Shrimad Bhagwat Puran: All 12 Skandh in Simple Words

The Shrimad Bhagwat is called the crown of the Puranas. Even after dividing the Vedas and composing the Mahabharata and the other Puranas, Ved Vyas felt no peace. Narada told him it was because he had not yet fully sung the leelas of the Lord and the path of devotion. Vyas then composed the Bhagwat and taught it to his son Shukadeva. When King Parikshit was cursed to die of Takshaka's bite in seven days, he sat on the bank of the Ganga without food or water, and Shukadeva told him this story over those seven days. That is the origin of the Bhagwat Saptah, the seven-day katha.

The heart of the Bhagwat is bhakti: knowing God with love and taking refuge in him. The tenth skandh, the complete leela of Shri Krishna, is its centre.

The twelve skandh (books)

• First: how the Bhagwat came to be, the list of avatars, Kunti's prayer, Bhishma's passing, Parikshit's birth and curse.
• Second: Shukadeva arrives, meditation on the cosmic form, the four-verse Bhagwat.
• Third: Vidura and Uddhava, the Varaha avatar, Kardama and Devahuti, and Kapila's teaching.
• Fourth: Daksha's yajna, Dhruva, King Prithu, the allegory of Puranjana.
• Fifth: Rishabhadeva, Jada Bharata, the structure of the worlds and the hells.
• Sixth: Ajamila, Vritrasura and the Narayana Kavacha.
• Seventh: Prahlada and the Narasimha avatar, the duties of the ashramas.
• Eighth: Gajendra Moksha, the churning of the ocean, Mohini, the Vamana avatar.
• Ninth: the Solar dynasty with the story of Shri Ram, and the Lunar dynasty.
• Tenth: the whole life of Shri Krishna from his birth to Dwarka.
• Eleventh: the end of the Yadavas, the Uddhava Gita, the avadhuta's twenty-four teachers.
• Twelfth: the Kali age, Parikshit's liberation, Markandeya, and the glory of the Bhagwat.

Common questions

Why is the Bhagwat katha held over seven days?

Because Shukadeva told it to King Parikshit in the seven days he had left to live.

How many books and verses does it have?

Twelve skandh, 335 chapters and about 18,000 shlokas.

What is the Chatuh-shloki Bhagwat?

Four verses in the ninth chapter of the second skandh in which the Lord gave Brahma the essence of the whole Bhagwat.