Srimad Devi Bhagavatam, also known as Devi Purana, is one of the many works of Maharishi Veda Vyasa. Consisting of 18,000 verses, it is divided into 12 chapters and numerous sections. Though classified as an upapurana (sub-Purana), it is the only Purana that Veda Vyasa terms ‘Mahapurana’, or the great Purana, at the end of each chapter. Vyasa’s narration reiterates that the Supreme Goddess or the Divine Mother, as described in all scriptures, is the one beyond and above the Trinity of Gods and all Devas. The stories in the book not only establish this but also describe various manifestations of the Devi. All the Puranas are essentially collections of stories, through a narrator called Suta, who heard these from his guru, Vyasa. These, in their original form, are woven like a web and are not easy to comprehend since there is no defined order, be it chronological or otherwise. Dinesh Bhatia segregates and simplifies the stories as well as their underlying philosophies in order to present them in a simple and comprehensible way. He also reorganises the flow of stories as a direct narration by Vyasa to King Janamejaya, the grandson of Abhimanyu, while retaining the essence of the original work.
