c. 800 CE – 1000 CE, Sanskrit
Srimad Bhagavatam
The Bhagavata Purana
Twelve books devoted chiefly to Krishna — his birth in a Mathura prison cell, the mischief and wonder of his childhood in Vrindavan, the raising of Govardhan hill, and his teaching as a grown king and philosopher. The tenth book, on his early life, is the most read and recited portion of the whole Purana corpus.
Key episodes
Book 10, early chapters
Krishna is born in a Mathura prison cell to parents held captive by the tyrant Kamsa, and is smuggled across the Yamuna to be raised by cowherds in Vrindavan, safe from Kamsa's decree against him.
Book 10, Govardhan
When the cowherds turn their yearly offering from the sky-god Indra to their own hill, Govardhan, a jealous Indra floods the village — and the boy Krishna lifts the hill on one finger to shelter everyone for seven days.
Book 10, Kurukshetra
The grown Krishna returns as a strategist and counsellor, siding with the Pandavas and speaking the Gita to Arjuna — the same teaching this Purana devotes its tenth book to living out in full.