Every day, the sacred text and the one who narrates it should be worshipped with devotion. Offerings given by the speaker are to be received with a pure heart, recognizing the sanctity of the moment. True success comes to those who, each day, worship, feed, and pray to young girls, married women, and Brahmins—there can be no doubt about this. As the recitation concludes, one may recite the thousand names of Gāyatrī or Viṣṇu, thus removing all faults. Simply by remembering and uttering the Lord’s name, any shortcomings in one’s austerities, sacrifices, or rituals are made complete; therefore, Viṣṇu should be praised with sincerity. At the end of the reading, a fire offering should be performed, using the seven hundred mantras of the Goddess, or the root mantra of the Devī Māhātmya, or the potent nine-letter mantra. Alternatively, a fire offering with Gāyatrī may be done, using rice pudding mixed with ghee, for this Bhāgavata is said to be permeated by Gāyatrī herself. The speaker should be honored with garments, ornaments, and gifts of wealth; when the speaker is pleased, all the deities are pleased as well. Brahmins should be fed with devotion and satisfied with gifts, for they are the embodiments of the gods on earth—when they are pleased, all one’s desires are fulfilled. Married women and young girls, too, should be fed with devotion to the Goddess, and after bestowing gifts upon them, one should pray for personal success. Other gifts may also be given—gold, milk-giving cows, horses, elephants, and land; the rewards for such generosity are inexhaustible. The Devī Bhāgavata, written in beautiful script, should be placed upon a golden throne and wrapped in fine silk. On the eighth or ninth day, after worshipping the speaker, one should offer him enjoyment and comforts; having enjoyed these in this world, the speaker attains rare liberation. Regardless of whether one is poor, weak, young, in the prime of youth, or even aged, anyone who knows the Purāṇas or is a physician should always be respected and honored. Though there are many teachers in this world, born of virtue, among them all, the knower of the Purāṇas is the supreme teacher. A Brāhmaṇa well-versed in the Purāṇas, seated on Vyāsa’s seat, should not bow to anyone during the discourse until it is completed. Those who listen to the divine Purāṇic story without devotion gain no merit and remain subject to suffering and poverty. Those who listen to the Goddess’s story without first honoring the Purāṇa with offerings such as betel or flowers truly become poor. Those who, abandoning the recited story, wander elsewhere, lose their enjoyments, and their spouses and wealth perish. Those who, out of arrogance, sit on high seats while listening to the story suffer the torments of hell and are reborn as crows. Those who humbly sit on low or heroic seats become birds dwelling upon arjuna trees. Those who utter harsh words during the recitation become donkeys in this life, and afterward, kites. Those who revile the knowers of the Purāṇas or the sin-destroying story become dogs for a hundred births, without doubt. Those who listen to the story while seated on the same seat as the speaker incur a sin equal to violating the teacher’s bed and fall into hell. Those who listen without bowing become poisonous trees, and those who listen while lying down become pythons. Men who never listen to the Purāṇic story, after suffering terrible hell, are reborn as village pigs. Those who do not approve of the story or wickedly create obstacles, after enduring hell for millions of years, are also born as village pigs. On the other hand, those who offer a seat, vessel, wealth, fruit, clothes, or a blanket to the knower of the Purāṇas attain the abode of Hari. Those who offer new silk cloth or auspicious thread even to the Purāṇa book itself become enjoyers of happiness. Whatever merit is gained by hearing any other Purāṇa, a hundred times that is obtained from the Devī Bhāgavata. Just as the Gaṅgā is supreme among rivers, Śaṅkara among gods, the Rāmāyaṇa among poems, and the sun among luminaries, so too is the Devī Bhāgavata supreme among the Purāṇas. Just as the moon brings delight, fame brings wealth, the earth is steadfast for the patient, and the ocean is deep, so too is the greatness of this scripture. Among mantras, Savitri is supreme; for the destruction of sin, remembrance of Hari is foremost; and among the eighteen Purāṇas, the Devī Bhāgavata holds the highest place. By whatever means, if one listens to it nine times, the result cannot be described—such a person is liberated even while living. For the destruction of ghosts and spirits, for gaining a kingdom from enemies, and for obtaining sons, one should listen to the Devī Bhāgavata, O twice-born. Whoever recites or even hears the Śrīmad Bhāgavata—even half a verse or a quarter—attains the supreme state. It was the Goddess herself who revealed half a verse, and through disciples and their disciples, that teaching was expanded. There is no dharma higher than Gāyatrī, no austerity greater, no deity equal, nor any law superior to Gāyatrī. Because she protects the chanter, she is called Gāyatrī; here in the Bhāgavata, the secret Goddess is established. Therefore, even the great Purāṇas do not equal a sixteenth part of this Bhāgavata, which brings joy to the Goddess. The Śrīmad Bhāgavata Purāṇa, pure and immaculate, is the wealth of the brāhmaṇas; in it, pure dharma is spoken by Nārāyaṇa, the secret of Gāyatrī is revealed, and the glories of Maṇidvīpa are described—the very song of the Goddess herself to Himavat.