The Devi Bhagavata Purana

by Swami Vijñanananda | 1921 | 545,801 words | ISBN-10: 8121505917 | ISBN-13: 9788121505918

The English translation of the Devi Bhagavata Purana. This Sanskrit work describes the Devi (Divine), the Goddess, as the foundation of the world and as identical with Brahman, the Supreme Being. The Devi Bhagavata Purana is one of the most important works in Shaktism, a branch of Hinduism focusing on the veneration of the divine feminine, along w...

Chapter 3 - On praising the Purāṇas and on each Vyāsa of every Dvāpara Yuga

1-11. Sūta said :-- “O best of the Munis! I am now telling you the names of the Purāṇas, etc., exactly as 1 have heard from Veda Vyāsa, the son of Satyavati; listen.

The Purāṇa beginning with "ma" are two in number; those beginning with “bha” are two; those beginning with “bra" are three; those beginning with "va” are four; those beginning respectively with “A”, “na”, “pa”, “Ling”, “ga”, “kū” and “Ska” are one each and “ma” means Matsya Purāna, Mārkandeya Purāna; “Bha” signifies Bhaviṣya, Bhāgavat Purāṇas; “Bra” signifies Brahmā, Brahmāṇḍa and Brahmāvaivarta Purāṇas; “va” signifies Vāman, Vayu, Viṣṇu and Varaha Purāṇas; “A” signifies Agni Purāṇa; “Na” signifies Narada Purāna; “Pa” signifies Padma Purāna; “Ling” signifies Liṅga Purānam; “Ga” signifies Govinda Purāṇam; Kū signifies Kurma Purāna and “Ska” signifies Skanda Purānam. These are the eighteen Purāṇas. O Saunaka! In the Matsya Purāṇa there are fourteen thousand slokas; in the wonderfully varied Markandeya Purānam there are nine thousand slokas. In the Bhavisya Purāṇa fourteen thousand and five hundred slokas are counted by the Munis, the seers of truth. In the holy Bhāgavata there are eighteen thousand Ślokas; in the Brahmā Purāṇa there are Ajuta (ten thousand) Ślokas. In the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa there are twelve thousand one hundred Ślokas; in the Brahmā Vaivarta Purāṇam there are eighteen thousand Ślokas. In the Vaman Purāṇa there are Ajuta (ten thousand) Ślokas; in the Vayu Purāṇam there are twenty-four thousand and six hundred Ślokas; in the greatly wonderful Viṣṇu Purāna there are twenty-three thousand Ślokas; in the Agni Purāṇam there are sixteen thousand Ślokas; in the Brihat Narada Purāṇam, there are twenty-five thousand Ślokas, in the big Padma Purāṇa there are fifty-five thousand ślokas; in the voluminous Liṅga Purāṇa eleven thousand ślokas exist; in the Garuḍa Purāṇam spoken by Hari nineteen thousand ślokas exist; iu the Kurma Purāṇa, seventeen thousand ślokas exist and in the greatly wonderful Skanda Purāṇa there are eighty-one thousand ślokas, O sinless Ṛṣis! Thus I have described to you the names of all the Purāṇas and the number of verses contained in them. Now hear about the Upa Purāṇas.

12-17. The first is the Upapurāṇa narrated by Sanat Kumāra; next comes Narasimha Purāṇa; then Naradiya Purāṇa, Śiva Purāṇa, Purāṇa narrated by Durvasa, Kapila Purāṇa, Manava Purāṇa, Auśanasa Purāṇa, Varuṇa Purāṇa. Kalika Purāṇa, Samva Purāṇa, Nandi Keśwara Purāṇa, Saura Purāṇa, Purāṇa spoken by Parāśara, Āditya Purāṇa, Mahesvara Purāṇa, Bhāgavata and Vasiṣṭha Purāṇa. These Upa Purāṇas are described by the Mahatmas.

After compiling the eighteen Purāṇas, Veda Vyāsa, the son of Satyavati composed Mahabharata, that has no rival, out of these Purāṇas.

18-24. At every Manvantara, in each Dvāpara Yuga, Veda Vyāsa expounds the Purāṇas duly to preserve the religion. Veda Vyāsa is no other person than Viṣṇu Himself; He, in the form of Veda Vyāsa, divides the (one) Veda into four parts, in every Dvāpara Yuga, for the good of the world. The Brahmāṇas of the Kali age are shortlived and their intellect (Buddhi) is not sharp; they cannot realise the meaning after studying the Vedas; knowing this in every Dvāpara Yuga Bhagavān expounds the holy Purāṇa Samhitas. The more so because women, Śudras, and the lower Dvijas are not entitled to hear the Vedas; for their good, the Purāṇas have been composed. Tne present auspicious Manvantara is Vaivasvata; it is the seventh in due order; and the son of Satyavati, the best of the knowers of Dharma, is the Veda Vyāsa of the 28th Dvāpara Yuga of this seventh Manvantara. He is my Guru; in the next Dvāpara, Yuga Asvatthama, the son of Drona will be the Veda Vyāsa. Twenty-seven Veda Vyāsas had expired and they duly compiled each their own Purāna Samhitas in their own Dvāpara Yugas.

25-35. The Ṛṣis said :-- “O highly fortunate Sūta! kindly describe to us the names of the previous Veda Vyāsas, the reciters of the Purāṇas in the Dvāpara Yugas.

Sūta said :-- In the first Dvāpara, Brahmā Himself divided the Vedas; in the second Dvāpara, the first Prajapati Vyāsa did the same; so Śakra, in the third, Brihaspati, in the fourth, Surya in the fifth; Yama, in the sixth, Indra, in the seventh, Vasiṣṭha, in the eighth; Sarasvata Ṛṣi in the ninth, Tridhama, in the tenth; Trivṛṣa, in the eleventh, Bharadvāja, in the twelfth; Antariksa, in the thirteenth; Dharma, in the fourteenth; Evaruni in the fifteenth; Dhanañjaya, in the sixteenth; Medhatithi in tba seventeenth; Vrati, in the eighteenth; Atri, in the nineteenth; Gautama in the twentieth, Uttama, whose soul was fixed on Hari, in the twenty-first, Vājasravā Vena, in the twenty second; his family descendant Soma iu the twenty-third; Trinaviṇdu, in the twenty-fourth; Bhārgava, in the twenty-fifth; Sakti, in the twenty-sixth, Jātūkarṇya in the twenty-seventh and Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana became the twenty-eighth Veda Vyās in the Dvāpara Yugas. Thus I have spoken of the 28 Veda Vyāsas, as I heard. I have heard the holy Śrimad Bhāgavat from the mouth of Kṛṣṇa Dvaipayana. This removes all troubles, yields all desires, and gives Moksa and is full of the meanings of the Vedas. This treatise contains the essence of all the Śastras and is dear always to the Mamuksas (those who want Moksa or liberation).

36-43. O best Munis! Thus, compiling the Purāṇas Veda Vyāsa thought this Purāṇa to be the best; so (without teaching it to other persons) he settled that his own son the high-sould Śuka Deva born of the dry woods used for kindling fire (excited by attrition), having no passion for the worldly things, would be the fit student to be taught this Purāṇa and therefore taught him; at that time I was a fellow student along with Śaka Deva and I heard every thing from the mouth of Vyāsa Deva and realised th« secret meanings thereof. This has happened through the grace of the merciful Guru Veda Vyāsa.

Here ends the Third Chapter of Śrimad Devi Bhāgavatam on praising the Purāṇas and on each Vyāsa of every Dvāpara Yuga.

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