Chapter III
On praising the Purânas and on each Vyâsa of every Dvâpara Yuga
On praising the Puranas and on each Vyasa of every Dvapara Yuga
1-11. Suta said :– “O best of the Munis ! I am now telling you the names of the Puranas, etc., exactly as 1 have heard from Veda Vyasa, the son of Satyavati; listen.
The Purana 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”, “ku” and “Ska” are one each and “ma” means Matsya Purana, Markandeya Purana; “Bha” signifies Bhavisya, Bhagavat Puranas; “Bra” signifies Brahma, Brahmanda and Brahmavaivarta Puranas; “va” signifies Vaman, Vayu, Visnu and Varaha Puranas; “A” signifies Agni Purana; “Na” signifies Narada Purana; “Pa” signifies Padma Purana; “Ling” signifies Linga Puranam; “Ga” signifies Govinda Puranam; Ku signifies Kurma Purana and “Ska” signifies Skanda Puranam. These are the eighteen Puranas. O Saunaka ! In the Matsya Purana there are fourteen thousand slokas; in the
wonderfully varied Markandeya Puranam there are nine thousand slokas. In the Bhavisya Purana fourteen thousand and five hundred slokas are counted by the Munis, the seers of truth. In the holy Bhagavata there are eighteen thousand Slokas; in the Brahma Purana there are Ajuta (ten thousand) Slokas. In the Brahmanda Purana there are twelve thousand one hundred Slokas; in the Brahma Vaivarta Puranam there are eighteen thousand Slokas. In the Vaman Purana there are Ajuta (ten thousand) Slokas; in the Vayu Puranam there are twenty-four thousand and six hundred Slokas; in the greatly wonderful Visnu Purana there are twenty-three thousand Slokas; in the Agni Puranam there are sixteen thousand Slokas; in the Brihat Narada Puranam, there are twenty-five thousand Slokas, in the big Padma Purana there are fifty-five thousand Slokas; in the voluminous Linga Purana eleven thousand Slokas exist; in the Garuda Puranam spoken by Hari nineteen thousand Slokas exist; iu the Kurma Purana, seventeen thousand Slokas exist and in the greatly wonderful Skanda Purana there are eighty-one thousand Slokas, O sinless Risis ! Thus I have described to you the names of all the Puranas and the number of verses contained in them. Now hear about the Upa Puranas.
12-17. The first is the Upapurana narrated by Sanat Kumara; next comes Narasimha Purana; then Naradiya Purana, Siva Purana, Purana narrated by Durvasa, Kapila Purana, Manava Purana, AuSanasa Purana, Varuna Purana. Kalika Purana, Samva Purana, Nandi KeSwara Purana, Saura Purana, Purana spoken by ParaSara, Aditya Purana, Mahesvara Purana, Bhagavata and Vasistha Purana. These Upa Puranas are described by the Mahatmas.
After compiling the eighteen Puranas, Veda Vyasa, the son of Satyavati composed Mahabharata, that has no rival, out of these Puranas.
18-24. At every Manvantara, in each Dvapara Yuga, Veda Vyasa expounds the Puranas duly to preserve the religion. Veda Vyasa is no other person than Visnu Himself; He, in the form of Veda Vyasa, divides the (one) Veda into four parts, in every Dvapara Yuga, for the good of the world. The Brahmanas 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 Dvapara Yuga Bhagavan expounds the holy Purana Samhitas. The more so because women, Sudras, and the lower Dvijas are not entitled to hear the Vedas; for their good, the Puranas 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 Vyasa of the 28th Dvapara Yuga of this seventh Manvantara. He is my Guru; in the next Dvapara, Yuga Asvatthama, the son of Drona will be the Veda Vyasa. Twenty-seven Veda Vyasas had expired and they duly compiled each their own Purana Samhitas in their own Dvapara Yugas.