Chapter I - Discourse between Suta and Shaunaka and other Rishis in the forest of Namisha

I SALUTE the One Supreme, without birth, decay or end, identical with knowledge, great, auspicious free from impurities, without beginning, devoid of elemental body and actions, stationed in all creatures, Hari, freed from impurity and illusion and present everywhere. With mind, speech and actions I do always salute Hari, Rudra, Brahma, the lord of Ganas and the goddess Sarasvati. Having adored and lauded the poet Suta, well-versed in Puranas, of a quiet nature, the master of all scriptures, devoted to Vishnu and high-souled when he came to the forest of Naimisha while making a pilgrimage to sacred shrines and seated on a holy seat was meditating on the sinless Vishnu, the great Rishis, Saunaka and others, dwelling in the forest of Naimishi, having asceticism for their wealth, of quiescent souls, effulgent like the sun and ever engaged in the celebration of. sacrifices, said.

The Rishis said:—O Suta, thou art informed of every thing and therefore we ask you Amongst the celestials who is Ishvara and who is worthy of adorations? Who should be meditated on? Who is the creator of the universe? Who protects it and who destroys it? From whom proceeds religion? Who suppresses the wicked? With what vowed observances is he pleased? By what yoga can he be obtained? What are his incarnations and what is his family? Who has instituted the various castes and orders and who protects them? O Suta, O thou of great intellect, do thou describe unto us, all this and every thing else, the most excellent themes about Narayana.

SUTA said:—I will describe the Garuda Purana, the essence of all accounts relating to Vishnu. Formerly Garuda described it to Kashyapa and I myself had heard it from Vyasa. The Lord Narayana alone is the lord of all the lords of the deities, the great soul and the great Brahma; from him proceeds birth &c. For the protection of the universe Vasudeva, without birth and death, assumes various incarnations by his body, namely that of Kaumara and others. Having undertaken the incarnation of Kaumara and lived in the celestial region the first deity Hari, O Brahman, practised the most difficult vow of celebacy without any break. Secondly having assumed the Boar-form the lord of sacrifices, for the general well-being, released and held up the earth sunk deep under the nether region. Thirdly for the creation of the Rishis, he, assuming the form of a Brahma Rishi, performed Sattvik (pervaded by the quality of goodness) actions from which alone proceed desireless actions. Then for protecting righteousness, Hari, assuming the form of Nara Narayana, practised hard penances. He was then adored by the celestials and Asuras. His fifth incarnation was Kapila, the lord of Siddhas^[1] who expounded unto the celestials the Sankhya,^[2] which ascertains the Tattvas or elementary particles which had been lost in time. In his sixth incarnation he was born as the son of Atri and communicated to Alarka, Pralhada (Prahlada?) and others, the knowledge of Anvikshiki (metaphaysics) obtained by him from Anassua. His seventh incarnation, in the Sayambhuva Manvantara, was Yajna, the will-begotten child of Akuti, who performed sacrifices in the company of the celestials. In his eighth incarnation he was born as the powerful son of Nabhi from Merudevya. Adored of all the orders he pointed out to men the real road. Solicited by Rishis he assumed the body of Prithu as his ninth incarnation and the Brahmanas and other creatures were revived by him with the milk of herbs. When the Earth was submerged under water in the end of the Chakshusa Manvantara he assumed the form of a Fish and saved the Manu Vaivaswata by placing him on a boat. In his eleventh incarnation the Lord, in the shape of a tortoise, held on his back the mount Mandara with which the celestials and Asuras churned the ocean. In his twelfth incarnation as well as in the thirteenth in the form of a woman he stupified the Asuras and pleased the celestials. Assuming the form of a man-lion in his fourteenth incarnation he subdued the Daitya chief by cutting his entrails with his fierce claws. Assuming the form of a dwarf in his fifteenth incarnation he went to the Sacrifice of Bali and praying for room for his three feet obtained it. Beholding the kings aggrandise the Brahmanas in his sixteenth incarnation, he, filled with anger, divested the earth of the Kshatriyas for twenty one times. In his seventeenth incarnation he was begotton on Satyavati by Parasara (as Veda-Vyasa); and seeing the feeble intellect of the people he divided the Vedas. Then for accomplishing the work of the celestials he was born as a king (Rama), built a bridge over the ocean and performed other feats, in his nineteenth and twentieth incarnations the Lord was born as' Rama and Krishna and relieved the earth of her burden. Then at the junction of the Kali yuga, for stupefying the enemies of the celestials he was born as Buddha, the son of Jina. In the period of the eighth junction (change of cycles), when all the kings will be on the verge of destruction, he will be born as Vishnujasa’s son Kalki, the lord of the world. Innumerable are the incarnations of Hari, the mine of Sattva, O twice-born ones. The prime Manus, the knowers of the Vedas, are all said to have originated from Vishnu. From them proceeded the work of creation. And they should be adored with vowed observances and other rites. This Garuda Purana consisting of eight thousand and eight hundred verses Vyasa formerly narrated to me.