#harivamsha

Harivamsha purana Ch 67

"I am known in the world as your servant; why then, O most excellent Lady, dost you not command me as before"

Krishna referring to himself as her servant and asking why isn't devi satyabhama commanding him as before is soo sweet of him😭😭 like our boy is soo in love!

I believe when we say Sri is our mother, it's not only about her being the nurturer of the universe. It's also about these little things, the dreams every little girl saw. Those sweet little wishes we have and want to be fulfilled. Some part of her is always within us.

There is something special about mothers and daughters; our experiences are what tie us together and perhaps why womanhood is so precious.

Mothers are a daughter's first teacher and friend, we are each other's mirrors and sometimes I find myself looking at her in awe of how similar yet different we are.

From her, I gain my strength and from her, I learn to live my dreams.

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Wrote this from the heart, so it's not as perfect as I like it to be but it's definetly a special piece for me.

The bond I share with Rakhumai is deep and special that words can barely put together and this is my humble attempt at trying to convey them.

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I'm answering this ask a year late, so I suppose that offsets your zeal (in a really horrible way)? This has been in my drafts, I just forgot about it entirely, thank you for coming to my inbox to remind me again. <3

Yes, Harivamsha was written much prior to Srimad Bhagavata Purana, and is considered some sort of appendix to the Mahabharata, which again is of greater antiquity. We can only speculate as to its relative lack of popularity, and I would like to mull over my own thoughts on this a bit more. I'll make a separate post, possibly. Let me just give a small introduction on the Harivamsha instead.

A Guide to Harivamsha

REFERENCES I USE IN MY STUDIES: (in no particular order)

1. Harivamsha Critical Edition (as edited by BORI, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute), EN-translated by Bibek Debroy.

Above-average translation quality. Compared to the others, the only benefit of this reference is that it lets one know what sections BORI cleaved—regarding which one must keep in mind that, as Debroy himself noted and as I observed in the course of reading as well, the editing of Harivamsha Critical Edition was in no way as well and expertly done as that of the Mahabharata Critical Edition (BORI).

2. Harivamsha Purana, Gita Press

The only complete and accessible translation (Hindi) of HV that there is. Great translation quality. You usually don't have to second-guess each line (like I have to, with No. 1).

3. Chitrashala Press edition of Harivamsa, Online EN translation by Desiraju Hanumanta Rao, A. Purushothaman & A. Harindranath. https://www.dvaipayana.net/harivamsa/harivamsa-cs-index.html

Very helpful, as you get the Sanskrit verses alongside the translated English ones, for comparison/tallying purposes.

4. Harivamsha Purana, EN-translated by M. N. Dutt (https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/harivamsha-purana-dutt)

Most accessible translation; no big differences from No. 3 in interpretations. (I will take this opportunity to recommend Wisdomlib to practically everyone in this fandom.)

5. Krishna’s Lineage: The Harivamsha of Vyāsa’s Mahābhārata. EN translation by Simon P. Brodbeck.

Good translation, good language, immensely well-organised. Has family trees in a genealogical appendix.

GENERAL UNDERSTANDING OF HARIVAMSHA'S STRUCTURE:

The text is divided into 3 parvas, as follows -

Harivamsha Parva - This contains a lot of background information through the genealogies and stories interspersed in all the lineage talk. We get some important backstory for MBh, and we get some stories which you may find in most other Puranas. (Interestingly, this contains the Syamantaka incident. It was a really big deal, is all.)

Vishnu Parva - The main section of Krishna's non-MBh life-story, starting from his birth, the Mathura-era exploits (Kamsavadh, Jarāsandha's attacks), Rukmini-harana (my beloved), the Pārijāta story, and dealing with Pradyumna (his firstborn) and Aniruddha's (Pradyumna's son) lives as well.

Bhavishya Parva - The first chapters of this section are indeed about "bhavishya" (things that happen or "will happen" post-Swargārohana, prophecies about Kali Yuga, etc). Then there's a set of chapters that go into some of Vishnu's avatars (Varāha, Narasimha, Vāmana, in particular). These two sets of chapters are translated in almost all versions. Then comes the dicey part, the set of chapters translated only in Gita Press Harivamsha, and ironically, the most important part of Bhavishya Parva in my opinion (because it has major portions of Krishna's life-story. This section contains Paundraka's (and Ekalavya's) siege on Dwāraka, the killing of Hamsa-Dimbaka (Jarāsandha's closest allies that Krishna speaks of to Yudhisthira in MBh's Sabhā parva) etc. Invaluable for better understanding of Yādava politics, and kind of ties up some loose ends from MBh.

These two shlokas of prayer are found in the 123th chapter of Vishnu parva of harivamsha purana.

त्रिपाद् भस्मप्रहरणस्त्रिशिरा नवलोचनः । स मे प्रीतः सुखं दद्यात् सर्वामयपतिर्ज्वरः ।।

tripād bhasmapraharaṇastriśirā navalocanaḥ .

sa me prītaḥ sukhaṃ dadyāt sarvāmayapatirjvaraḥ ..

tripād – the three legged one

bhasmapraharaṇas = having bhasma (holy ash) as his main weapon

triśirā – having three heads

navalocanaḥ - having nine eyes

sa – he

me – to me

prītaḥ - pleased

sukhaṃ - bliss, joy, happiness, (by healing)

dadyāt – may grant

sarvāmayapatir – the king of all diseases and illnesses

jvaraḥ - the lord of fever

Lord jvara the king of all diseases, having three legs, having holy ash as his weapon, having three heads and nine eyes, pleased upon me, may he grant me happiness and bliss.(by taking away diseases and protecting us from diseases.

आद्यन्तवन्तः कवयः पुराणाः

सूक्ष्मा बृहन्तोऽप्यनुशासितारः ।

सर्वाञ्ज्वरान् घ्नन्तु ममानिरुद्ध

प्रद्युम्नसंकर्षणवासुदेवाः ॥

ādyantavantaḥ kavayaḥ purāṇāḥ

sūkṣmā bṛhanto'pyanuśāsitāraḥ |

sarvāñjvarān ghnantu mamāniruddha pradyumnasaṃkarṣaṇavāsudevāḥ ||

ādyantavantaḥ - they, who possess the beginning and the end,  that is, they who have the beginning and end, creation and destruction under their control. They are the ones who can create and destroy at their disposal.

kavayaḥ - the ones who are kavis, kavi means

क्रान्तदर्शी कविः सर्वदृक् सर्वज्ञः इति

krāntadarśī kaviḥ sarvadṛk sarvajñaḥ iti

He who sees everything, he who knows everything is kavi,

नान्योतोस्ति द्रष्टा- इति बृहदारण्यकोपनिषत्

nānyotosti draṣṭā- iti bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣat

There is no one else who is the seer. (i.e.) there is no seer different from him.

purāṇāḥ - पुरा पुर्ब्बस्मिन् काले भव इति ।

purā purbbasmin kāle bhava iti .

They who existed even in the ancient times, in other words those who pre-exist creation.

sūkṣmā – the subtle ones

सूक्ष्मः सर्वान्तरः इन्द्रियाद्यगम्यः नतु परमाणुतुल्यः

sūkṣmaḥ sarvāntaraḥ indriyādyagamyaḥ natu paramāṇutulyaḥ

sūkṣma – the one who is very subtle, he who resides in everything, he who cannot be reached by the sense organs.

सूक्ष्मं सौम्यं पुरुषमिति श्रुतिः

sūkṣmaṃ saumyaṃ puruṣamiti śrutiḥ

The complete supreme god who is very subtle and soft.

महाभारते च

चैतन्यं सर्वतोनित्यं सर्वप्राणिहृदिस्थितं

सर्वातीततरं सूक्ष्मं तस्मै सूक्ष्मात्मने नमः

mahābhārate ca

caitanyaṃ sarvatonityaṃ

sarvaprāṇihṛdisthitaṃ

sarvātītataraṃ sūkṣmaṃ

tasmai sūkṣmātmane namaḥ

in mahābhārata it is said,

That which is eternal and resides in the heart of every being and is beyond everyone and everything, is subtle I bow to that subtle one.

Sometimes they also the size of the atom, or smaller sizes and dwell in our souls.

bṛhantaḥ - the great and huge ones. They who posses great strength and have pervaded the world in different forms. Though they are beyond the senses, and sometimes in the size of the atom.

apy – also

anuśāsitāraḥ - the ones who rule, govern

sarvāñjvarān - all fevers. In other words, all kinds of fevers.

ghnantu – May destroy

mama - my

aniruddhapradyumnasaṃkarṣaṇavāsudevāḥ - aniruddha, pradyumna, saṃkarṣaṇa and vāsudeva.

The four vyuha murtis (aspects manifested as forms) OF LORD NARAYANA

The Lord Krishna in the Golden City (c. 1600), from the Harivamsha (Genealogy of Vishnu).  It was painted for the Mughal Emperor Akbar, who reigned from 1556 to 1605.

Do you write headcanons with Krishna?

Hey, honey!

Yes I do have a few and it took me sometime to imagine him more than just the blurry dream he is in my eyes, on most days.

Here they go—

(i) He walks like a cat. Graceful, yes, but also very sneaky. You can never hear him come, also given the fact that the anklets he wears are pretty delicate and have minimal to no bells.

(ii) He wears a diadem on a daily basis after the court proceedings, since the crown still feels jarring from when he was Raghava.

(iii) He has a tiny mole near his jaw, and Bhama has a habit of kissing him there as greetings and farewells :3

(iv) He loves doing his wives’ shringar every day off :3

(v) Shri Jambavati is a wrestler (she’s taller than conventional women of the era, also slightly muscled) and they wrestle every other morning. Their children cheer for them in the arsenal :3

(vi) That being said, different love languages for nearly every member of the family.

(vii) Gives the best hugs. Wraps his arms around you like a blanket and you feel like there’s nothing that can ever bother you again. The sound of his heart beating can calm the most violent storms.

(viii) He’s actually really tall. Only shorter than Bhima and men of his physique, like Jarasandha. Dau is perhaps slightly shorter than him or the same height, but not taller. Kanha is not super buff, nor very skinny.

(ix) He writes, although very few people know that. All in stream of consciousness. He writes as a catharsis— letters to the Gopis and his Maiya and Baba in vraja that he never sends; stories of his travel and from his eyes; slice of life even. Because even his shadow would do them more harm than good, and he has made peace with it after many sleepless nights.

(x) Shri Rukmini sings to him on such sleepless nights. On days she’s too held by the ache of losing her natal home, he sings to her.

(xi) Coming to singing, he sounds like a low rumble of rain clouds when he does. Soft and windy, but also more emphasis on lower notes. His voice is, well, not sharp. It sounds as if smoothened deliberately to be gentle to his audience as well as himself, but also sung with his entire chest. He sings higher notes very well, but only when he’s feeling passionate.

(xii) This one is kinda personal, hehe. Since I’m not fond of strong scents no matter how flowery and pleasing to others, I headcanon he smells like petrichor/ camphor. Either of the two scents.

(xiii) He’s also pretty clingy with Mata Devaki (he’s clingy in general with everyone he’s too fond of, but restrains a lot until the other person reciprocates the same level of fervour, and madness).

(xiv) He named all of his daughters. A girl dad through and through :3

(xv) As a parent, he’s the chill one. Most likely to watch his children’s shenanigans with much dedication, and a pot of butter in his hands as his wives mete out disciplinary lessons to the children. Also most likely to be made to sit amongst them as the queens do.