सूत शुश्रूषवः सर्वे वक्ता त्वं मतिमानथ । निर्व्यापारा वयं नूनमेकचित्तास्तथैव च
O Sūta, we are all eager to listen, and you are indeed wise to speak; we are surely free from other occupations and united in mind as well.
त्वं सूत भव दीर्घायुस्तापत्रयविवर्जितः । कथयाद्य पुराणं हि पुण्यं भागवतं शिवम्
O Sūta, may you be long-lived and free from the threefold afflictions; today, narrate the auspicious and meritorious Bhāgavata Purāṇa.
यत्र धर्मार्थकामानां वर्णनं विधिपूर्वकम् । विद्यां प्राप्य तया मोक्षः कथितो मुनिना किल
In which, with due procedure, the description of dharma, artha, and kāma is given; and having obtained knowledge therein, liberation is taught by the sage.
द्वैपायनेन मुनिना कथितं यच्च पावनम् । न तृप्यामो वयं सूत कथां श्रुत्वा मनोरमाम्
That purifying narrative which was told by the sage Dvaipāyana—we do not grow satiated, O Sūta, by hearing that delightful story.
सकलगुणगणानामेकपात्रं पवित्र- ॥ मखिलभुवनमातुर्नाट्यवद्यद्विचित्रम् । निखिलमलगणानां नाशकृत्कामकन्दं
The sole vessel of all virtues, the pure and wondrous play of the Mother of all worlds, the destroyer of all impurities, and the root of all desires.
पुराणवर्णनपूर्वकतत्तद्युगीयव्यासवर्णनम् सूत उवाच शृण्वन्तु सम्प्रवक्ष्यामि पुराणानि मुनीश्वराः । यथाश्रुतानि तत्त्वेन व्यासात्सत्यवतीसुतात्
The account of the Purāṇas is preceded by the description of Vyāsa and the respective ages. Sūta said: Listen, O best of sages, I shall now recount the Purāṇas as I have heard them in truth from Vyāsa, the son of Satyavatī.
मद्वयं भद्वयं चैव ब्रत्रयं वचतुष्टयम् । अनापलिंगकूस्कानि पुराणानि पृथक्पृथक्
The Madvaya, the Bhadvaya, the Bratraya, and the Vacatuṣṭaya—these are the Purāṇas, each with its own distinguishing marks.
चतुर्दशसहस्रं च मत्स्यमाद्यं प्रकीर्तितम्
Fourteen thousand verses are said to be in the Matsya and the others.
चतुर्दशसहस्राणि तथा पञ्चशतानि च
Likewise, there are fourteen thousand and five hundred verses.
अष्टादशसहस्रं वै पुण्यं भागवतं किल । तथा चायुतसंख्याकं पुराणं ब्रह्मसंज्ञकम्
The meritorious Bhāgavata is said to have eighteen thousand verses; likewise, the Purāṇa called Brahma is counted as ten thousand.
द्वादशैव सहस्राणि ब्रह्माण्डं च शताधिकम् । तथाष्टादशसाहस्रं ब्रह्मवैवर्तमेव च
The Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa has twelve thousand and a hundred verses; likewise, the Brahmavaivarta Purāṇa has eighteen thousand.
अयुतं वामनाख्यं च वायव्यं षट्शतानि च । चतुर्विंशतिसंख्यातः सहस्राणि तु शौनक
The Vāmana Purāṇa is ten thousand verses, and the Vāyu Purāṇa is six hundred; O Śaunaka, the total number of verses is twenty-four thousand.
त्रयोविंशतिसाहस्रं वैष्णवं परमाद्भुतम् । चतुर्विंशतिसाहस्रं वाराहं परमाद्भुतम्
The wondrous Vaiṣṇava Purāṇa has twenty-three thousand verses; the wondrous Vārāha Purāṇa has twenty-four thousand.
षोडशैव सहस्राणि पुराणं चाग्निसंज्ञितम् । पञ्चविंशतिसाहस्रं नारदं परमं मतम्
The Agni Purāṇa has sixteen thousand verses; the Nārada Purāṇa, considered supreme, has twenty-five thousand.
पञ्चपञ्चाशत्साहस्रं पद्माख्यं विपुलं मतम् । एकादशसहस्राणि लिङ्गाख्यं चातिविस्मृतम्
The extensive Padma Purāṇa is said to have fifty-five thousand verses; the Liṅga Purāṇa, greatly revered, has eleven thousand.
एकोनविंशत्साहस्रं गारुडं हरिभाषितम् । सप्तदशसहस्रं च पुराणं कूर्मभाषितम्
The Garuḍa Purāṇa, spoken by Hari, consists of nineteen thousand verses; the Kūrma Purāṇa, likewise, contains seventeen thousand verses.
एकाशीतिसहस्राणि स्कन्दाख्यं परमाद्भुतम् । पुराणाख्या च संख्या च विस्तरेण मयानघाः
The Skanda Purāṇa, most marvelous, has eighty-one thousand verses; thus, O sinless ones, I have told you the names and the counts of the Purāṇas in detail.
तथैवोपपुराणानि शृण्वन्तु ऋषिसत्तमाः । सनत्कुमारं प्रथमं नारसिंहं ततः परम्
In the same way, listen, O best of sages, to the Upapurāṇas: first is the Sanatkumāra, then the Nārasiṃha.
नारदीयं शिवं चैव दौर्वाससमनुत्तमम् । कापिलं मानवं चैव तथा चौशनसं स्मृतम्
The Nārada, Śiva, and the incomparable Daurvāsasa; the Kāpila, Mānava, and also the one known as Kauśanasa.
वारुणं कालिकाख्यं च साम्बं नन्दिकृतं शुभम् । सौरं पाराशरप्रोक्तमादित्यं चातिविस्तरम्
The Vāruṇa, Kālikā, Sāmba, the auspicious one composed by Nandi; the Saura, that taught by Parāśara, and the extensive Āditya.
माहेश्वरं भागवतं वासिष्ठं च सविस्तरम् । एतान्युपपुराणानि कथितानि महात्मभिः
The Māheśvara, Bhāgavata, and the detailed Vāsiṣṭha—these Upapurāṇas have been recounted by the great souls.
अष्टादश पुराणानि कृत्वा सत्यवतीसुतः । भारताख्यानमतुलं चक्रे तदुपबृंहितम्
Having composed the eighteen Purāṇas, the son of Satyavatī created the unrivaled narrative called the Bhārata, which is supplemented by them.
मन्वन्तरेषु सर्वेषु द्वापरे द्वापरे युगे । प्रादुःकरोति धर्मार्थी पुराणानि यथाविधि
In every Manvantara, in each Dvāpara Yuga, one who seeks righteousness brings forth the Purāṇas according to proper order.
द्वापरे द्वापरे विष्णुर्व्यासरूपेण सर्वदा । वेदमेकं स बहुधा कुरुते हितकाम्यया
In every Dvāpara Yuga, Viṣṇu, in the form of Vyāsa, always divides the single Veda into many, desiring the welfare of all.
अल्पायुषोऽल्पबुद्धींश्च विप्रान्ज्ञात्वा कलावथ । पुराणसंहितां पुण्यां कुरुतेऽसौ युगे युगे
Knowing that, in the Kali age, the brāhmaṇas are short-lived and of limited understanding, he composes the sacred collection of Purāṇas in every age.
स्त्रीशूद्रद्विजबन्धूनां न वेदश्रवणं मतम् । तेषामेव हितार्थाय पुराणानि कृतानि च
For women, Śūdras, and twice-borns' sons who are unfit to hear the Veda, the Purāṇas were made for their benefit.
मन्वन्तरे सप्तमेऽत्र शुभे वैवस्वताभिधे । अष्टाविंशतिमे प्राप्ते द्वापरे मुनिसत्तमाः
In this auspicious seventh Manvantara, called Vaivasvata, when the twenty-eighth Dvāpara arrives, O best of sages,
व्यासः सत्यवतीसूनुर्गुरुर्मे धर्मवित्तमः । एकोनत्रिंशत्संप्राप्ते द्रौणिर्व्यासो भविष्यति
Vyāsa, the son of Satyavatī, my revered teacher and knower of dharma, will become Drauni, the Vyāsa, at the twenty-ninth cycle.
अतीतास्तु तथा व्यासाः सप्तविंशतिरेव च । पुराणसंहितास्तैस्तु कथितास्तु युगे युगे
In the same way, there have been twenty-seven Vyāsas in the past, and those great ones have recited the collections of Purāṇas in every age.
ऋषय ऊचुः ब्रूहि सूत महाभाग व्यासाः पूर्वयुगोद्भवाः । वक्तारस्तु पुराणानां द्वापरे द्वापरे युगे
The sages said: Tell us, O highly fortunate Sūta, who were the Vyāsas born in previous ages, and who were the narrators of the Purāṇas in each Dvāpara Yuga?