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The Harivamsha (also Harivamsa; Sanskrit
Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
  "the lineage of Hari
Hari

In Hinduism, Hari is another name of and , and appears as the 650th name in the Vishnu sahasranama of Mahabharata. In Sanskrit "Hari" sometimes refers to a colour, yellow, or fawn-coloured/khaki ....
 (Vishnu
Vishnu

Vishnu , , is the Supreme God in Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of panchadeva, and his supreme status is declared in the Hindu sacred texts like Yajurveda, the Rigveda and the Bhagavad Gita....
)") is an important work of Sanskrit literature
Sanskrit literature

Indian literature in Sanskrit begins with the Vedas, and continues with the Sanskrit Epics of Iron Age India; the golden age of Classical Sanskrit literature dates to late Antiquity ....
, containing 16,374 verses
Shloka

A Sanskrit term shloka specifically denotes a metered and often rhymed poetic verse or phrase. Shloka is the chief metre used in the Epics.It also connotes and has come to mean a proverb and a form of prayer throughout Indian religions having arisen in the Vedas....
, mostly in metre. The text is also known as . This text is believed as a khila (appendix or supplement) to the Mahabharata and traditionally ascribed to Krishna Dvaipayana Veda Vyasa
Vyasa

Vyasa is a central and revered figure in the majority of Hinduism traditions. He is also sometimes called Veda Vyasa , or Krishna Dvaipayana ....
. The most celebrated commentary of the Mahabharata
Mahabharata

The is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetrys of History of India, the other being the '. The epic is part of the Hindu itihasa , and forms an important part of Hindu mythology....
 by , the covered the too.

text is complex, containing layers that may go back to the 1st or 2nd centuries CE.






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The Harivamsha (also Harivamsa; Sanskrit
Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
  "the lineage of Hari
Hari

In Hinduism, Hari is another name of and , and appears as the 650th name in the Vishnu sahasranama of Mahabharata. In Sanskrit "Hari" sometimes refers to a colour, yellow, or fawn-coloured/khaki ....
 (Vishnu
Vishnu

Vishnu , , is the Supreme God in Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of panchadeva, and his supreme status is declared in the Hindu sacred texts like Yajurveda, the Rigveda and the Bhagavad Gita....
)") is an important work of Sanskrit literature
Sanskrit literature

Indian literature in Sanskrit begins with the Vedas, and continues with the Sanskrit Epics of Iron Age India; the golden age of Classical Sanskrit literature dates to late Antiquity ....
, containing 16,374 verses
Shloka

A Sanskrit term shloka specifically denotes a metered and often rhymed poetic verse or phrase. Shloka is the chief metre used in the Epics.It also connotes and has come to mean a proverb and a form of prayer throughout Indian religions having arisen in the Vedas....
, mostly in metre. The text is also known as . This text is believed as a khila (appendix or supplement) to the Mahabharata and traditionally ascribed to Krishna Dvaipayana Veda Vyasa
Vyasa

Vyasa is a central and revered figure in the majority of Hinduism traditions. He is also sometimes called Veda Vyasa , or Krishna Dvaipayana ....
. The most celebrated commentary of the Mahabharata
Mahabharata

The is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetrys of History of India, the other being the '. The epic is part of the Hindu itihasa , and forms an important part of Hindu mythology....
 by , the covered the too.

Overview

The text is complex, containing layers that may go back to the 1st or 2nd centuries CE. The bulk of the text is derived from two traditions, the tradition, that is, the "five marks" of the Purana corpus one of which is "genealogy", and stories about the life of Krishna
Krishna

Krishna is a deity worshiped across many traditions in Hinduism in a variety of different perspectives. While many Vaishnava groups recognize him as an avatar of Vishnu, other traditions within Krishnaism consider Krishna to be svayam bhagavan, or the supreme being....
 as a herdsman. The latter portion presents the earliest source of Krishna's early life and his affairs with the gopis, presenting him as a tribal hero.

Contents

According to a tradition mentioned in the Mahabharata (Adi Parva, II. 69,233), the is divided into two parvas, and . But the extant text of the has total 271 s (chapters), divided into three parvas, (55 chapters), (81 chapters) and (135 chapters).

Translations

There have been translations of the Harivamsa in many Indian vernacular languages, English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
 (Manmatha Nath Dutt, 1897), French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
 (M. A. Langlois, Paris, 1834-35), and other languages.

Jaina Harivamshas

There are also Jaina
Jainism

Jainism is one of the oldest Indian religions that originated in India. Jains believe that every soul is divine and has the potential to achieve God-consciousness....
 Harivamshas in various languages that present Jaina traditions of the Krishna story. One of the earliest of these is the (783) of Jinasena
Jinasena

Jinasena is the name of several famous Jain Acharyas of the Digambar tradition.* The author of Harivamsha Purana in the 8th century. He belonged to the Punnata branch of Jain monks....
.

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