Hi guys! Not sure how I found this thread, but glad I did :) I'll try to post in more detail later as I'm in between classes, but just wanted to mention that a) the Radha-SHRIdhama curse story from the Brahmavaivarta Puraan does not occur in any past life, but up in the heavens. That text postulates Golok, a separate level where the deities are forever in their Radha-Krishna forms and regale the best of sagun devotees in whatever form/relationship by which they contemplate on Krishna.
The past life of SUdama, on the other hand, is described in the Satyanarayan Katha which comes from the Skanda Puraan. The katha also includes narratives of the past lives of Nishaad Raj Guha and Maharaj Dashrath, but the latter differs from other sources that refer to him as an aspect of Maharishi Kashyap so there's some ambiguity/subjectivity there... reader's call, I guess.
Edited:
And finally w.r.t. Parikshit's resurrection, SB doesn't mention it because it tells us that Parikshit was not stillborn - instead, Krishna took a diminutive form and shielded him from the effects of the weapon right inside the womb, deflecting its rays with his chakra. Hence in the early chapters, Parikshit's name is defined as one who is always searching, and it is explained that he is always searching for that figure whose heroism he witnessed as a fetus.
Edited by lola610 - 14 years ago