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The First Book. Chapter 3

The First Book

Chapter Iii

On Praising The Purnas And On Each Vysa Of Every Dvpara Yuga

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1-11.
Sta said :-- "O best of the Munis! I am now telling you the names of the Purnas, etc., exactly as 1 have heard from Veda Vysa, the son of Satyavati; listen.

The Purna 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", "k" and "Ska" are one each and "ma" means Matsya Purna, Mrkandeya Purna; "Bha" signifies Bhavisya, Bhgavat Purnas; "Bra" signifies Brahm, Brahmnda and Brahmvaivarta Purnas; "va" signifies Vman, Vayu, Visnu and Varaha Purnas; "A" signifies Agni Purna; "Na" signifies Narada Purna; "Pa" signifies Padma Purna; "Ling" signifies Linga Purnam; "Ga" signifies Govinda Purnam; K signifies Kurma Purna and "Ska" signifies Skanda Purnam. These are the eighteen Purnas. O Saunaka! In the Matsya Purna there are fourteen thousand slokas; in the wonderfully varied Markandeya Purnam there are nine thousand slokas. In the Bhavisya Purna fourteen thousand and five hundred slokas are counted by the Munis, the seers of truth. In the holy Bhgavata there are eighteen thousand Slokas; in the Brahm Purna there are Ajuta (ten thousand) Slokas. In the Brahmnda Purna there are twelve thousand one hundred Slokas; in the Brahm Vaivarta Purnam there are eighteen thousand Slokas. In the Vaman Purna there are Ajuta (ten thousand) Slokas; in the Vayu Purnam there are twenty-four thousand and six hundred Slokas; in the greatly wonderful Visnu Purna there are twenty-three thousand Slokas; in the Agni Purnam there are sixteen thousand Slokas; in the Brihat Narada Purnam, there are twenty-five thousand Slokas, in the big Padma Purna there are fifty-five thousand s'lokas; in the voluminous Linga Purna eleven thousand slokas exist; in the Garuda Purnam spoken by Hari nineteen thousand s'lokas exist; iu the Kurma Purna, seventeen thousand s'lokas exist and in the greatly wonderful Skanda Purna there are eighty-one thousand s'lokas, O sinless Risis! Thus I have described

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to you the names of all the Purnas and the number of verses contained in them. Now hear about the Upa Purnas.

12-17.
The first is the Upapurna narrated by Sanat Kumra; next comes Narasimha Purna; then Naradiya Purna, Siva Purna, Purna narrated by Durvasa, Kapila Purna, Manava Purna, Ausanasa Purna, Varuna Purna. Kalika Purna, Samva Purna, Nandi Keswara Purna, Saura Purna, Purna spoken by Parsara, ditya Purna, Mahesvara Purna, Bhgavata and Vasistha Purna. These Upa Purnas are described by the Mahatmas.

After compiling the eighteen Purnas, Veda Vysa, the son of Satyavati composed Mahabharata, that has no rival, out of these Purnas.

18-24.
At every Manvantara, in each Dvpara Yuga, Veda Vysa expounds the Purnas duly to preserve the religion. Veda Vysa is no other person than Visnu Himself; He, in the form of Veda Vysa, divides the (one) Veda into four parts, in every Dvpara Yuga, for the good of the world. The Brahmnas 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 Dvpara Yuga Bhagavn expounds the holy Purna Samhitas. The more so because women, Sudras, and the lower Dvijas are not entitled to hear the Vedas; for their good, the Purnas 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 Vysa of the 28th Dvpara Yuga of this seventh Manvantara. He is my Guru; in the next Dvpara, Yuga Asvatthama, the son of Drona will be the Veda Vysa. Twenty-seven Veda Vysas had expired and they duly compiled each their own Purna Samhitas in their own Dvpara Yugas.

25-35.
The Risis said :-- "O highly fortunate Sta! kindly describe to us the names of the previous Veda Vysas, the reciters of the Purnas in the Dvpara Yugas.

Sta said :-- In the first Dvpara, Brahm Himself divided the Vedas; in the second Dvpara, the first Prajapati Vysa did the same; so Sakra, in the third, Brihaspati, in the fourth, Surya in the fifth; Yama, in the sixth, Indra, in the seventh, Vasistha, in the eighth; Sarasvata Risi in the ninth, Tridhama, in the tenth; Trivrisa, in the eleventh, Bharadvja, in the twelfth; Antariksa, in the thirteenth; Dharma, in the fourteenth; Evaruni in the fifteenth; Dhananjaya, in the sixteenth; Medhatithi in tba seventeenth; Vrati, in the eighteenth; Atri, in the nineteenth; Gautama in the twentieth, Uttama, whose soul was fixed on Hari, in the twenty-first, Vjasrav Vena, in the twenty second; his family descendant Soma

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iu the twenty-third; Trinavindu, in the twenty-fourth; Bhrgava, in the twenty-fifth; Sakti, in the twenty-sixth, Jtkarnya in the twenty-seventh and Krisna Dvaipyana became the twenty-eighth Veda Vys in the Dvpara Yugas. Thus I have spoken of the 28 Veda Vysas, as I heard. 1 have heard the holy Srimad Bhgavat from the month of Krisna Dvaipayana. This removes all troubles, yields all desires, and gives Moksa and is full of the meanings of the Vedas. This treatise contains the essence of all the Sastras and is dear always to the Mamuksas (those who want Moksa or liberation).

36-43. O
best Munis! Thus, compiling the Purnas Veda Vysa thought this Purna to be the best; so (without teaching it to other persons) he settled that his own son the high-sould Suka Deva born of the dry woods used for kindling fire (excited by attrition), having no passion for the worldly things, would be the fit student to be taught this Purna and therefore taught him; at that time I was a fellow student along with Saka Deva and I heard every thing from the mouth of Vysa Deva and realised th secret meanings ther. This has happened through the grace of the merciful Guru Veda Vysa.

Here ends the Third Chapter of Srimad Devi Bhgavatam on praising the Purnas and on each Vysa of every Dvpara Yuga.
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