Within the vast tradition of Bhagavata Purana exegesis, certain commentaries have come to be regarded as touchstones across schools of Vaishnava thought. Foremost among them is Śrīdhara Svāmī’s *Bhāvārtha-dīpikā*, often treated as the standard, foundational commentary and cited widely across different sampradāyas. Its influence is such that later interpreters, even when differing in theology, frequently engage with Śrīdhara’s readings as a primary point of reference. This work has thus become a common meeting ground for diverse Vedantic perspectives on the text.

Alongside Śrīdhara, several sectarian traditions have produced their own highly esteemed commentaries that read the Bhagavata through the lens of their particular theological commitments. In the Dvaita lineage, Vijayadhvaja Tīrtha’s *Pādaratnāvalī* is an important dualistic exposition, while Madhvācārya’s *Bhāgavata-tātparya-nirṇaya* offers a key Dvaita Vedānta interpretation, even though it is not a verse-by-verse gloss on every passage. For the Śuddhādvaita school of Vallabha, the *Subodhinī* of Vallabhācārya serves as a central text, shaping the devotional and doctrinal life of the Puṣṭi-mārga tradition.

The Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava school, with its intense focus on Krishna-bhakti, has also produced influential commentarial works on the Bhagavata. Jīva Gosvāmī’s *Krama-sandarbha* (closely related to his broader *Bhāgavata-sandarbhas*) systematically interprets the Purana in light of Gauḍīya theology, especially the understanding of Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Later, Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura’s *Sārārtha-darśinī* (also known as *Bhāgavatārtha-darpaṇa* in some traditions) became renowned for its devotional depth and its sensitivity to rasa, the aesthetic and emotional dimensions of divine love.

Taken together, these commentaries illustrate how the Bhagavata Purana has functioned as a living scripture, inviting layered readings rather than a single, monolithic interpretation. Śrīdhara Svāmī’s work offers a broadly accepted baseline, while figures such as Vijayadhvaja Tīrtha, Madhvācārya, Vallabhācārya, Jīva Gosvāmī, and Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura each draw out distinct theological and devotional nuances. To move among these commentaries is to witness the text refracted through multiple spiritual sensibilities, each seeking to illuminate the same sacred narrative of Krishna from its own vantage point.