Many movies nowadays start with the end. A scene from the end of the story is shown in the beginning to make the viewer avid to try to understand how things came to that point. Sometimes there are flashbacks or two or more connected stories from different timelines are shown in parallel. Many think that this is a new trend in modern movies, but when we study the Srimad Bhagavatam we can see that Srila Vyasadeva actually used many of the same concepts.

In a sense, the Srimad Bhagavatam starts from the end of the story: Krsna leaving this world. Considering that Krsna is the great hero of the Srimad Bhagavatam, this is very surprising, since the first rule in Sanskrit poetry is that the hero never dies. Of course, the rest of the Srimad Bhagavatam is dedicated to helping us to understand the eternal nature of Krsna and to understand that all His activities, culminating with His disappearance, are transcendental. In a wonderful turn of events, the reader realizes at a certain point that the same Krsna who supposedly left at the beginning of the book was with Him the whole time in the form of the Srimad Bhagavatam itself!

Other narrations also don’t always follow a chronological order. For example, in the first canto, we have the story of Vidhura returning to the palace to preach to his brother Dhrtarastra and thus save him from a degrading position. Chronologically speaking, this happens after the discussions between Vidhura and Maitreya that start in the third canto. The story is that Vidhura left the palace after being insulted by Duryodhana, and spent several years in pilgrimage. On the way back, he met Uddhava, to who he inquired about Krsna’s pastimes. Uddhava was perfectly qualified to explain it, but because he had a mission to deliver the message from Krsna to the sages in Badarikasrama and because Maitreya (who was senior in age) was close by, he sent Vidhura to inquire from him instead.

The conversation of Vidhura and Maitreya composes most of the third and fourth canto. It’s only after this conversation is finished that Vidhura returns to the palace and preaches to Dhrtarastra (something that is described in the first canto). After that, Vidhura again goes on a pilgrimage and eventually leaves his body.

Both Vidhura and Maitreya had the opportunity of listening directly from Krsna. This conversation happened right before Krsna left this world. Chronologically, this conversation happened even before, but it is narrated only in the 11th canto.

Similarly, in the first verses of the Srimad Bhagavatam, Suta Goswami is speaking to the sages in the forest of Naimisharanya, something that happened several decades (or maybe centuries) after all the incidents narrated later in the Srimad Bhagavatam.

Here is a short list of recent incidents narrated in the Srimad Bhagavatam and Mahabharata in chronological order:

– Vyasadeva writes the Vedas, restoring the Vedas after they were almost lost during Dwapara-yuga. His disciples spread the knowledge of the different branches to their disciples. (1st canto, 12th canto)
– The appearance of Krsna. (10th canto)
– Krsna executes his childhood pastimes and kills Kansa. (10th canto)
– While living in Mathura, Krsna fights Jarasanda 21 times. To protect the Yadhus from his repeated attacks He creates the city of Dwaraka in the middle of the ocean. (10th canto)
– Yudhisthira becomes the king and executes several great sacrifices. (1st canto)
– The Pandavas lose everything in the dice game and are forced to go into exile. (Mahabharata)
– Krsna meets with Vyasadeva and blesses Sukadeva Goswami (inside the womb) so that he will never be captured by the material energy.
– Birth of Sukadeva Goswami. He runs from home but later hears the Srimad Bhagavatam from Vyasadeva. (1st canto)
– The Pandavas return and demand their kingdom back, as previously agreed. Duryodhana refuses. (Mahabharata)
– Vidhura leaves the palace and goes on a pilgrimage after being insulted by Duryodhana. (1st canto, Mahabharata)
– Dissension between the Kurus and the Pandavas, both sides prepare for war. Balarama goes on a pilgrimage for one year. (10th canto)
– Balarama kills Romaharsana and blesses Suta Goswami to recite the Puranas. (10th canto)
– Krsna speaks the Bhagavad-Gita to Arjuna. The Battle of Kuruksetra starts.
– After 18 days, the battle finishes. The Pandavas win.
– Aswatama tries to kill Pariksit in the womb and is cursed by Krsna. (1st canto)
– The birth of Pariksit Maharaja, prayers of Queen Kunti. (1st canto)
– Yudhisthira becomes the king. (1st canto)
– Bhismadeva passes away in the presence of Krsna, after instructing king Yudhistira. (1st canto)
– After establishing the Pandavas as the rulers, Krsna departs for Dwaraka. (1st canto)
– The Yadhus fight between themselves and the dynasty is destroyed, 36 years after the battle of Kuruksetra, following the curse of Gandhari (11th canto).
– Krsna instructs Uddhava and Maitreya and orders Uddhava to remain on the planet after His departure to bring a message to the sages in Badrarikasrama and give them association. (11th canto)
– The disappearance of Lord Krsna after being hit by the arrow of the hunter. (11th canto)
– Vidhura meets Uddhava when he is on the way. Uddhava tells him to get instructions from Maitreya, who is nearby (3rd canto).
– Conversation between Vidhura and Maitreya (3rd and 4th canto).
– Vidhura returns to the palace and preaches to Dhrtarastra (1st canto).
– Dhrtarastra attains impersonal liberation. Vidhura goes again on pilgrimage.
– Arjuna goes to Dwaraka but finds that Krsna has already left.
– Arjuna escorts the wives of Krsna and is defeated by the cowherds on the way.
– Arjuna returns to the palace and describes everything to King Yudhisthira.
– The Pandavas accept the renounced order and leave the palace.
– Pariksit becomes the king.
– Pariksit meets Kali, Dharma, and Bhumi (in the form of a sudra, a bull, and a cow).
– Pariksit is cursed by Shringi, the Brahmana boy.
– Pariksit abandons the kingdom, goes to the banks of the Ganges or Yamuna, and prepares to fast until death, surrounded by all great sages.
– Sukadeva Goswami appears in the assembly and, requested by Maharaja Pariksit, recites the Srimad Bhagavatam. Suta Goswami is present in the assembly.
– Pariksit narrates the Brhad Bhagavatamrta to his mother. (Brhad Bhagavatamrta)
– Pariksit is bitten by the snake and passes away. (12th canto)
– Kali-yuga starts in force.
– Janamejaya becomes king and performs the sacrifice to kill all the snakes (12th canto).
– Suta Goswami narrates the Srimad Bhagavatam to the sages in Naimisharanya (1st canto).
– The different dynasties of kings described in the 12th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam.
– Fall of Vedic culture, people use the Vedas as an excuse to kill animals.
– Lord Buddha comes to preach ahimsa. Rejects the Vedas in the process. (2500 years ago)
– Sankaracarya revives the study of the Vedas preaching a form of Buddhism based on the Vedic literature.
– Madhvacarya restores the proper theistic conclusion of the Vedas.
– Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appears in the Madhva Sampradaya and gives the ultimate conclusion of the Vedas in the form of the sankirtan movement.
– Different Vaishnava acaryas culminating with Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura.
– Srila Prabhupada comes to the West, writes his books, and starts our society.
– We are here.
– Krsna Consciousness spreads to all towns and villages, and the Golden Age starts.
– About 5,000 years later, the Golden Age reaches its peak. Everyone on the planet is a devotee.
– There is a gradual decline and after about 10,000 years after Mahaprabhu, the last pure Vaishnavas go back to Godhead. Ahead there is just the degradation of the remaining years of Kali-yuga.
– After about 417,000 years more, Kalki comes to destroy the atheists. After a transition of 1,000 years a new Satya-yuga begins. (12th canto)

Extra notes:

– Krsna’s disappearance, happened in His 125th year on our planet, a total of 36 years after the battle of Kuruksetra. At this time, Pariksit Maharaja was about 35 years old.

– The Pandavas renounced their kingdom and went to the Himalayas after receiving the news of the departure of Krsna and the Yadu dynasty, which happened a few weeks or months after the departure of Krsna.

– By the time Pariksit was cursed, he had an adult son, Janamejaya, so this must have happened several years after the Pandavas left.

– Sukadeva Goswami, as well as Vyasadeva, were present when Bhismadeva was leaving his body, therefore Sukadeva Goswami is older than Pariksit. On SB 1.19.26 it’s described that “taṁ dvyaṣṭa-varṣaṁ”, Sukadeva Goswami was only sixteen years old when he met Pariksit Maharaja, but this appears to refer to his appearance, not to the chronological age. Because he was so pure, he had the appearance of a sixteen-year-old boy when he spoke the Srimad Bhagavatam.

– Suta Goswami was five years old when Balarama killed Romahashana, which also happened around the time of the battle of Kuruksetra. Suta Goswami was thus five or six years older than Maharaja Pariksit. He was present when Sukadeva Goswami narrated the Bhagavatam to Pariksit and later narrated it to the sages in the forest of Naimisharanya.

– The conversation between Brahma and Narada described in the second canto happened in the beginning of the current day of Brahma (the first day of his 51st year). The story of Narada Muni in his previous life happened at the end of the previous day.

– Most of the other histories narrated in the Srimad Bhagavatam happened in the current day of Brahma, but several stories are from previous days, like the story of Lord Shiva destroying the three dwellings of the demons and becoming known as Tripurari.

– The story of Gopa Kumara Narrated in the Brhad Bhagavatamrta happened a very long time ago in some other universe. Pariksit Maharaja narrated this story to his mother after hearing the Srimad Bhagavatam from Sukadeva Goswami, and Srila Sanatana Goswami revealed it to us.