Chapter 13 - The extent of Each of the Eighteen Purāṇas

[Sanskrit text for this chapter is available]

[Full title: The extent of Each of the Eighteen Purāṇas: The Glory of the Bhāgavata]

Sūta said:

1. Salutations to the Almighty Lord whom gods Brahmā, Varuṇa, Indra and Maruts extol with divine hymns; whom the Sāma-chanters sing by Vedas and their Aṅgas,^[1] according to the Pada and Krama methods, and by the Upaniṣads; whom the Yogīs visualize with their mind absorbed in him through deep meditation and whose end (the entire truth about whom could not be fathomed by the hosts of gods and demons.

2. May you be protected by the breaths (lit. wind created by the inhalation and exhalation of air while breathing) of the Lord who assumed the form of a divine tortoise and fell a-dozing as he (his back) was being scratched and consequently soothed by the ends of the rocks of mount Mandara revolving on it (as it moved while churning the ocean for nectar). As an effect of the still unexhausted impetus communicated by the (ingoing and out-coming) breaths, there take place flow-tide and ebb-tide, and constant rise and fall of waters ceaselessly continue and the sea has no respite.

3. Now you learn from me the number of verses in each Purāṇa and their total number and the main theme and the object of the Purāṇa concerned. Hear from me the procedure to be followed in gifts (of the copy of the Bhāgavata), the importance of giving it and also of reading or reciting it, etc.

4. The Brahma Purāṇa consists of ten thousand verses (Ślokas), the Padma Purāṇa, fifty thousand, Viṣṇu Purāṇa twenty- three thousand and Śaiva i.e, Śiva Purāṇa, twenty-four thousands.

5. Śrīmad Bhāgavata contains ten and eight (eighteen) thousand Ślokas (verses); the Nārada, twenty-five thousand; the Mārkaṇḍeya, nine thousand, the Agni fifteen thousand and four hundred verses.

6. The Bhaviṣya Purāṇa is comprised of fourteen thousand and five hundred verses; The Brahmavaivarta Purāṇa, eighteen thousands, the Liṅga Purāṇa, eleven thousands.

7. The Varāha Purāṇa contains twenty-four thousand, the Skanda Purāṇa, eighty-one thousand, one hundred verses, and the Vāmana, eleven thousands.

8. The Kūrma Purāṇa consists of seventeen thousands; the Matsya Purāṇa, fourteen thousands. The Garuḍa Purāṇa, nineteen thousand verses, while the Brahmāṇḍa has twelve thousand Ślokas.

9. Thus the extent (the total number of verses) of the Purāṇic compilations is four lakhs i.e. four hundred thousands out of which Śrīmad Bhāgavata contains eighteen thousands.

10. It was due to his graciousness that this Purāṇa was at first revealed by Lord Viṣṇu to god Brahmā who was sitting on a lotus grown out of Viṣṇu’s navel and was afraid of Saṃsāra.

11. The Śrīmad Bhāgavata contains, at the beginning, in the middle and at the end, discourse on the value of dispassion. It has been giving delight to pious persons as well as to celestials with the nectar of numerous episodes, glorifying the sportive activities of Lord Hari.

12. Its main theme is the quintessence of all the Upaniṣads (which form the last division of the Vedic texts) which is characterised by (the declaration of) complete one-ness, identity between the absolute Brahman and the ātman (Paramātman). It is one without a second. And its only object is to secure Mokṣa.

13. He who, on the full moon day of Bhādrapada, offers as a gift a copy of the Bhāgavata placing it on a throne of gold, attains to the highest abode.

14. Other Purāṇas impress (lit. spread their lustre) in the assembly of the righteous, so long as this great and glorious work called Bhāgavata does not appear there.

15. Śrīmad Bhāgavata is really accepted by all as the essence of all the Upaniṣads, He who is satiated by drinking deep into the sweet nectar (of its teaching) does not find delight and interest in any other thing.

16. Just as the Gaṅgā is the foremost and the holiest among rivers, or Lord Viṣṇu, among gods or as god Śiva among the devotees of Viṣṇu (Śiva is the greatest devotee of Viṣṇu) the same is the position of Śrīmad Bhāgavata among Purāṇaṣ.

17. O Brāhmaṇas! Just as the holy place Kāśī is unexcelled in all the sacred places, similarly, out of all the Purāṇas, there is no Purāṇa which can equal (much less surpass in excellence) Śrīmad Bhāgavata.

18. (This) Śrīmad Bhāgavata is a Purāṇa without any blemish. It is so dear to the devotees of Śrī Viṣṇu. In it has been glorified lucidly and sweetly, the pure knowledge symbolizing the Supreme Brahman as characterised by Reality, consciousness and bliss, which is free from any taint of Māyā and is attainable only to the Paramahaṃsas—ascetics of the highest order. In this has been clearly elucidated withdrawal from and hence cessation of all Karmas accompanied with spiritual knowledge, renunciation and intense devotion (to God). He who with a devoted heart listens to it, reads it constantly, and is given to contemplate over it, is liberated (from Saṃsāra).

19. Let us meditate upon that supreme Spirit who is real, absolutely pure (unsullied by Māyā), free from impurities, untouched by sorrow, free from birth and death and hence eternal—that Supreme Spirit (manifested in the form of Nārāyaṇa) graciously revealed this incomparable Light of knowledge (in the form of Śrīmad Bhāgavata) to god Brahmā formerly, at the beginning of creation, and through him, he passed it on to the divine Sage Nārada, and through him to the sage Kṛṣṇa (Dvaipāyana), and through him to the most prominent Yogin, Śrī Śuka aud through him to king Parīkṣit (Viṣṇurāta) out of compassion and grace for him.

20. Hail to the glorious Lord Vāsudeva who is the witness (to everything), who out of grace narrated this Bhāgavata to god Brahmā who was desirous of Mokṣa (Liberation from Saṃsāra).

21. Salutations to the sage Śuka, the Lord of Yogīs who is the embodiment of Brahman, who enabled king Parīkṣit bitten by the serpent in the form of Saṃsāra to attain liberation from Saṃsāra.

22. O Almighty Lord, God of gods, you are our protector. Be pleased to direct us that way so that (unflinching) devotion to your feet may be engendered (in our hearts) in every birth (of ours).

23. I bow to that Supreme Hari, loud chanting and glorification of whose name completely annihilates all sins, and salutation to whom relieves one of all woes and miseries.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Aṅgas: accessories of the Veda, viz. Śīkṣā (phonetics) Kalpa (Pertain­ing to the rituals and prescription of rules for ceremonial and sacrificial, Vyākaraṇa (Grammar), Chandas (Prosody), Jyotiṣa (Astronomy), Nirukta (Etymology)