Harivaṃśa

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Harivaṃśa (Skt., ‘the dynastic history of Hari [ = Viṣṇu]’). A Hindu mythological text in Skt. It is a work of considerable text-historical complexities, with early layers reaching as far back as the 1st or 2nd cent. CE. The bulk of the work is constituted by material derived from two main traditions: (i) the Purāṇa-pañcalakṣaṇa; and (ii) stories about the life of Kṛṣṇa among the herdsmen of Vraja.

The Jains also produced, in various languages, Harivaṃśa (Purāṇa)s which deal with their version of the Kṛṣṇa story.

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