O sinless ones, listen as I recount the sacred lore concerning the Purāṇas and their transmission. The Garuḍa Purāṇa, as spoken by Lord Hari, consists of nineteen thousand verses, while the Kūrma Purāṇa contains seventeen thousand. Most marvelous of all, the Skanda Purāṇa holds eighty-one thousand verses. Thus, I have detailed for you the names and verse counts of the Purāṇas. Now, O best of sages, hear as I enumerate the Upapurāṇas: first is the Sanatkumāra, followed by the Nārasiṃha, then the Nārada, the Śiva, and the incomparable Daurvāsasa. There is also the Kāpila, the Mānava, and the one known as Kauśanasa. The Vāruṇa, Kālikā, Sāmba, and the auspicious one composed by Nandi are counted among them, as well as the Saura taught by Parāśara, and the extensive Āditya. Included too are the Māheśvara, the Bhāgavata, and the detailed Vāsiṣṭha—these Upapurāṇas have been recounted by the great souls. Having composed the eighteen Purāṇas, the illustrious son of Satyavatī—Vyāsa—created the unrivaled narrative called the Bhārata, which draws upon and is supplemented by these Purāṇas. In every Manvantara, and in each Dvāpara Yuga, a seeker of righteousness arises to bring forth the Purāṇas in proper order. In every Dvāpara Yuga, Viṣṇu himself, taking the form of Vyāsa, divides the single Veda into many parts, ever desiring the welfare of all beings. Knowing that, in the age of Kali, brāhmaṇas would be short-lived and of limited understanding, Vyāsa composed the sacred collection of Purāṇas in every age. For the benefit of women, Śūdras, and the sons of twice-borns who are unfit to hear the Veda, the Purāṇas were made, so that all might attain auspiciousness. Now, in this auspicious seventh Manvantara, called Vaivasvata, when the twenty-eighth Dvāpara arrives, Vyāsa, the son of Satyavatī—my revered teacher and knower of dharma—will become Drauni, the Vyāsa, in the twenty-ninth cycle. In this way, there have been twenty-seven Vyāsas in the past, and those great ones have recited the collections of Purāṇas in every age. The sages then inquired, “Tell us, O highly fortunate Sūta, who were the Vyāsas born in previous ages, and who were the narrators of the Purāṇas in each Dvāpara Yuga?” Sūta replied, “In the first Dvāpara, the Vedas were divided by Svayambhū himself; in the second, Prajāpati performed the work of Vyāsa. In the third, Uśanas was Vyāsa; in the fourth, Bṛhaspati; in the fifth, Savitṛ; in the sixth, Mṛtyu. In the seventh, Maghavan; in the eighth, Vasiṣṭha is remembered; in the ninth, Sārasvata; in the tenth, Tridhāmā. In the eleventh, Trivṛṣa; then Bharadvāja; in the thirteenth, Antarikṣa, and Dharma in the fourteenth. In the fifteenth, Trayyaruṇi; in the sixteenth, Dhanañjaya; Medhātithi in the seventeenth, and Vratī in the eighteenth. Atri in the nineteenth, then Gautama; Uttama in the twenty-first, known as Haryātmā. Then Vena, Vājaśravā, Soma, Amuṣyāyaṇa, Tṛṇabindu, Vyāsa, and Bhārgava. Thereafter, Śakti, Jātukarṇya, and finally Kṛṣṇadvaipāyana. These twenty-eight are recounted as I have heard. From Kṛṣṇadvaipāyana, I have heard the Purāṇa called the glorious Bhāgavata, holy and destroyer of all sorrow. It grants both desires and liberation, is adorned with the meaning of the Vedas, delights in the essence of all scriptures, and is always dear to those seeking liberation. Vyāsa composed this most auspicious Purāṇa and taught it to his son Śuka, the great soul, endowed with detachment and born of the fire-stick. I myself received this knowledge, just as it was, from the mouth of Vyāsa and the great sages, the entire secret of the Purāṇas, by the grace of my guru, the ocean of compassion. When Sūta asked, Dvaipāyana revealed all the Purāṇa’s secrets; I heard it from that one not born from a womb, of wondrous intellect and great power. Śuka, the best among men, desiring to cross the difficult ocean of worldly existence, listened with love and attentive ears to the wondrous Bhāgavata, a treasury of many stories and the nectar of the gods’ feet. Who, having heard it, would not be freed from the fear of Kali in this world? Even the most sinful, devoid of Vedic dharma and good conduct, who listens even by pretense to this supreme, glorious Purāṇa, enjoys abundant pleasures here and, at life’s end, attains the beautiful, unshakable state marked by the names of the Lord, which is reached by yogis. That knowledge, beyond qualities, unattainable even by Hari, Hara, and others, most dear to the good and realized through meditation, arises in the cave of the heart of one who always listens to this pure Purāṇa. Having obtained a human birth, complete in all limbs—a boat for crossing the ocean of existence—and having found a reciter, alas, the fool who does not listen is deceived by fate and loses the Purāṇa that brings happiness. He who, having gained a pair of ears in human birth, always listens with attachment to slander of others, but does not listen to the pure Purāṇa, the giver of all aims and a treasury of nectar—how is such a dull-witted one not lost on earth? Then the sages asked, “Gentle one, in which wife of Vyāsa was the son Śuka born? And how, and of what kind, and by whom was this excellent collection recited? You have said that Śuka was not born from a womb, and also that he was born of a celestial; there is great doubt in this—tell us now, O wise one. It is heard that Śuka, the great ascetic, was formerly a yogi in the womb; and how was this extensive Purāṇa recited by him?” Sūta replied: Once, on the banks of the Sarasvatī, Vyāsa, the son of Satyavatī, saw two young birds in his hermitage and was filled with wonder. In their nest was a newly born chick, freed from its shell and charming to behold, with a copper-colored beak, auspicious limbs, and lacking the beginnings of feathers. Those two birds, entirely devoted to finding food and diligent in their efforts, repeatedly placed food into the chick’s open beak. With joy, they rubbed their bodies against the chick’s limbs, and with affection, the two birds lovingly kissed the chick’s beautiful face.