Narratives from the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa

Cursed by Bhṛgu, Agni grows proud and vows to burn the three worlds, until Bhagavān Vishṇu as a small brāhmaṇa boy hands him one dry blade of grass.

Sūta tells Śaunaka how Agni was born from the Milk Ocean and how gold came from Agni's seed and became Sumeru.

Sent by Kaṃsa to bring Kṛshṇa and Balarāma to Mathurā, Akrūra rejoices, sees good signs, reaches Vṛndāvana and sees Kṛshṇa in many forms.

King Ambarisha drinks pāda-udaka to end his Ekādaśī fast, Durvāsa is angered, and the Sudarśana Cakra chases him until Bhagavān Vishṇu sends him back.

The ṛshi Ashṭāvakra comes to Kṛshṇa's Rāsa Maṇḍala, sings the Kṛshṇa stotra, and goes to Goloka; Kṛshṇa tells Rādhā how he came to be.

Brahmā takes away Kṛshṇa's cowherd friends and calves to test him, and Kṛshṇa shows him that every being in Vṛndāvana is Kṛshṇa.

The apsarā Mohinī, Manmatha and Brahmā: the arrows of desire, Brahmā's recovery, the two śāpas, and the gift of Bhāratī.

Dhanvantarī and the nāga-devī Manasā fight with divine weapons until Brahmā and Śaṅkara tell Dhanvantarī to praise her with a stotra.

Kṛshṇa slays the donkey-formed asura Dhenuka in Tālavana, and the Purāṇa tells of the śāpa of Durvāsa on Dhenuka and Tilottamā, and of Kandalī.

Indra dishonours Bhagavān Vishṇu's pārijāta flower, Durvāsa gives a śāpa, Lakshmī leaves, and the devas churn the Kshīrasāgara to win her back.

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa tells how Gaṅgā arose in Goloka, came to earth through Bhagīratha's tapas, and became the consort of Nārāyaṇa.

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa tells of the gopīs' Mārgaśīra Gaurī Vrata, Kṛshṇa taking their garments at the Yamunā, and his promise of the Rāsa.

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa tells how Kṛshṇa stopped the Indra-yāga, held up Govardhana for seven days, and received Indra's stotra.

How Indra's pride after a hundred yajñas led to his fall, and how Bṛhaspati and a small brāhmaṇa child brought him back to humility.

How a debate between Jamadagni and Bhagavān Sūrya ended in mutual śāpas, and Brahmā's settlement gave the eclipse of the Sun by Rāhu.

How Bhagavān Kṛshṇa entered the poisoned pool of the Yamunā, danced on the hoods of the serpent Kāliya, and then put out a great forest fire.

Kaṃsa's dreadful dream, the Dhanuryāga, Kṛshṇa's journey to Mathurā, the breaking of Śiva's bow and Kaṃsa's death, as the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa tells it.

Bhagavān Kṛshṇa tells the people of Gokula about the Kali Yuga, then leaves the earth and rises to Goloka, where Rādhā waits for him.

Bhagavān Kṛshṇa is born in Kaṃsa's prison at Mathurā, is carried across the Yamunā to Gokula, and Gokula celebrates his birth.

Nārāyaṇa Maharshi tells Nārada the whole earthly life of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, from leaving Gokula to the return to Goloka after 125 years.

Kṛshṇa studies at Sāndīpani's āśrama, brings back the guru's dead son, and then has Viśvakarmā build Dvārakā, where Ugrasena is crowned.

Vasudeva and Devakī hold the sacred thread ceremony of Kṛshṇa and Balarāma at Mathurā, with devas, ṛshis and kings present.

Two asuras try to end the night with their own light, Sūrya strikes them down, and Brahmā calms the angry Śiva with a stotra.

Sanatkumāra's talk on who is blessed, Śiva's Māyā Stotra, Nanda's vara of Goloka, the four yugas, and the last farewell in Vṛndāvana.

Nārada marries the daughter of King Sṛñjaya, receives the Kṛshṇa mantra from Sanatkumāra, and reaches moksha.

Nārada asks Nārāyaṇa about gifts of land and offences against Bhūdevī; Nārāyaṇa answers, and Bhūdevī later pleads before the devas.

Four events of Kṛshṇa's infancy at Gokula: Pūtanā, Tṛṇāvarta, the broken cart, and Garga Muni's naming of the child.

Kṛshṇa meets Rādhā at Siddhāśrama, tells her their cosmic forms, and they travel the world to Gokula.

In the Bhāṇḍīra forest near Vṛndāvana, Nanda gives the infant Kṛshṇa to Rādhā, and Brahmā weds Rādhā and Kṛshṇa with Vedic rites.

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa tells of Rādhā's nature in Goloka, Sudhāma's śāpa, her birth in Bharatakhaṇḍa, and how her pūjā reached the earth.

When Bhagavān Kṛshṇa is about to leave Vṛndāvana for Mathurā with Akrūra, Rādhā burns in separation and he spends one last night with her.

Yaśodā finds Rādhā lost in viraha, and Rādhā teaches her the five kinds of jñāna, eleven names of Kṛshṇa, and the meaning of her own name.

Kṛshṇa dances the Rāsa with the gopīs of Vṛndāvana, meets Rādhā in the Rāsa Maṇḍala, and the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa gives the meaning of her name.

Kṛshṇa comes to Kuṇḍina and marries Rukmīṇī, the form of Mahālakshmī, after Balarāma has driven off her brother's allies.

In Vaikuṇṭha, Sarasvatī's jealousy leads to curses among Lakshmī, Gaṅgā and Sarasvatī, and Nārāyaṇa tells how each will go to Bhārata.

The Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa tells of Satī and Pārvatī: Daksha's yajña, Śiva's grief, Pārvatī's tapas, and the wedding of Śiva and Pārvatī.

Sāvitrī follows Yamadharmarāja as he carries away Satyavān's jīva, and he teaches her karma, naraka and the glory of Kṛshṇa bhakti before returning Satyavān to life.

At Siddhāśrama on Vaiśākha Pūrṇimā, Rādhā worships Gaṇeśa, who declares that her name comes before Kṛshṇa's, and Vasudeva then performs the Rājasūya yajña.

King Śṛgāla insults Kṛshṇa and calls him to battle, then shows himself as Jaya or Vijaya of Vaikuṇṭha and is freed by Kṛshṇa; Kṛshṇa's tears become Bindu Saras.

In Goloka, Rādhā and Śrīdāma give each other a śāpa, Virajā's sons become the seven oceans, and Kṛshṇa reveals that Rādhā and he will be born on earth.

Kṛshṇa is falsely accused of stealing the Syamantaka gem, follows its trail to Jāmbavanta's cave, and wins both the gem and Jāmbavatī after a twenty-one day fight.

Candra carries off Tārā, the wife of his guru Bṛhaspati; Brahmā brings her back, and Budha is born.

How Tulasī was born, married the dānava king Śaṅkhacūḍa, and became the sacred plant after Bhagavān Vishṇu ended his invincibility.

Kṛshṇa sends Uddhava to Vṛndāvana, where he finds Rādhā in deep separation and hears her teaching on Kāla, the Pañcāṅga and Hari-dāsya.

Kṛshṇa asks food of brāhmaṇas at a yajña and is refused; their wives bring it, ask only for service to him, and rise to Goloka.

Vṛnda, daughter of Kedāra, did tapas in a forest, cursed Dharma who tested her, gave him long life, went to Goloka, and the forest became Vṛndāvana.

Nanda moves the gopas from Gokula to Vṛndāvana, where Viśvakarma builds a city in one night, and the Purāṇa gives the three origins of the name Vṛndāvana.

Bound to a mortar by Yaśodā, infant Kṛshṇa brings down a great tree and frees Nalakūbara, cursed by Devala Muni.

A śāpa from Brahmā sent Nārada through births as Upabarhana and as the son of Kālavatī, until he rose to Goloka.

Brahmā tells Nārada to marry; Nārada refuses, Brahmā weeps and sets a plan, and Nārāyaṇa Muni later advises Nārada to obey.

How Śrī Kṛshṇa, the Parabrahman, willed the universe into being, and how Nārāyaṇa, Śiva, Brahmā and the devīs appeared from his body.

Daksha Prajāpati curses Candra for favouring Rohiṇī, and Bhagavān Vishṇu ends it with a vara: Candra will wax and wane every fortnight.

At Pushkara, Ghṛtācī refuses Viśvakarmā, they curse each other to human birth, and their nine sons become the founders of the artisan communities.

The gandharva Upabarhana dies in Brahmā's assembly, his wife Mālavatī mourns, and all the devas bring him back to life; he is Nārada in an earlier birth.