Vishnu Purana (Taylor)

by McComas Taylor | 2021 | 157,710 words | ISBN-13: 9781760464400

Hinduism Purana

Summary: The Vishnu Purana is an ancient Sanskrit text composed around 1500 years ago. The text details the universe's history, creation, and the essence of Hindu theology. It highlights the roles of gods, human origins, and ideals of Brahminical society. The Purana further narrates stories of devotion, cosmic battles, and Krishna’s famed romantic exploits.

Copyright:
This title is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).

Source 1: motilalbanarsidass.com
Source 2: press.anu.edu.au

Contents of this online book ( + / - )

The full text of the Vishnu Purana (Taylor) in English is available here and publically accesible (free to read online). Of course, I would always recommend buying the book so you get the latest edition. You can see all this book’s content by visiting the pages in the below index:

Acknowledgements

. 1. Introduction to the Purāṇas

. 2. Introduction to the Viṣṇu Purāṇa

. 3. Problems with dating

. 4. Authorship

. 5. The audience

. 6. Relationship to other texts

. 7. The nature of Viṣṇu

. 8. Viṣṇu and Kṛṣṇa

. 9. The other avatāras

. 10. The Purāṇic thought-world

. 11. Divine and semi-divine beings

. 12. Elements of the Viṣṇu Purāṇa (Overall frame)

. 13. The six books of the Viṣṇu Purāṇa

. 14. The Sanskrit text of the Viṣṇu Purāṇa

. 15. Other translations

. 16. About this translation

. 17. References

+ Book One: Creation

. Chapter 1 - Maitreya asks Parāśara about the world

. Chapter 2 - Parāśara praises Viṣṇu; Creation

. Chapter 3 - The divisions of time

. Chapter 4 - Brahmā creates the world anew

. Chapter 5 - Brahmā creates living beings

. Chapter 6 - Human society

. Chapter 7 - The first patriarchs

. Chapter 8 - The eight forms of Rudra

. Chapter 9 - The sage Durvāsas curses Indra; Churning of the ocean

. Chapter 10 - Descendants of the first patriarchs and Dakṣa’s daughters

. Chapter 11 - The birth of Dhruva

. Chapter 12 - The trials of Dhruva

. Chapter 13 - Dhruva’s descendants

. Chapter 14 - Pṛthu’s descendants

. Chapter 15 - The Pracetases, Māriṣā, the Ādityas and Prahlāda

. Chapter 16 - Maitreya asks about Prahlāda

. Chapter 17 - Prahlāda instructs the Daitya boys

. Chapter 18 - Prahlāda instructs his gurus

. Chapter 19 - Prahlāda’s torments continue

. Chapter 20 - Prahlāda achieves liberation

. Chapter 21 - Kaśyapa’s descendants and the origin of the Maruts

. Chapter 22 - Brahmā appoints sovereigns; Nature of the Absolute

+ Book Two: The Word

. Chapter 1 - Priyavrata distributes the continents

. Chapter 2 - Jambūdvīpa, ‘Land of the Rose-Apple Tree’

. Chapter 3 - The land of Bhārata

. Chapter 4 - Plakṣadvīpa and the other continents

. Chapter 5 - The lower realms; The serpent Śeṣa

. Chapter 6 - The hell realms

. Chapter 7 - The upper spheres; The power of Viṣṇu

. Chapter 8 - The movement of the sun; Time; The heavenly paths

. Chapter 9 - The source of rain

. Chapter 10 - The carriage of the sun

. Chapter 11 - The sun’s energy

. Chapter 12 - The moon and planets

. Chapter 13 - ‘Foolish’ Bharata

. Chapter 14 - Bharata teaches the highest goal

. Chapter 15 - Ṛbhu’s discourse on the highest truth

. Chapter 16 - Ṛbhu’s discourse continues

+ Book Three: Society

. Chapter 1 - The past and present Manvantaras

. Chapter 2 - The future Manvantaras

. Chapter 3 - The Vyāsas arrange the Vedas; The syllable Oṃ

. Chapter 4 - The origin of the four Vedas

. Chapter 5 - The branches of the Yajur Veda

. Chapter 6 - The branches of the Sāma and Atharva Vedas; The purāṇas

. Chapter 7 - How to escape death: Yama’s song

. Chapter 8 - The four communities

. Chapter 9 - The four stages of life

. Chapter 10 - Birth and marriage

. Chapter 11 - Rituals of the householder

. Chapter 12 - The conduct of the wise

. Chapter 13 - Rituals relating to birth and death

. Chapter 14 - The Śrāddha ritual for the ancestral spirits

. Chapter 15 - Conducting a Śrāddha

. Chapter 16 - Śrāddha offerings

. Chapter 17 - The protection afforded by the Vedas; Viṣṇu’s phantom

. Chapter 18 - The phantom confounds the demigods

+ Book Four: The Royal Dynasties

. Chapter 1 - The Solar Dynasty: The lineage of Manu

. Chapter 2 - Manu’s sons Dhṛṣta, Nābhāga and Ikṣvāku

. Chapter 3 - The descendants of Ambarīṣa

. Chapter 4 - Sagara’s sons excavate the ocean; The story of Rāma

. Chapter 5 - The legend of Nimi: Why we blink

. Chapter 6 - The Lunar Dynasty

. Chapter 7 - King Jahnu drinks the Gaṅgā dry

. Chapter 8 - The descendants of Purūravas’s son Āyus

. Chapter 9 - Āyus’s son Raji usurps Indra

. Chapter 10 - Āyus’s grandson Yayāti exchanges old age for youth

. Chapter 11 - Yayāti’s son Yadu

. Chapter 12 - Yadu’s descendant Jyāmagha rescues a princess

. Chapter 13 - Kṛṣṇa and the Syamantaka jewel

. Chapter 14 - The ancestry of Kṛṣṇa’s father, Vasudeva, and his nemesis, Śiśupāla

. Chapter 15 - Hiraṇyakaśipu, Rāvaṇa and Śiśupāla

. Chapter 16 - Yayāti’s son Turvasu

. Chapter 17 - Yayāti’s son Druhyu

. Chapter 18 - Yayāti’s son Anu

. Chapter 19 - Yayāti’s son Puru

. Chapter 20 - The lineages of the Kauravas and Pāṇḍavas

. Chapter 21 - The future descendants of Parīkṣit

. Chapter 22 - The future descendants of Bṛhadbala

. Chapter 23 - The future descendants of Bṛhadratha

. Chapter 24 - Future kings; The age of Kali

+ Book Five: Kṛṣṇa

. Chapter 1 - The union of Vasudeva and Devakī

. Chapter 2 - The deities praise Devakī

. Chapter 3 - The advent of Kṛṣṇa

. Chapter 4 - Kaṃsa plots to kill Kṛṣṇa

. Chapter 5 - Kṛṣṇa slays Pūtanā

. Chapter 6 - Kṛṣna’s childhood

. Chapter 7 - Kṛṣṇa subdues the serpent Kāliya

. Chapter 8 - Balarāma defeats Dhenuka the Donkey-Demon

. Chapter 9 - Balarāma destroys Pralamba the Cowherd-Demon

. Chapter 10 - Autumn in the cattle camp

. Chapter 11 - Kṛṣṇa raises Mount Govardhana

. Chapter 12 - Indra praises Kṛṣṇa

. Chapter 13 - Kṛṣṇa delights the herding women

. Chapter 14 - Kṛṣṇa slays Ariṣṭa the Bull-Demon

. Chapter 15 - Kaṃsa sends Akrūra to the cattle camp

. Chapter 16 - Kṛṣṇa slays Keśin the Horse-Demon

. Chapter 17 - Akrūra arrives at the cattle camp

. Chapter 18 - Kṛṣṇa sets out for Mathurā

. Chapter 19 - Kṛṣṇa slays the washerman and blesses the garland-maker

. Chapter 20 - Kṛṣṇa in Mathurā; The wrestling bout; Kaṃsa’s demise

. Chapter 21 - Ugrasena is reinstated

. Chapter 22 - Kṛṣṇa battles Jarāsandha

. Chapter 23 - Kṛṣṇa leads the Yādavas to Dvārakā

. Chapter 24 - Balarāma returns to the cattle camp

. Chapter 25 - Balarāma diverts the Yamunā River

. Chapter 26 - Kṛṣṇa abducts Rukmiṇī

. Chapter 27 - Kṛṣṇa’s son Pradyumna is taken by a demon

. Chapter 28 - Pradyumna’s son Aniruddha; Balarāma slays Rukmin

. Chapter 29 - Kṛṣṇa slays the demon Naraka and retrieves Aditi’s earrings

. Chapter 30 - Aditi praises Kṛṣṇa

. Chapter 31 - Kṛṣṇa plants the Pārijāta tree in Dvārakā

. Chapter 32 - Uṣā dreams of Aniruddha

. Chapter 33 - Aniruddha is bound by Bāṇa and freed by Kṛṣṇa

. Chapter 34 - Kṛṣṇa burns Vārāṇasī

. Chapter 35 - Balarāma threatens Hastināpura

. Chapter 36 - Balarāma defeats the giant monkey Dvivida

. Chapter 37 - The destruction of the Yādavas

. Chapter 38 - Arjuna leads the women from Dvārakā

+ Book Six: Dissolution

. Chapter 1 - The decline of virtue in the age of Kali

. Chapter 2 - Vyāsa reveals the single virtue of the Kali age

. Chapter 3 - The causal dissolution at the end of every aeon

. Chapter 4 - The elemental dissolution

. Chapter 5 - The final dissolution and the nature of suffering

. Chapter 6 - Khāṇḍikya and his cousin Keśidhvaja

. Chapter 7 - Keśidhvaja instructs Khāṇḍikya in yoga

. Chapter 8 - The benefits of listening to the Viṣṇu Purāṇa

Appendix: Errors in the Baroda Critical Edition of the Viṣṇu Purāṇa

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Last Updated: 11 January, 2025

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