Linga Purana

ऋषिः सर्वगतत्वाच्च शरीरी सो ऽस्य यत्प्रभुः स्वामित्वमस्य यत्सर्वं विष्णुः सर्वप्रवेशनात्

He is called seer because he is all-pervading; embodied, he is the lord of that; because he is the master of all, he is Viṣṇu, as he enters all.

भगवान् भगवद्भावान् निर्मलत्वाच्छिवः स्मृतः परमः सम्प्रकृष्टत्वाद् अवनाद् ओमिति स्मृतः

He is called Bhagavān because he possesses divine qualities; pure, he is remembered as Śiva; supreme, because he is most exalted; protector, he is remembered as Om.

सर्वज्ञः सर्वविज्ञानात् सर्वः सर्वमयो यतः त्रिधा विभज्य चात्मानं त्रैलोक्यं सम्प्रवर्तते

He is all-knowing because of all knowledge; he is all because he pervades all; dividing himself threefold, he sets the three worlds in motion.

सृजते ग्रसते चैव रक्षते च त्रिभिः स्वयम् आदित्वाद् आदिदेवो ऽसाव् अजातत्वाद् अजः स्मृतः

He himself creates, devours, and protects with the three; being the first, he is called the original god; being unborn, he is remembered as the unborn.

पाति यस्मात्प्रजाः सर्वाः प्रजापतिर् इति स्मृतः देवेषु च महान्देवो महादेवस्ततः स्मृतः

Because he protects all beings, he is called the Lord of creatures; among the gods, the great god is therefore remembered as Mahādeva.

सर्वगत्वाच्च देवानाम् अवश्यत्वाच्च ईश्वरः बृहत्त्वाच्च स्मृतो ब्रह्मा भूतत्वाद्भूत उच्यते

Because he pervades all and is the lord of the gods, he is called Īśvara; because he is vast, he is remembered as Brahmā; because he is being, he is called Bhūta.

क्षेत्रज्ञः क्षेत्रविज्ञानाद् एकत्वात्केवलः स्मृतः यस्मात्पुर्यां स शेते च तस्मात्पूरुष उच्यते

He is the knower of the field because of knowledge of the field; being one, he is remembered as the sole one; because he lies in the city (body), he is called Puruṣa.

अनादित्वाच्च पूर्वत्वात् स्वयंभूरिति संस्मृतः याज्यत्वादुच्यते यज्ञः कविर् विक्रान्तदर्शनात्

Because he is without beginning and existed before all, he is remembered as the Self-born; because he is to be worshipped, he is called the Sacrifice; he is the Seer, and is known for his mighty vision.

क्रमणः क्रमणीयत्वात् पालकश्चापि पालनात् आदित्यसंज्ञः कपिलो ह्य् अग्रजो ऽग्निरिति स्मृतः

He is called the Stepper because of his movement, and the Protector because he preserves; he is known as Āditya, Kapila, the Eldest, and is remembered as Agni.

हिरण्यमस्य गर्भो ऽभूद् धिरण्यस्यापि गर्भजः तस्माद्धिरण्यगर्भत्वं पुराणे ऽस्मिन्निरुच्यते

He became the embryo of gold, and from gold was born as an embryo; therefore, in this Purāṇa, he is described as Hiraṇyagarbha, the Golden Womb.

स्वयंभुवो ऽपि वृत्तस्य कालो विश्वात्मनस्तु यः न शक्यः परिसंख्यातुम् अपि वर्षशतैरपि

Even the time of the Self-born, who is the soul of the universe, cannot be measured, not even in hundreds of years.

कालसंख्याविवृत्तस्य परार्धो ब्रह्मणः स्मृतः तावच्छेषो ऽस्य कालो ऽन्यस् तस्यान्ते प्रतिसृज्यते

The supreme period of Brahmā is called a parārdha, when the reckoning of time ceases; the remainder of his time is another, which is dissolved at its end.

कोटिकोटिसहस्राणि अहर्भूतानि यानि वै समतीतानि कल्पानां तावच्छेषाः परे तु ये यस्त्वयं वर्तते कल्पो वाराहस्तं निबोधत

Countless billions of days have passed in previous kalpas; the same number remain for the future. Now, listen to the account of the present kalpa, called Vārāha.

प्रथमः सांप्रतस्तेषां कल्पो ऽयं वर्तते द्विजाः यस्मिन्स्वायंभुवाद्यास्तु मनवस्ते चतुर्दश

O twice-born, of those kalpas, this present one is the first, in which the fourteen Manus, beginning with Svāyambhuva, have appeared.

अतीता वर्तमानाश् च भविष्या ये च वै पुनः तैरियं पृथिवी सर्वा सप्तद्वीपा सपर्वता

In the past, present, and future, by those Manus, this entire earth, with its seven continents and mountains, is governed.

पूर्णं युगसहस्रं वै परिपाल्या महेश्वरैः प्रजाभिस्तपसा चैव तेषां शृणुत विस्तरम्

For a full thousand yugas, the great lords protect it, along with the people, through their austerities. Hear now the details of these.

मन्वन्तरेण चैकेन सर्वाण्येवान्तराणि च कथितानि भविष्यन्ति कल्पः कल्पेन चैव हि

With each Manvantara, all the intermediate periods are also described; and so it is with each kalpa.

अतीतानि च कल्पानि सोदर्काणि सहान्वयैः अनागतेषु तद्वच्च तर्कः कार्यो विजानता

The past kalpas, with their secondary creations and lineages, and likewise those yet to come—one who knows should reason about them in this way.

आपो ह्यग्रे समभवन् नष्टे च पृथिवीतले शान्ततारैकनीरे ऽस्मिन् न प्राज्ञायत किंचन

At first, only water existed, for the earth had disappeared; in that calm, single expanse of water, nothing at all could be perceived.

एकार्णवे तदा तस्मिन् नष्टे स्थावरजङ्गमे तदा भवति वै ब्रह्मा सहस्राक्षः सहस्रपात्

Then, in that single ocean, when all that is fixed and moving was lost, Brahmā arises—he of a thousand eyes and a thousand feet.

सहस्रशीर्षा पुरुषो रुक्मवर्णस् त्वतीन्द्रियः ब्रह्मा नारायणाख्यस्तु सुष्वाप सलिले तदा

The Person with a thousand heads, golden in color and beyond the senses, called Brahmā and also Nārāyaṇa, then slept upon the waters.

सत्त्वोद्रेकात्प्रबुद्धस्तु शून्यं लोकमुदैक्षत इमं चोदाहरन्त्यत्र श्लोकं नारायणं प्रति

Awakening through the predominance of sattva, he beheld the empty world. Here, they recite this verse about Nārāyaṇa.

आपो नाराश् च सूनव इत्यपां नाम शुश्रुमः आपूर्य ताभिर् अयनं कृतवानात्मनो यतः

We have heard that the waters are called 'nārās,' and he is their son; having filled them, he made them his resting place.

अप्सु शेते यतस्तस्मात् ततो नारायणः स्मृतः चतुर्युगसहस्रस्य नैशं कालम् उपास्यतः

Because he lies upon the waters, he is therefore called Nārāyaṇa. He remains in night for a thousand fourfold yugas.

शर्वर्यन्ते प्रकुरुते ब्रह्मत्वं सर्गकारणात् ब्रह्मा तु सलिले तस्मिन् वायुर्भूत्वा समाचरत्

At the end of the night, he assumes the role of Brahmā for the purpose of creation; and as Brahmā, he acts in the waters, becoming the wind.

निशायामिव खद्योतः प्रावृट्काले ततस्तु सः ततस् तु सलिले तस्मिन् विज्ञायान्तर्गतां महीम्

Then, just as a firefly in the night during the rainy season, he perceived the earth submerged within the waters.

अनुमानाद् असंमूढो भूमेरुद्धरणं पुनः अकरोत्स तनूमन्यां कल्पादिषु यथापुरा

By inference, undeluded, he again raised up the earth, just as he had done in previous cycles, assuming a subtle form.

ततो महात्मा भगवान् दिव्यरूपम् अचिन्तयत् सलिलेनाप्लुतां भूमिं दृष्ट्वा स तु समन्ततः

Then the great-souled Lord, seeing the earth immersed in water all around, conceived of a divine form.

किंनु रूपमहं कृत्वा उद्धरेयं महीमिमाम् जलक्रीडानुसदृशं वाराहं रूपमाविशत्

He thought, 'By assuming what form might I lift this earth? Entering the form of a boar, suitable for playing in water, I shall do so.'