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The Bhagavata Purana is one of the most celebrated Puranas in the Indian tradition, with extensive commentaries from various Acharyas across the centuries. Being a popular scripture, it has inspired many later works like Gita Govinda, Yadavabhyudayam, Krishna Karnamritam and so on.

One such work is the Bhushundi Ramayana, which is an interesting take on the Ramayana, where the main character is Rama, but the stories are all of Krishna, such as Rama living in Vraja, stealing butter and having dalliance with the Gopikas.

In his preface to this Hindi translation of the Bhushundi Ramayana, Dr.V.Raghavan, a famous Sanskrit scholar of the 20th century, states that while the Bhushundi Ramayana follows Bhagavatam closely, it is more sincere in adhering to Sanskrit grammar rules compared to Bhagavatam, which, he states, "ignores Sanskrit grammar in a big way."

Screenshot of Dr.Raghavan's preface

This statement is surprising, considering the popular statement, "Vidyavatam Bhagavatam Pariksha" — Bhagavata Purana is a test for scholars.

While I am aware that the scripture does ignore Chhandas (poetic meter) in a few places, as far as I have seen, the grammar doesn't seem to be compromised.

Has any other Acharya/scholar commented on this issue?

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  • Take a look at commentary on shloka 4.- sanskrit-trikashaivism.com/en/srimad-bhagavata-purana-01/637 Jan 16, 2021 at 11:08
  • @SwiftPushkar Thank you for the valuable link to the translation and commentary! Also, the commentary does not state an error in the grammar of the sloka, but an error in interpretation of the words.
    – Surya
    Jan 16, 2021 at 17:43
  • the only rule to Sanskrit grammar is 'exceptions'. Jan 18, 2021 at 4:52
  • @SwamiVishwananda I am sorry I don't understand your comment. Are you musing on the flexibility in grammar rules?
    – Surya
    Jan 19, 2021 at 18:43

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