H. H. Wilson: The Vishnu Purana - Book V - eBook

The fifth book of the Vishnu Purána is exclusively occupied with the life of Krishna. This is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the Purána, and is one argument against its antiquity. It is possible, though not yet proved, that Krishna as an Avatára of Vishnu, is mentioned in an indisputably genuine text of the Vedas. He is conspicuously prominent in the Mahábhárata, but very contradictorily described there. The part that he usually performs is that of a mere mortal, although the passages are numerous that attach divinity to his person. There are, however, no descriptions in the Mahábhárata of his juvenile frolics, of his sports in Vrindávan, his pastimes with the cow-boys, or even his destruction of the Asuras sent to kill him. These stories have all a modern complexion: they do not harmonize with the tone of the ancient legends, which is generally grave, and sometimes majestic: they are the creations of a puerile taste, and grovelling imagination. These Chapters of the Vishnu Purána offer some difficulties as to their originality: they are the same as those on the same subject in the Brahmá Purána: they are not very dissimilar to those of the Bhágavata. The latter has some incidents which the Vishnu has not, and may therefore be thought to have improved upon the prior narrative of the latter. On the other hand, abridgment is equally a proof of posteriority as amplification. The simpler style of the Vishnu Purána is however in favour of its priority; and the miscellaneous composition of the Brahmá Purána renders it likely to have borrowed these chapters from the Vishnu. The life of Krishna in the Hari-vanśa and the Brahma-vaivartta are indisputably of later date.

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