Commentaries

The Bhagavata Purana is one of the most commented texts in Indian literature. Over eighty
medieval era Bhasya (scholarly reviews and commentaries) in Sanskrit alone are known, and
many more commentaries exist in various Indian languages.[3]

The oldest exegetical commentary presently known is Tantra-Bhagavata from the Pancaratra
school. From the modern age there is the commentary by Madhvacharya (c. 13th century CE)
titled Bhagavata Tatparya Nirnaya, then later Sridhara Swami's Sridhariyam written in the 15th
century CE.[130]

Other commentaries are: Hanumad-Bhasya, Vasana-bhasya, Sambandhoki, Vidvat-kamadhenu,

Tattva-dipika, Paramahamsa-priya, Suka-hridaya. Vopadeva wrote the Mukta-phala and the
Hari-lilamrita. Vijayadhvaja composed the Pada-ratnavali. Viraraghava also edited The
Bhgavata-Candrika (from Ramanuja's school). Other works are the Subodhini by Vallabha and
Bhakti-ratnavali by Visnupuri. Among the Gaudiya Vaishnava commentaries there are Jiva
Goswami's Tattva-sandarbha (16th century CE), the Sarartha Darsini by Vishvanatha
Chakravarti (17th century), the Dipikadipani by Radharamana, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati's
Gaudiya-bhasya (20th century). A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada has written a multi-
volume edition that includes English translation and commentary of striking Purports, which has
been translated in more than 40 languages. The Tattva Sandarbha commentary of the 16th-
century Vaishnava scholar Jiva Goswami analyzes the text, with the remark that the Bhagavata is
written in a popular story style, which is easy to read and simpler to understand, than other
important ancient Indian philosophical literature.[131] The text is a Cakravartin (sovereign) of all
Puranas, states Goswami, not only because of its poetic excellence, simple language and direct
style, but also because it "contains the essential meaning of all the Vedas, Itihasas and other
Puranas, because it rests on the Brahma Sutras, and because it is complete".[131]

Translations
Book 10 of the Bhagavata Purana has legends about romantic Krishna who is musically gifted (often
shown as playing a flute), and teasing gopis such as above by hiding their clothes while they were
bathing.

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The Bhagavata has been rendered into various Indian and non-Indian languages. A version of it
is available in almost every Indian language, with forty translations alone in the Bengali
language.[3] From the eighteenth century onwards, the text became the subject of scholarly
interest and Victorian disapproval,[127] with the publication of a French followed by an English
translation. The following is a partial list of translations in order of chronology:

A Telugu version was rendered by the poet Pothana in the 15th century Andhra Maha
Bhagavatam.It is considered as "the crown jewel of Telugu literature".
The transcreated work, known as the Bhagavata of Sankaradeva, is the primary theological
source for Mahapurushiya Dharma in the Indian state of Assam. Sankaradeva (1449-1568 CE)
drew inspiration chiefly from the Bhagavata and he himself undertook the task of rendering of
the major portion, namely Books I, II, III, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI and XII.[132] Besides the rendering,
he composed a large number of works with materials from the Bhagavata such as the Kirttana
Ghosha which is an anthology (kavya-kosh) of more than two dozen epics of various
magnitudes. Most of the poems of the Kirttana are renderings or adaptations from the
Bhagavata Purana.[133] His Nimi Nava Siddha Samvada is a doctrinal treatise based on Book XI of
the Bhagavata. His Anadi Patana is mainly an adaptation from Book III of the Bhagavata. The
Gunamala, the 'Garland of Praises (for Lord Krishna)' written by Sankaradeva is a little handbook
capturing in racy, rhyming and sonorous verses, the essence of the Bhagavata Purana.[134] Within
the compass of a single laudatory verse, the poet recounts many incidents from Krishna's life
making them easy to remember. This 'pocket-Bhagavata' is a sacred text for all Assamese
Vaisnavas and is often placed in the pedestal or the Guru-Asana (sacred throne) in the
congregational prayer-house called Namghar as the object of veneration.
A condensed Srimad Bhagavatam in Sanskrit, the Narayaneeyam, was composed by Melpathur
Bhattathiri of Kerala in 1586.
The 16th-century Saint Eknath of Paithan- Maharashtra wrote a scholarly commentary on the
11th Book of the Shrimad Bhagavatam named "Ekanathi Bhagavata" in Marathi, the vernacular
language of the Indian state of Maharashtra.
The first translation of the Bhagavata into French was made by a Jesuite educated Indian
Maridas Poull in 1769. Another French translation was done by Eugene Burnouf in 1840.
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada has written a multi-volume edition that includes English
translation and commentary, which has been translated in more than 40 languages.[135]
Swami Tapasyananda has written an English translation in four volumes.
Swami Prabhavananda wrote an English version that is part translation, part summary and
paraphrase, titled The Wisdom of God: Srimat Bhagavatam.
Ganga Sahai, translated the Bhagavata Purana. This commentary is known as "Anvitartha
Prakashika", published by the Venkateshwara Press in Bombay in 1901.
Asthan Vidwan Motaganahalli Ramashesha Sastri was the first person to translate Bhagavata
Purana into Kannada. For this translation, a detailed foreword replete with historical references
was given by renowned Indian historian S. Srikanta Sastri.[136]
Gita Press has a two-volume English and Hindi translation (with Sanskrit text and English
translation). Gita Press also has published the Oriya translation, Srimadbhagavata Mahapurana,
of tivadi Jagannatha Dasha, which is regarded as the oldest Indian vernacular translation from
 Sanskrit. However, this is debatable since the exact dates of other competing translations of
Pothana in Telugu and Shankaradeva in Asamese are not documented, although these
translators were contemporaries of Jagannatha Dasha.
Kamala Subramanian has written a concise version of this book in English.
Another translation of Book X was published on Writers Workshop in 1997, transcreated by
Nandini Nopani and P. Lal.
Edwin Bryant published an English translation of Book X in 2004, through Penguin Books.[137]