

Krishna - the transcendental, primeval Personality of Godhead, avatar of Vishnu - is directly referred to as 'Bhagavan' throughout this scripture.

The date of composition is probably between the eighth and the tenth century CE, but may be as early as the 6th century CE. An oft-quoted verse (1.3.40) is used by some Krishna sects to assert that the text itself is Krishna in literary form. However the Bhagavata Purana asserts that the inner nature and outer form of Krishna is identical to the Vedas and that this is what rescues the world from the forces of evil. The text presents a form of religion ( dharma) that competes with that of the Vedas, wherein bhakti ultimately leads to self-knowledge, salvation ( moksha) and bliss. The Bhagavata Purana is a revered text in Vaishnavism, a Hindu tradition that reveres Vishnu. Truth re-emerges as Krishna, (called " Hari" and " Vāsudeva" in the text) – first makes peace with the demons, understands them and then creatively defeats them, bringing back hope, justice, freedom and happiness – a cyclic theme that appears in many legends.

As it begins, the forces of evil have won a war between the benevolent devas (deities) and evil asuras (demons) and now rule the universe. The Bhagavata Purana, like other puranas, discusses a wide range of topics including cosmology, astronomy, genealogy, geography, legend, music, dance, yoga and culture. Composed in Sanskrit and available in almost all Indian languages, it promotes bhakti (devotion) to Krishna, integrating themes from the Advaita (monism) philosophy of Adi Shankara, the Vishishtadvaita (qualified monism) of Ramanujacharya and the Dvaita (dualism) of Madhvacharya. The Bhagavata Purana ( Sanskrit: भागवतपुराण IAST: Bhāgavata Purāṇa), also known as the Srimad Bhagavatam, Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana or simply Bhagavata, is one of Hinduism's eighteen great Puranas ( Mahapuranas).
