The Devi Bhagavata Purana (Sanskrit: देवी भागवतपुराणम्, devī bhāgavatapurāṇam), also known as the Srimad Devi Bhagavatam, Srimad Bhagavatam, Bhagavata Purana or simply Devi Bhagavatam, is one of the eighteen Mahapuranas of Hinduism.[1][2] Composed in Sanskrit by Veda Vyasa, the text is considered as a major purana for Devi worshippers. It promotes bhakti (devotion) towards Mahadevi, integrating themes from the Shaktadvaitavada tradition (syncretism of Samkhya and Advaita Vedanta. literally, the path of nondualistic Shakti).
The purana consists of twelve cantos (sections) with 318 chapters.[3] Along with Devi Mahatmya, it is one of the most important works in Shaktism, a tradition within Hinduism that reveres Devi or Shakti (Goddess) as the primordial creator of the universe and the Brahman (ultimate truth and reality).[4][5][6] It celebrates the divine feminine as the origin of all existence, the creator, the preserver and the destroyer of everything, as well as the one who empowers spiritual liberation.[1][7] While all major Puranas of Hinduism mention and revere the Goddess, this text centers around her as the primary divinity.[8][9] The underlying philosophy of this text is Advaita Vedanta-style monism combined with devotional worship of Shakti (feminine power).[10][11][12]It is believed that this was spoken by Vyasa to King Janamejaya, the son of Parikshit.
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The title of the text, Srimad Devi Bhagavata, is composed of two words, which together mean "devotees of the blessed Devi".
'Srimad' (or 'Srimat', Sanskrit श्रीमत्) means 'radiant', 'holy', 'splendid', or 'glorious', and is an honorific religious title.
'Sri' (or 'Shri' or 'Shree', Sanskrit श्री) means 'Prosperity'. Goddess Lakshmi referred to as 'Sri'. Also Supreme goddess Tripura Sundari called as 'Sri mata'.
'Devi' (Sanskrit: देवी) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is deva. The terms Devi and Deva are Sanskrit terms found in Vedic literature of 2nd millennium BCE, wherein Devi is feminine and Deva is masculine.[13] Monier Williams translates it as "heavenly, divine, terrestrial things of high excellence, exalted, shining ones".[14]
Bhagavata' (or 'Bhagavatam' or 'Bhagavat, Sanskrit भागवत) means "devotee of the blessed Devi."[15] In devi Bhagavata purana God or Bhagavan connotation as the supreme goddess.
'Purana' (Sanskrit पराण) means 'ancient' or 'old' (or 'old traditional history').[16] It also means 'complete' and 'completing'[16] in the sense that a Purana 'completes the Vedas'.[17]
'Maha' (Sanskrit महत) means 'great', 'large', or 'vast'.
This Purana lists Saraswati (above) as the creative aspect of the supreme Goddess, the Shakti of Brahma.[18]
The Srimad Devi Bhagavata Mahapurana has been variously dated.[19] A few scholars suggest an early date, such as Ramachandran who suggested that the text was composed before the 6th-century CE.[19] However, this early date has not found wide support, and most scholars to date it between the 9th and the 14th century.[19][20] Rajendra Hazra suggests 11th or 12th century, while Lalye states that the text began taking form in the late centuries of the 1st millennium, was expanded over time, and its first complete version existed in the 11th century.[19][21] Tracy Pintchman dates the text to between 1000 and 1200 CE.[22]
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The last ten chapters (31 to 40) of the seventh canto consist of 507 verses, a part which has often circulated as an independent handout just like the Bhagavad Gita of the Mahabharata circulates independently.[23] The handout from Book 7 of this Purana is called Devi Gita.[24] This handout may have been composed with the original text, or it might be a later interpolation, states C Mackenzie Brown.[24] He suggests that this portion of the text was probably composed by the 13th century and may be later but before the 16th century.[24]
The ninth canto of the Srimad Devi Bhagavata Mahapurana contains many verses that reference Mlecchas (barbarians) and Yavanas (foreigners).[25] These words may just refer to hill tribes, but the details contained in the description of Mlecchas within these verses, state some scholars such as Hazra, that the writer of these parts knew about Islam and its spread in India, leading scholars date these parts of the ninth book to 12th to 15th century compared to the older core of the ninth book.[25]