Page:Advice to the Indian Aristocracy.djvu/185

 the battle described in the Mahabharata. The Mahabharata itself begins as a story told to Janamejaya, the great grandson of Arjuna, by the Rishis of that day. The Bhagavata Purana is said to have been told to Parikshit, the grandson of Arjuna. The story of the Mahabharata may have been written in verse later on, long after it was originally told as a story. It is likely that then and later on several additions were made to the Mahabharata, as seems to be the case with every Purana.

Now turning to my present subject, there are four Puranas, i.e., legendary works, which are the chief works dealing with Sri Krishna. They are the Bhagavata, the Mahabharata, the Harivamsa, and the Vishnu Purana. Of these, again, the Bhagavata gives a general account of Vishnu, in twelve chapters, the tenth of which contains the account of Sri Krishna. It seems that it was written several hun- 22