वंशानुचरितं चैव पुराणं पञ्चलक्षणम् । चतुर्दशभिर्विद्याभिर्भूषितं कुरुनन्दन
This Purāṇa recounts the lineage of kings and bears the five principal marks; it is adorned with fourteen branches of learning and is addressed to the descendant of Kuru.
अङ्गानि चतुरो वेदा मीमांसा न्यायविस्तरः । पुराणं धर्मशास्त्रं च विद्या ह्येताश्चतुर्दश
The four limbs are the Vedas; Mīmāṃsā and Nyāya form their expansive interpretation. This Purāṇa is a Dharma-shāstra, and the fourteen sciences together are called knowledge.
आयुर्वेदो धनुर्वेदो गान्धर्वश्चैव ते त्रयः । अर्थशास्त्रं चतुर्थं तु विद्या ह्यष्टादशैव ताः
Ayurveda, Dhanurveda and Gāndharva are the three arts; Arthaśāstra is the fourth — thus these eighteen branches of learning are enumerated.
प्रथमं कथ्यते सर्गो भूतानामिह सर्वशः । यच्छ्रुत्वा पापनिर्मुक्तो याति शान्तिमनुत्तमाम्
First is described the creation (sarga) of all beings everywhere; hearing this, one becomes freed from sin and attains supreme peace.
जगदासीत्पुरा तात तमोभूतमलक्षणम् । अविज्ञेयमतर्क्यं च प्रसुप्तमिव सर्वशः
Long ago the world was in darkness, featureless and indistinct; all things lay as if unawakened, beyond ordinary judgment and unknowable.
ततः स भगवानीशो ह्यव्यक्तो व्यञ्जयन्निदम् । महाभूतानि वृत्तौजाः प्रोत्थितस्तमनाशनः
Then the Lord, the Supreme Being, the unmanifest, brought forth this manifest: the great elements arose in order, kindling and destroying the primal darkness.
योऽसावतीन्द्रियोऽग्राह्यः सूक्ष्मोऽव्यक्तः सनातनः । सर्वभूतमयोऽचिन्त्यः स एष स्वयमुत्थितः
That which is foremost among the senses, incomprehensible, subtle, unmanifest and eternal — pervading all beings, beyond thought — that very Self rose by itself.
योऽसौ षड्विंशको लोके तथा यः पुरुषोत्तमः । भास्करश्च महाबाहो परं ब्रह्म च कथ्यते
He who is twenty-sixfold in the world, the best of men; O mighty-armed, he is described as the sun and as the supreme Brahman.
सोऽभिध्याय शरीरात्स्वात्सिसृक्षुर्विविधाः प्रजाः । अत एव ससर्जादौ तासु वीर्यमवासृजत्
Called 'body,' from him many kinds of creatures sprang forth; likewise at the primal creation he emitted their vital powers into them.
यस्मादुत्पद्यते सर्वं सदेवासुरमानुषम् । बीजं शुक्रं तथा रेत उग्रं वीर्यं च कथ्यते
From whom all — gods, demons and humans — come into being: the seed (bīja), the sexual fluid (śukra), the fierce semen (reṭa), and vigour (vīrya) are thus named.
वीर्यस्यैतानि नामानि कथितानि स्वयम्भुवा । तदण्डमभवद्धैमं ज्वालामालाकुलं विभो
Those were the names ascribed to Virya by the self-born one: from that seed came the great flame, surging like a necklace of fires.
यस्मिञ्जज्ञे स्वयं ब्रह्मा सर्वलोकपितामहः । सुरज्येष्ठश्चतुर्वक्त्रः परमेष्ठी पितामहः
When Brahmā himself thus knew it, he was called the grandfather of all worlds — the eldest among gods with four faces, the supreme venerable father.
क्षेत्रज्ञः पुरुषो वेधाः शम्भुर्नारायणस्तथा । पर्यायवाचकैः शब्दैरेव ब्रह्मा प्रकीर्त्यते
He is named Knower of the Field, the Person, the Piercer; likewise Śambhu and Nārāyaṇa — Brahmā is proclaimed through these interchangeable terms.
सदा मनीषिभिस्तात विरञ्चिः कञ्जजस्तथा । आपो नारा इति प्रोक्ता आपो वै नरसूनवः
Ever by the wise he is called Virañci and Lotus-born; the waters are called nārā, and indeed waters are sons of men.
ता यदस्यायनं पूर्वं तेन नारायणः स्मृतः । अरमित्येव शीघ्राय नियताः कविभिः कृताः
Those designations, assigned from earlier times, henceforth became remembered as Nārāyaṇa; poets quickly coined the epithet Arama for him.
आप एवार्णवीभूत्वा सुशीघ्रास्तेन ता नराः । यत्तत्कारणमव्यक्तं नित्यं सदसदात्मकम्
As waters, having become mighty rivers, those men swiftly attained that state — for the cause of that which is unmanifest, eternal, and of the nature of being and non-being.
तद्विसृष्टः स पुरुषो लोके ब्रह्मेति कीर्त्त्यते । एवं स भगवानण्डे तत्त्वमेव निरूप्य वै
That person who was thus brought into being in the world is praised as Brahman; so in the same way the Lord, in the cosmic egg, explicated that very principle.
ध्यानमास्थाय राजेन्द्र तदण्डमकरोद्द्विधा । शकलाभ्यां च राजेन्द्र दिवं भूमिं च निर्ममे
Having taken up meditation, the king divided that seed into two portions; with those splits the king made heaven and earth imperishable.
अन्तर्व्योम दिशश्चाष्टौ वारुणं स्थानमेव हि । ऊर्ध्वं महान्गतो राजन् समन्ताल्लोकभूतये
There are eight inner skies and directions; Varuṇa is established in his station — upward the great one proceeded, surrounding the world for its being.
महतश्चाप्यहंकारस्तस्माच्च त्रिगुणा अपि । त्रिगुणा अतिसूक्ष्मास्तु बुद्धिगम्या हि भारत
From the great one also arose ego; therefore there are three guṇas — these three guṇas are exceedingly subtle and attainable only by discriminating intellect, O Bhārata.
उत्पत्तिहेतुभूता वै भूतानां महतां नृप । तेषामेव गृहीतानि शनैः पञ्चेन्द्रियाणि तु
O king, out of the great beings there arose causes of origin; from those very beings the five organs of sense were gradually taken.
तथैवावयवाः सूक्ष्माः षण्णामप्यमितौजसाम्
Likewise there came subtle members — six in number — each endowed with potency and subtlety.
संनिवेश्यात्ममात्रासु स राजन्भगवान्विभुः । भूतानि निर्ममे तात सर्वाणि विधिपूर्वकम्
The illustrious, all‑powerful Lord then placed those beings within mere self‑entities; O son, he fashioned all of them according to ordained order.
यन्मूर्त्यवयवाः सूक्ष्मास्तस्येमान्याश्रयाणि षट् । तस्माच्छरीरमित्याहुस्तस्य मूर्तिं मनीषिणः
Those material, subtle parts have six supports; hence the wise declare that body is the manifest form of that which has parts.
महान्ति तानि भूतानि आविशन्ति ततो विभुम् । कर्मणा सह राजेन्द्र सगुणाश्चापि वै गुणाः
From those vast beings the All‑Lord entered; with action, O king, qualities accompanied him, some with attributes and some without.
तेषामिदं तु सप्तानां पुरुषाणां महौजसाम् । सूक्ष्माभ्यो मूर्तिमात्राभ्यः सम्भवत्यव्ययाद्वयम्
From those there sprang the two imperishable elements in the seven great men: the subtle and the merely manifested.
भूतादिमहतस्तात येन व्याप्तमिदं जगत् । तस्मादपि महाबाहो पुरुषाः पञ्च एव हि
O mighty‑armed, that great origin — from which this world is pervaded — hence even the supreme persons are five in number.
केचिदेवं परां तात सृष्टिमिच्छन्ति पण्डिताः । अन्येऽप्येवं महाबाहो प्रवदन्ति मनीषिणः
Some, O son, wish to create the supreme in this way, say the learned; others, O mighty‑armed, proclaim it differently, say the wise.
योऽसावात्मा परस्तात कल्पादौ सृजते तनुम् । प्रजनश्च महाबाहो सिसृक्षुर्विविधाः प्रजाः
That self, other than the supreme, first fashions a body at the beginning of a kalpa; and, O mighty‑armed, it fathers diverse offspring in many forms.
तेन सृष्टः पुद्गलस्तु प्रधानं विशते नृप । प्रधानं क्षोभितं तेन विकारान्युजते बहून्
From him the aggregate (pudgala) was produced and entered into the prime; that prime, agitated by him, undergoes many alterations and modifications.