This file was produced from page images at the Internet Archive. Transcriber’s Note The original book was very badly proofread and was filled with errors, inconsistent accents, improper punctuation, etc. Also the typesetters were unable to properly accent the book. As an example, the letter â is represented as Á when capitalized. The author probably wanted to use a macron instead of a circumflex or an accent to indicate a long syllable and was forced to settle for this mixture of circumflexes and accents instead. This etext will use the circumflex throughout and will attempt to accent words as consistently as possible. In the original book some family tree tables were turned sideways. For reading as an e-book, these trees have been modified to read left to right rather than top-down. All family trees have been done as ASCII art. I have included the original page images containing the family trees as well. The family tree tables in the book put female names in italics, but not consistently. Where possible I have followed this practice in the ASCII art version, but in many cases I have omitted the italics because it would throw off the alignment of the trees in the text version of the book. When in doubt consult the page images in the HTML version. A STUDY OF THE BHÂGAVATA PURÂNA OR ESOTERIC HINDUISM BY PURNENDU NARAYANA SINHA, M. A., B. L. BENARES: PRINTED BY FREEMAN & Co., LTD., AT THE TARA PRINTING WORKS. 1901. To *ANNIE BESANT* THE BHÂGAVATA OF BHÂGAVATAS THESE PAGES ARE RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY HER MOST DEVOTED BROTHER. "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine. "Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee. "Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon; for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions? "If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents." THE SONG OF SOLOMON. PREFACE. The Bhâgavata is the most popular of all Purânas and it is held in the highest esteem by Vaishnavas in all parts of India. It was the most authoritative book with such religious teachers as Shri Chaitanya. Several commentaries have been written on this great work. It is however strange that there has been so much discussion about the authoritative character of the work. The readers are all familiar with that discussion and I need not refer to it further than to say that the discussion does not in any way affect the intrinsic merit of the book, and the verdict of the public is so certain in this respect that the book will continue to be the most popular of all Purânas, despite any thing that may be said as to its authorship or the period of its appearance. The Padma Purâna devotes a chapter to the worship of this Purâna and calls it the most exalted of all the Purânas and the book is actually worshipped in many Hindu houses. The Purâna is recited all over India by learned Pandits and Sâdhus and its subject matter is familiar to every Hindu. PROFESSOR WILSON SAYS: — "Bhâgavata is a work of great celebrity in India and exercises a more direct and powerful influence upon the opinions and feelings of the people than perhaps any other of the Purânas. It...