(The Bhagavata Purana book review by Choice, www.cro3.org)

CHOICE September 2013 vol. 51 no. 01
51-0226 BL1140 2012-14609 CIP

The Bhāgavata Purāna: sacred text and living tradition, ed. by Ravi M. Gupta and Kenneth R. Valpey. Columbia, 2013. 279p bibl index afp ISBN 9780231149983, $105.00; ISBN 9780231149990 pbk, $34.50; ISBN 9780231531474 ebook,
contact publisher for price.

Editors Gupta (William and Mary) and Valpey (Oxford) have assembled a “multifaceted view” of the Bhāgavata Purāna, a sacred Hindu text that pervades both devotional and popular culture. This volume explains why the Bhāgavata is unique among the Purānas, particularly given its focus on devotion/bhakti to Vishnu and Krishna; however, the essays also place this work within the larger Hindu textual and philosophical traditions. Essays cover a range of topics found within the text, such as time, sacred geography, theology, and ethics; they also discuss how the Bhāgavata Purāna has been used in dance, art, and music. Notably missing from this list, which is recognized by the editors, is the use of the Bhāgavata in temple architecture and the graphic arts. Although several essays focus on book ten, which has been a popular topic in previous scholarship due to its Krishna narrative, the volume as a whole does a nice job of incorporating scholarship about many of the lesser studied books. Most of the essays provide introductory information, so that even readers who are new to the study of Hinduism should find them accessible. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty.

–A. L. Folk, University of Pittsburgh

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