devi worshippers (Shaktas), while others classify it as an Upapurana instead. It promotes bhakti (devotion) towards Mahadevi, integrating themes from the Shaktadvaitavada tradition (a syncretism of Samkhya and Advaita Vedanta). While this is generally regarded as a Shakta Purana, some scholars such as Dowson have also interpreted this Purana as a Shaiva Purana.
The Purana consists of twelve cantos with 318 chapters. Along with the Devi Mahatmya, it is one of the works in Shaktism, a tradition within Hinduism that reveres Devi or Shakti (Goddess) as the primordial creator of the universe, and as Brahman (ultimate truth and reality). It celebrates the divine feminine as the origin of all existence: as the creator, the preserver and the destroyer of everything, as well as the one who empowers spiritual liberation. While all major Puranas of Hinduism mention and revere the Goddess, this text centers around her as the primary divinity. The underlying philosophy of the text is Advaita Vedanta-style monism combined with the devotional worship of Shakti. It is believed that the text was spoken by Vyasa to King Janamejaya, the son of Parikshit.
Nomenclature The title of the text, 'Srimad Devi Bhagavata or 'Devi Purana'', is composed of two words, which together mean "devotees of the blessed Devi". Johnson states the meaning as the "ancient annals of the luminous goddess".
Srimad (or Srimat, Sanskrit श्रीमत्) means 'radiant', 'holy', 'splendid', or 'glorious', and is an honorific religious title. 'Sri'(or 'Shri' or 'Shree', Sanskrit श्री) means 'Prosperity'. Goddess Lakshmi and Tripura Sundari are referred to as 'Sri'. 'Devi' (Sanskrit: देवी) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is deva. The terms Devi and Deva are Sanskrit terms found in Vedic literature of 2nd millennium BCE, wherein Devi is feminine and Deva is masculine. Monier Williams translates it as "heavenly, divine, terrestrial things of high excellence, exalted, shining ones". 'Bhagavata' (or Bhagavatam or Bhagavat, Sanskrit भागवत) means "devotees of the Blessed One", a general name for the earliest (before 11th century C.E.) devotees of Vishnu, particularly of Krishna-Gopala. 'Purana' (Sanskrit पराण) means 'ancient' or 'old' (or 'old traditional history'). It also means 'complete' and 'completing' in the sense that a Purana 'completes the Vedas'. 'Maha' (Sanskrit महत) means 'great', 'large', or 'vast'.
History
The Srimad Devi Bhagavata Mahapurana has been variously dated. A few scholars suggest an early date, such as Ramachandran, who suggested that the text was composed before the 6th-century CE. However, this early date has not found wide support, and most scholars date it between the 9th and the 14th century.: "portrayals of the Goddess in the later Devi Bhagavata (c. ninth century CE) bear crucial differences from those of the Goddess in the Devi Mahatmya." Rajendra Hazra suggests 11th or 12th century, while Lalye states that the text began taking form in the late centuries of the 1st millennium, was expanded over time, and its first complete version existed in the 11th century. Tracy Pintchman dates the text to between 1000 and 1200 CE.
The last ten chapters (31 to 40) of the seventh canto consist of 507 verses, a part which has often circulated as an independent volume, just like the Bhagavad Gita of the Mahabharata circulates independently. This text, from Book 7 of this Purana, is called Devi Gita. This text may have been composed with the original text, or it might be a later interpolation, according to C Mackenzie Brown. He suggests that this portion of the text was probably composed by the 13th century; it may be later, but was set down before the 16th century.
The ninth canto contains many verses that reference Mlecchas (barbarians) and Yavanas (foreigners). These words may just refer to hill tribes, but the details contained in the description of Mlecchas within these verses, according to some scholars like Hazra, suggest that the writer of these parts knew about Islam and its spread in India, leading scholars to date these parts of the ninth book to the 12th to 15th centuries, compared to the older core of the ninth book.
The Devi Bhagavata Purana is not the earliest Indian text that celebrates the divine feminine. The 6th century CE Devi Mahatmya, embedded in the Markandeya Purana, asserts the divine superiority of the Goddess. Archaeological evidence in Mathura and Bengal suggests that the concept of the divine feminine was in existence by about the 2nd century CE. Both the Devi Mahatmya and Devi Bhagavata Purana have been very influential texts within the Shakta tradition, asserting the supremacy of the female and have made the Goddess a figure of devotional (bhakti) appeal.
This text, along with all the Puranas, Vedas and the Mahabharata has traditionally been attributed by Hindus to the sage Veda Vyasa.
Characters
Avatars of Devi This table shows the notable incarnations of Devi mentioned in the Purana. +Avatar (Incarnation)DescriptionCantoBhuvaneshvariThird Mahavidya form of Devi, queen of Manidvipa3DurgaGoddess of protection, strength, motherhood, destruction and wars5, 7, 9ParvatiConsort of Shiva, Goddess of love and fertility, who resides upon Kailasa. -- 5,7,9KaliGoddess of time and destruction5, 9LakshmiConsort of Vishnu, Goddess of wealth and purity1, 3, 9SaraswatiConsort of Brahma, Goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning3, 5, 9RadhaConsort of Krishna, Goddess of love, compassion and devotion, Queen of Goloka9SavitriPersonified form of Gayatri Mantra and mother of Vedas9ShakambhariThe one who nourished mankind with fruits and vegetables.7BhramariThe Goddess of bees10TulasiPersonification of the Tulasi plant9ManasaGoddess of Serpents9Mangala ChandikaA form of goddess Chandika9
Notable devotees This table shows the devotees of the Goddess according to the Purana. +NameDescriptionCantoIla / SadyumanaThe king was named Sadyumana and later became the mother of the Budha 1AnuhaThe son of Vibhraja; He married the daughter of Shuka named Kirti.1PratipaFather of Shantanu and grandfather of Bhishma2ShringiThe young sage who cursed Parikshit2KuntiMother of Pandavas and wife of king Pandu2SutaSon of Lomaharshana and a disciple of Vyasa --VasudevaFather of Krishna, Balarama, and Subhadra; The king of the Vrishnis and a Yadava prince. 2subahuThe king of Kashi3SudarshanaThe son of king Dhruvasandhi3IndraThe king of devas, God of weather --PrahladaSon of Hiranyakashipu4NimiThe son of Ikshvaku6SachiConsort of Indra, Queen of devas6HimavanPersonification of the Himalayas, He is the guardian deity of the Himalayas, The Goddess preached the Devi Gita to him.7SukanyaDaughter of King Sharyati7SatyavrataA prince cursed by sage Vasishtha7JanamejayaKing of Kuru kingdom, Son of Parikshit, Vyasa preached the Devi Bhagavata Purana to him. --SavarniThe eighth Manu of Hinduism10
Notable demons and villains Many demons (villains) are mentioned throughout the Srimad Devi Bhagavatam +Avatar (Incarnation)DescriptionCantoMadhu-KaitabhaTwo demons who originated from the earwax within the god Vishnu's ears.1Asura HayagrivaSon of Kashyapa and Danu who Slain by Lord Hayagriva1TakshakaOne of the sons of Kadru, Murderer of Parikshit2RavanaMulti-headed rakshasa king of the island of Lanka,3MahishasuraThe son of Mahisi (Buffalo) and the great-grandson of Brahmarshi Kashyapa, He was ultimately killed by goddess Durga5TamraOne of minister's of Mahishasura5Durmukha One of minister's of Mahishasura, killed by goddess Durga5CiksuraGeneral of Mahishasura, killed by goddess Durga5Shumbha and NishumbhaTwo Asura brothers, sons of Kashyapa and Danu, Goddess Kaushiki killed them both5DhumralochanaThe asura who was the general of the demon king Shumbha5Raktabija One of minister's of the demon king Shumbha5VritrasuraA great demon (asura) killed by Indra6NahushaA king of the Chandravamsha (Lunar dynasty), Nahusha was made the ruler of Svarga during Indra's absence6HiranyakshaHe is slain by the Varaha (wild boar) avatar of Vishnu8HiranyakashipuYounger brother of Hiranyaksha, Slain by Narasimha5,10DurgamasuraA powerful demon who was killed by Goddess Durga9ShankachudaSudama who was lord Krishna's friend in his previous life9ArunasuraA powerful demon who was killed by the goddess Bhramari10
Content and structure The theosophy in the text, state Foulston and Abbott, is an encyclopedic mix of ancient history, metaphysics and bhakti. This history, states C Mackenzie Brown, is of the same type found in other Puranas, about the perpetual cycle of conflict between the good and the evil, the gods and the demons. These legends build upon and extend the ancient Hindu history, such as those found in the Mahabharata. However, this Purana's legends refocus the legends around the divine feminine, integrate a devotional theme to goddesses, and the Devi is asserted in this text to be the eternal truth, the eternal source of all of universe, the eternal end of everything, the nirguna (without form) and the saguna (with form), the supreme unchanging reality (Purusha), the phenomenal changing reality (Prakriti), as well as the soul within each living being.
Puranic characteristics
As a Mahapurana There are two Bhagavatas in Hindu puranic literature, the Vishnu Bhagavata and Devi Bhagavata. There are some doubts between genuine of these two puranas, as an example in Uma Samhita of Shiva Purana Mentioned Srimad Devi Bhagavatam as fifth Mahapurana called Srimad Bhagavatam. Devi Bhagavata as it is called in itself, Bhagavata or Srimad Bhagavata confirms to the definitions of Bhagavata contained in other Puranas including Matsya Purana.
From J. L. Shastri's translation:
As mentioned in the Matsya Purana, the Bhagavata Purana is contain 18,000 slokas and begins with the Gayatri and glorifies the Sarasvata Kalpa. Vyasa mentions in Devi Bhagavatam that it was composed in Sarasvata Kalpa.
Farquhar mentions that devotees of Devi accept this Purana as the original Bhagavata Purana, the fifth among all the Puranas, and the Vishnu Bhagavata Purana is believed to have been composed by Vopadeva around A.D. 1300. He points out that Sridhara remarks on this claim in his (Vishnu) Bhagavata Purana commentary, a claim apparently common during his day, thus making it clear that Devi Bhagavata is posterior to the Bhagavata Purana and prior to Sridhara, who lived about A.D. 1400.
Winternitz mentions that there are three polemic treatises discussing whether Devi Bhagavata should instead be considered a Mahapurana.
Hazra mentions that there is a band of scholars, both European and Indian, who hold that the Devi Bhagavata is the real Bhagavata and that the Vaishnava Bhagavata is a spurious work, which he views their opinion as untenable and elaborates on eleven reasons why in his book.
Vishnulok Bihari Srivastava states that in Sanskrit literature, both Srimad Bhagavatam and Devi Bhagavatam are accepted as Mahapuranas, while the Vayu Purana, Matsya Purana and Aditya Upa Purana accept Devi Bhagavatam as a Mahapurana. Vanamali, in her book "Shakti", states that Devi Bhagavatam is classified as a Mahapurana. Puri states that in the Devi Bhagavata Purana it is entitled as the Bhagavata Mahapurana and the Vaishnava Bhagavata as an upapurana. Sanyal states that in the Saura Purana and the revakhanda of Skanda Purana, the Bhagavata Purana is mentioned as being divided into two parts. He further points out that the Vaishnava Bhagavata Purana is not so divided and that the Devi Bhagavata Purana is divided into two parts of six chapters each, so it may be the Devi Bhagavata Purana.