Canto Twelve / CHAPTER SEVEN

The Purānic Literatures

Sūta Gosvāmī said: Sumantu Rishi, the authority on the Atharva Veda, taught his samhitā to his disciple Kabandha, who in turn spoke it to Pathya and Vedadarśa.

Śauklāyani, Brahmabali, Modosha and Pippalāyani were disciples of Vedadarśa. Hear from me also the names of the disciples of Pathya. My dear brāhmana, they are Kumuda, Śunaka and Jājali, all of whom knew the Atharva Veda very well.

Babhru and Saindhavāyana, disciples of Śunaka, studied the two divisions of their spiritual master’s compilation of the Atharva Veda. Saindhavāyana’s disciple Sāvarna and disciples of other great sages also studied this edition of the Atharva Veda.

Nakshatrakalpa, Śāntikalpa, Kaśyapa, Āngirasa and others were also among the ācāryas of the Atharva Veda. Now, O sage, listen as I name the authorities on Purānic literature.

Trayyāruni, Kaśyapa, Sāvarni, Akritavrana, Vaiśampāyana and Hārīta are the six masters of the Purānas.

Each of them studied one of the six anthologies of the Purānas from my father, Romaharshana, who was a disciple of Śrīla Vyāsadeva. I became the disciple of these six authorities and thoroughly learned all their presentations of Purānic wisdom.

Romaharshana, a disciple of Vedavyāsa, divided the Purānas into four basic compilations. The sage Kaśyapa and I, along with Sāvarni and Akritavrana, a disciple of Rāma, learned these four divisions.

O Śaunaka, please hear with attention the characteristics of a Purāna, which have been defined by the most eminent learned brāhmanas in accordance with Vedic literature.

O brāhmana, authorities on the matter understand a Purāna to contain ten characteristic topics: the creation of this universe, the subsequent creation of worlds and beings, the maintenance of all living beings, their sustenance, the rule of various Manus, the dynasties of great kings, the activities of such kings, annihilation, motivation and the supreme shelter. Other scholars state that the great Purānas deal with these ten topics, while lesser Purānas may deal with five.

From the agitation of the original modes within the unmanifest material nature, the mahat-tattva arises. From the mahat-tattva comes the element false ego, which divides into three aspects. This threefold false ego further manifests as the subtle forms of perception, as the senses and as the gross sense objects. The generation of all these is called creation.

The secondary creation, which exists by the mercy of the Lord, is the manifest amalgamation of the desires of the living entities. Just as a seed produces additional seeds, activities that promote material desires in the performer produce moving and nonmoving life forms.

Vritti means the process of sustenance, by which the moving beings live upon the nonmoving. For a human, vritti specifically means acting for one’s livelihood in a manner suited to his personal nature. Such action may be carried out either in pursuit of selfish desire or in accordance with the law of God.

In each age, the infallible Lord appears in this world among the animals, human beings, sages and demigods. By His activities in these incarnations He protects the universe and kills the enemies of Vedic culture.

In each reign of Manu, six types of personalities appear as manifestations of Lord Hari: the ruling Manu, the chief demigods, the sons of Manu, Indra, the great sages and the partial incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Dynasties are lines of kings originating with Lord Brahmā and extending continuously through past, present and future. The accounts of such dynasties, especially of their most prominent members, constitute the subject of dynastic history.

There are four types of cosmic annihilation — occasional, elemental, continuous and ultimate — all of which are effected by the inherent potency of the Supreme Lord. Learned scholars have designated this topic dissolution.

Out of ignorance the living being performs material activities and thereby becomes in one sense the cause of the creation, maintenance and destruction of the universe. Some authorities call the living being the personality underlying the material creation, while others say he is the unmanifest self.

The Supreme Absolute Truth is present throughout all the stages of awareness — waking consciousness, sleep and deep sleep — throughout all the phenomena manifested by the illusory energy, and within the functions of all living entities, and He also exists separate from all these. Thus situated in His own transcendence, He is the ultimate and unique shelter.

Although a material object may assume various forms and names, its essential ingredient is always present as the basis of its existence. Similarly, both conjointly and separately, the Supreme Absolute Truth is always present with the created material body throughout its phases of existence, beginning with conception and ending with death.

Either automatically or because of one’s regulated spiritual practice, one’s mind may stop functioning on the material platform of waking consciousness, sleep and deep sleep. Then one understands the Supreme Soul and withdraws from material endeavor.

Sages expert in ancient histories have declared that the Purānas, according to their various characteristics, can be divided into eighteen major Purānas and eighteen secondary Purānas.

The eighteen major Purānas are the Brahma, Padma, Vishnu, Śiva, Linga, Garuda, Nārada, Bhāgavata, Agni, Skanda, Bhavishya, Brahma-vaivarta, Mārkandeya, Vāmana, Varāha, Matsya, Kūrma and Brahmānda Purānas.

I have thoroughly described to you, O brāhmana, the expansion of the branches of the Vedas by the great sage Vyāsadeva, his disciples and the disciples of his disciples. One who listens to this narration will increase in spiritual strength.