Harivamsa

The Harivamsa (Sanskrit: हरिवंश Harivaṃśa, literally "the lineage of Hari") is an important work of Sanskrit literature, containing 16,374 shlokas, mostly in the anustubh metre. The text is also known as the Harivamsa Purana. This text is believed to be a khila (appendix or supplement) to the Mahabharata[1] and is traditionally ascribed to Vyasa. The most celebrated commentary of the Mahabharata by Neelakantha Chaturdhara, the Bharata Bhava Deepa also covers the Harivamsha. According to a traditional version of the Mahabharata, the Harivamsha is divided into two parvas (books) and 12,000 verses.[2] These are included with the eighteen parvas of the Mahabharata.[1] The Critical Edition has three parvas and 5,965 verses.[3]

Not to be confused with Harivamsa Purana.

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The Adi Parva of describes the creation of the cosmos and the legendary history of the kings of the Solar and Lunar dynasties leading up to the birth of Krishna. Vishnu Parva recounts the history of Krishna up to the events prior to the Mahabharata.[4] Bhavishya Parva, the third book, includes two alternate creation theories, hymns to Shiva and Vishnu and provides a description of the Kali Yuga.[5] While the Harivamsha has been regarded as an important source of information on the origin of Vishnu's incarnation Krishna, there has been speculation as to whether this text was derived from an earlier text and what its relationship is to the Brahma Purana, another text that deals with the origins of Krishna.[6]

Panchalakṣaṇa tradition, that is, the five marks of the Purana corpus one of which is the vaṃśa genealogy, and stories about the life of Krishna as a herdsman.

The text is complex, containing layers that go back to the 1st or 2nd centuries BCE. The origin of this appendix is not precisely known but it is apparent that it was a part of the Mahabharata by the 1st century CE because "the poet Ashvaghosha quotes a couple of verses, attributing them to the Mahabharata, which are now only found in the Harivamsa" (Datta 1858).

Edward Washburn Hopkins considers the Harivamsa the latest parva of the Mahabharata. Hazra has dated the Purana to the 4th century CE on the basis of the description of the rasa lila in it. According to him, the Visnu Purana and the Bhagavata Purana belong to the 5th century CE and 6th century CE respectively. According to Dikshit, the date of the Matsya Purana is 3rd century CE. When we compare the biography of Krishna, the account of Raji, and some other episodes as depicted in the Harivaṃśa, it appears to be anterior to the former. Therefore, the Viṣṇu parva and the Bhaviṣya parva can be dated to at least the 3rd century CE.

By its style and contents, the Harivaṃśa parva appears to be anterior to the Viṣṇu parva and Bhaviṣya parva. The verses quoted by Asvaghosa belong to this parva. On this basis, we can safely assume the Harivaṃśa parva (except for the later interpolations) to be at least as old as the 1st century CE.

Editions

The Hariva śa is available in two editions. The vulgate text of the Hariva śa has total 271 adhyāyas (chapters), divided into three parvas, Harivaṃśa parva (55 chapters), Viṣṇu parva (81 chapters) and Bhaviṣya parva (135 chapters). The Critical Edition or CE (1969–71, Ed. P.L.Vaidya) is around a third (118 chapters in 6073 slokas) of this vulgate edition. Like the vulgate, the chapters in the CE are divided into three parvas, Harivaṃśa parva (chapters 1-45), Viṣṇu parva (chapters 46-113) and Bhaviṣya parva (chapters 114 -118). Vaidya suggests that even the CE represents an expanded text and proposes that the oldest form of Hariva śa probably began with chapter 20 (which is where Agni Purana 12 places its start) and must have ended with chapter 98 of his text.[7]

Contents

The last chapter of the text gives a brief description of the subjects narrated in it as follows:

Harivaṃśa Parva
Chapter Content
1-3 Janamejaya asks Vaisampayana to narrate the genealogy of the Vrishni race from the beginning. Vaisampayana begins with the description of the origin of the creation.
4-6 The story of Prithu, the son of Vena
7-8 The description of the reigns of the Manus
9-10 Origin of the dynasty of Vaivasvata
11 The history of Dhundumara
12 The story of Galava
13-15 The history of the family of Ikshvaku and Sagara
16-24 Pitrkalpa (the beautification of the manes); includes the story of Brahmadatta and his seven sons
25-27 The story of Soma, Budha and Pururava
27-28 The dynasty of Amavasu and Raji
29 The race of Kshatravriddha and the legend of Divodasa
30 The legend of Yayati
31-32 The family of Puru
33-39 The history of the Yadavas; includes the tale of Syamantaka gem (chapters 38-39)
40-41 The history of the incarnations of Visnu
42-48 The Tarakamaya battle between the gods & the titans
49-52 The plea of Brahma and Goddess Earth
53-55 The partial incarnation of the gods

Viṣṇu Parva
Chapter Content
1 Narada's warning to Kamsa
2-3 Kamsa gives orders to guard Devaki and kill all children born to her
4-5 The birth of Krishna and his exchange for the daughter of Nanda and Yashoda; description of the cowherds’ camp
6-7 The overturning of the cart; killing of Putana; uprooting of the two Arjuna trees
8-10 Migration to Vrindavana
11-12 The victory over Kaliya
13-14 The slaying of Dhenuka the donkey and Pralamba
15-19 The lifting of Mount Govardhana in defiance of Indra
20 The Rasa dance
21 The slaying of Arishta, the bull
22-23 The Council of Kamsa
24 The slaying of Keshi, the steed
25-28 The journey of Krishna and Samkarsana to Kamsa’s court accompanied by Akrura
29-30 The death of the elephant Kuvalayapida; the slaying of Chanura and Andhra; the death of Kamsa
31-32 The lament of Kamsa’s wives; the funeral of Kamsa and the consecration of Ugrasena on the throne of Mathura
33 The education of Krishna and Balarama under Sandipani and the rescue of his children
34-36 The attack on Mathura by Jarasandha of Magadha and his defeat
37-38 The discourse of Vikadru
39-42 The meeting of Krishna and Balarama with Parasurama; the ascension on Mount Gomanta; the burning of Gomanta
43-44 The end of Srigala
45 The return to Mathura
46 Samkarsana dragging the Yamuna river with his ploughshare
47-54 The swayamvara of Rukmini and the conspiracy of Jarasandha and his allies
55-56 The migration from Mathura to Dwarka
57 Kalayavana’s attack on Krishna and his death
58 The foundation of Dwarka
59-61 Krishna’s abduction of and marriage with Rukmini and their progeny
62 The exploits of Balarama
63-64 The slaying of Naraka
65-76 The stealing of Parijata tree from Indra’s heaven
77-81 On the observance of Punyakavidhi, i.e. ceremonies, celebrations and vows by means of which a wife can make her body pleasant to her husband and ensure his favour to herself
82-85 The slaying of the demons of Shatpura
86-87 The slaying of Andhaka by Mahadeva
88-89 The sports of the Yadavas in ocean
90 The abduction of Bhanumati
91-97 The marriage of Pradyumna and Prabhavati.
98-100 The rebuilding of Dwarka; the entry into Dwarka; the entry into the hall
101-102 The discourse of Narada
101-102 The tradition of the dynasty of Vrishnis
104-109 The legend of Pradyumna and the slaying of Sambara
110 The tale of Samba
111-115 Krishna recovers the four dead sons of a brahman
111-115 Krishna’s fight with Bana and the marriage of Bana’s daughter, Usa with Aniruddha, the grandson of Krishna

† These pieces definitely appear to be interpolations into the text.

Bhaviṣya Parva
Chapter Content
1-2 The genealogy of Janamejaya and his performance of an aswamedha
3-4 The characteristics of Kaliyuga
5 The reconciliation between Janamejaya and his queen, following Indra’s intervention in the aswamedha
6 The formal benediction
7-28 The origin of creation from the lotus
29-72 The account of the boar, the man-lion and the dwarf incarnations of Visnu
73-90 Krishna’s journey to Kailasa
91-102 The slaying of Paundraka
103-129 The tale of Hamsa and Dimbhaka
130-131 Krishna meets the cowherds of Vrindavana on Mount Govardhana and returns to Dwaraka
132 The religious merit of reading the Mahabharata and the Harivaṃśa
133 The legend of the destruction of the three heavenly fortresses of the demons by Shiva
134 A short summary of the contents of Harivaṃśa
135 An enumeration of the religious merits that one acquires by hearing this Purana

† This suggests that at some point of time this chapter used to close the text (which is what the CE does, i.e. the narrative comes to an end at this chapter).

Translations
City of Dwarka in Harivamsa, as painted for the Mughal emperor Akbar

The Harivamsa has been translated in many Indian vernacular languages; English (Manmatha Nath Dutt, 1897); French (M. A. Langlois, 1834–35); and other languages.[8]

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See also

Notes
  1. The Mahabharata in Sanskrit: Book I: Chapter 2 in sacred-texts.com website
  2. Mahabharata 1.2.377-378 (Bombay edition); M.N. Dutt (trans.) Adi Parva, p 21.
  3. Debroy, B. (2016) Harivamsha. Gurgaon: Penguin Books India, "Introduction"
  4. Maurice Winternitz (1981), History of Indian Literature, Vol. 1, Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-0836408010, pages 426-431
  5. Maurice Winternitz (1981), History of Indian Literature, Vol. 1, Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-0836408010, pages 432-435
  6. Ruben 115.
  7. [Harivaṃśa 1969-71: 785, XXX and 795]
  8. Translations of the Harivamsa

References
  • Bowker, John, The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, New York, Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 410
  • Winternitz, Maurice (1981) History of Indian Literature Vol. I. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
  • Ruben, Walter (1941) "The Krsnacarita in the Harivamsa and Certain Puranas.” Journal of the American Oriental Society. Vol. 61, No.3. pp. 115–127.
  • Lorenz, Ekkehard (2007) The Harivamsa: The Dynasty of Krishna, in Edwin F. Bryant (ed.), Krishna, A Source Book, Oxford University Press.
  • Shastri, Rajendra Muni, Jaina Sahitya mein Sri Krishna Charita, Jaipur, Prakrit Bharati Akademi, 1991.
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