In Chapters 3 and 4 I have, in the main, strictly followed the _Bhagavata Purana,_ incorporating, however, a few important details and passages either not given in this text but included in the _Vishnu Purana_ or if given, not so vividly expressed. The details and passages in question are page 27 concerning the white and black hairs of Vishnu, page 34--the lyrical description of Krishna's life in the forest, page 46--Akrura's meditation as he goes to visit Krishna, page 68--the drunken brawl and page 69 the deaths of Balarama and Krishna. All extracts are from H.H. Wilson, _The Vishnu Purana_ (pages 498, 511, 541-2, 609-612). Note 8, p. 28. The resemblance between Kansa's order to kill all male infants and Herod's slaughter of the innocents has often been remarked. Note 9, p. 29. Krishna's constant alterations of role, appearing sometimes as God but more often as boy or man, have been commented on by Isherwood and Prabhavananda in connection with Arjuna's dilemma in the _Mahabharata_. 'Krishna is the divine incarnation of Vishnu, Arjuna's chosen deity. Arjuna knows this--yet, by a merciful ignorance, he sometimes forgets. Indeed, it is Krishna who makes him forget, since no ordinary man could bear the strain of constant companionship with God. After the vision of Krishna's divine aspect, Arjuna is appalled by the realization that he has been treating the Lord of the universe as 'friend and fellow-mortal.' He humbly begs Krishna's pardon, but his awe soon leaves him. Again, he has forgotten. We may infer the same relationship between Jesus and his disciples after the vision of the transfiguration.' _(The Song of God, Bhagavad-Gita,_ 29-30). Note 10, p. 33. Although part of the supreme Trinity, Brahma was often treated in literature as an ordinary god who ambled gently about the world, was often rather absent-minded, sometimes behaved as if he were a priest, and was prone, as on the present occasion, to act a trifle misguidedly. Note 12, p. 40. The scene is illustrated in two Kangra and Guler paintings (Archer, _Indian Painting in the Punjab Hills_, Figs. 10 and 23). Note 12, p. 58. Pragjyotisha--a city situated in the east, in Kamarupa on the borders of Assam. According to the _Vishnu Purana_ (Wilson, 582), its environs were defended by 'nooses, constructed by the demon Mura (Naraka's ally), the edges of which were as sharp as razors.' Mura had seven thousand sons (not seven, as stated in the _Bhagavata_). All, however, were 'burnt like moths with the flame of the edge of Krishna's discus.' Note 13, p. 67.