The Text—Veda

Abstract Just as the Veda constitutes the body of narratives central to the Vedic sacrifice, the text of the Bhāgavapurāṇa is central to the saptāha. This chapter summarizes the main narratives of the Bhāgavatapurāṇa and illustrates how exponents structure their spoken discourse around the text. It describes how one exponent, Acharya Shri Satchidananda Sai, drew on each of the twelve books of the Bhāgavatapurāṇa in turn over the course of one week-long performance. Like most saptāhas, he began with a discourse on the “Māhātmya,” a set of traditional narratives which illustrate the efficacy of listening to a saptāha. As is the case with many exponents, this performer drew more heavily on the ever-popular tenth book which treats the līlā or past-times of Kṛṣṇa in the pastoral setting of Vraja.