Having completed their sacred ablutions, pure in body and mind, their daily recitations fulfilled, and their ritual fires kindled, the assembled twice-born sages sat together in peaceful contemplation. Addressing them, the speaker inquired, “O revered ones, what shall I recount for you?” He reflected that the ancient, sacred collections of stories—rooted in dharma and purpose—preserve the deeds of kings and the great-souled seers. Among these is the Purana spoken by the supreme sage Dvaipayana, Vyasa, which was honored by the gods and Brahmarshis upon hearing its wisdom. This foremost narration, the Mahabharata, is renowned for its varied and intricate chapters, endowed with subtle meanings and reasonings, and adorned with the very essence of the Vedas. It is a sacred history, rich in meaning, refined in its composition, expressed in the language of the Brahmins, and filled with many teachings. The sage Vaishampayana recited it to King Janamejaya, exactly as he was questioned, and by the command of Dvaipayana. This compilation, joined with the four Vedas and created through the wondrous deeds of Vyasa, is sacred and able to remove the fear of sin. The assembled sages expressed their wish to hear it. Before beginning, the speaker invoked the primeval Person—the Lord, the much-invoked, the most praised among men; the single-syllabled Truth, Brahman, manifest and unmanifest, eternal. He acknowledged that which is both non-being and being—the universe and that which lies beyond both; the creator of the higher and lower, the ancient, the supreme, the imperishable. Having bowed to auspicious Vishnu, most excellent, sinless, pure, Hrishikesha—the teacher of all that moves and does not move, Hari—the speaker prepared to declare the sacred teaching, the wondrous work of Vyasa, honored by all the worlds. He offered salutations to blessed Vyasa, of immeasurable energy, whose grace enables the telling of this tale of Narayana. He proclaimed that the merit gained by subduing all the senses or by bathing in all holy waters does not yield as much fruit as the tale of Narayana. There is none equal to Narayana, nor has there been, nor will there be; by this truthful statement, he would accomplish all purposes. He noted that some poets have told this story, others are now telling it, and still others will narrate this history on earth in the same way. Yet this great knowledge, established in the three worlds, is preserved by the twice-born, both in detail and in summary. Adorned with beautiful words, with timely references to divine bows, and composed in various metrical forms, it is cherished by the learned. By asceticism and celibacy, having mastered the eternal Veda, the son of Satyavati, Vyasa, composed this sacred history. On the holy slopes of the Himalaya, in a pure mountain cave, the righteous Vyasa, having purified his body, sat upon a bed of sacred grass. Pure and self-restrained, Vyasa, with a tranquil mind established in austerity, contemplated the course of the Bharata’s history through righteousness. Entering into union through knowledge, he perceived everything in its entirety. In that dim, lightless expanse, enveloped on all sides by darkness, a single vast cosmic egg arose—the imperishable seed of all beings. They declare that great and divine principle to be the cause of the beginning of the age; within it is heard the eternal truth, the light, the everlasting Brahman. It is considered wondrous and inconceivable, the essence of equality everywhere; the unmanifest, subtle cause, which is both being and non-being. From that emerged the Grandfather—the one lord, the progenitor: Brahma, the teacher of the gods, Sthanu, Manu, Ka, and Parameshthin. Likewise, Prachetas, Daksha, and Daksha’s seven sons appeared; then, the lords of creatures, twenty-one in number, arose. The Person, whose nature is immeasurable, is known to all the seers, as well as to all the gods, the Adityas, the Vasus, and the Ashvins. Yakshas, Sadhyas, Pisachas, Guhyakas, and the Pitrs came into being; then were born the wise and noble Brahmarshi sages. Many great sages, endowed with all virtues, arose, and from them came the sky, earth, wind, the intermediate space, and the directions. The year, the seasons, the months, the fortnights, and the days and nights in order manifested, along with all else that exists—everything that came into being as witness to the worlds. Whatever is seen here, whether moving or unmoving beings, all this world is again withdrawn when the end of the age arrives. Just as, in the seasons, the signs of the solstices appear in various forms in turn, so too do the states of being at the beginnings of the ages. Thus, this wheel—without beginning or end—which brings about the aggregation of beings, turns perpetually in the world, without origin or destruction. Thirty-three thousand, thirty-three hundred, and thirty-three gods—such is the concise reckoning of their creation. The son of heaven, Brihadbhanu, is the eye, the self, the radiant one; he is Savitṛ, Ṛcīka, Arka, Bhānu, the bringer of light, and Ravi. All the sons of Vivasvat are known, and Manu is the youngest among them; Devabhṛt is his son, who is therefore called Subhrāṭ. Subhrāṭ had three sons, prolific and learned: Daśajyoti, Śatajyoti, and also Sahasrajyoti. Daśajyoti, the great-souled, had ten thousand sons; the sons of Śatajyoti were ten times more than that. The sons of Sahasrajyoti were yet ten times more numerous; from them arose the lineages of the Kurus, the Yadus, and Bharata. From Yayāti and Ikṣvāku, and from all the royal sages, many lineages arose, vast and manifold in their creation. Thus were the origins and generations of the world, as revealed in the sacred history composed by Vyasa, the wondrous tale that the assembled sages now prepared to hear.