Chapter 1 - Introductory

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

I. I bow to (goddesses) Śrī (Lakṣmī), Sarasvatī, Gaurī (Pārvatī) and gods Gaṇeśa, Skanda, Īśvara (Śiva), Brahmā, Vahni, Indra and other celestials and Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa).

2. Śaunaka and other sages (staying at the sacred forest) of Naimiṣa, conducting a sacrifice devoted to Hari (Viṣṇu), welcomed Sūta (the reciter of ancient lores) on his arrival there after a pilgrimage.

The sages said:

3. O Sūta! You are adored by us. Tell us the quintessence of all things, by knowing which alone one gets omniscience.

Sūta said:

4. The illustrious Viṣṇu (who is) the Supreme Being (and) the Creator, is the quintessence. By know ng that ‘I am Brahman’, one gets omniscience.

5. Two Brahmans are to be known, the Śabdabrahman (the Vedas) and Parabrahman (the Supreme Spirit). The Ātharvaṇī Śruti (Muṇḍakopaniṣad) refers to this as the two (kinds of) knowledge to be learnt.

6. Myself, (sage) Śuka (son of sage Vyāsa), (sage) Paila. (disciple of sage Vyāsa) and others bowed Vyāsa having resorted to the hermitage at (holy) Badarikāśrama. He imparted to us the quintessence (of all things).

Vyāsa said:

7. O Sūta, listen in the company of Śuka and others what Vasiṣṭha has said to me about the excellent quintessence of the Brahman, when he was requested by the sages.

Vasiṣṭha said:

8. O Vyāsa, Listen, in entirety, to the two (kinds of) knowledge, which (god) Agni narrated to me in the company of the sages and the celestials.

9. The excellent Purāṇa (known as) the Āgneya (or Agni) and the two (kinds of) knowledge, Parā (the superior) and Aparā (the inferior) signifying respectively the knowledge about the Brahman and the knowledge about thel!.gveda and so on, which satisfies all the celestials (will be narrated to you).

10. The Purāṇa spoken by Agni and designated as the Āgneya by Brahmā and which gives bhukti (enjoyment) and mukti (release from mundane existence) for those who read it or hear it (will be narrated to you).

11. Being requested by the sages (I will also describe) (god) Viṣṇu in the form of the destructive Fire at the end of the world (who is) the effulgent Brahman (and) the most Supreme Being (who is) worshipped by means of knowledge and action (religious rites and so on).

Vasiṣṭḥa said:

12. O Brahman (Agni), point out to me the masterly way of crossing the ocean of mundane existence, by knowing the quintessence of which knowledge one becomes omniscient.

Agni said:

13. Viṣṇu is the destructive Fire at the end of the world (in the form of) Rudra (Siva). I shall tell you the essence of knowledge (in the form of) this Purāṇa, which represents all learning and is the cause of all things.

14. (Lord) Viṣṇu, who assumes the form of a fish, a tortoise (and other beings), is the cause of the primary creation, the secondary creation, the genealogy of the sages, the cycles of Manu-periods and the genealogy of the kings.

15-17. O Twice-born! (Lord) Viṣṇu (is the cause of) the two kinds of knowledge Parā (the superior) and Aparā (the inferior). Here the Aparā is represented by the Ṛgveda, Yajurveda, Sāmaveda, Atharvaveda, the six supplementary texts, (namely)—Śikṣā (phonetics), Kalpa (rules governing rituals), Vyākaraṇa (grammar), Nirukta (etymological science), (the science dealing with) the movement of the luminary bodies, Chandovidhāna (metrics), Mīmāṃsā (investigation of the interpretation of the ritual of the Vedas), Dhamaśāstra (law-books), Purāṇas (18 in number), Nyāya (logical philosophical system), Vaidya (medical science), Gāndharva (science of music), and Arthaśāstra (polity). The Parā-Vidyā (superior knowledge) is that through which the Brahman is known.

18. I shall narrate to you (that Purāṇa) which was told to me by ViṣṇU and the celestials by Brahmā and which deals with that invisible, incomprehensible, not having a cause for itself and eternal (form of Viṣṇu) which is the cause of the forms such as the fish and others.