During the grand sacrifice of the noble King Pṛthu, the Māgadha and Sūta, renowned for their skill in praise, sang the glories of that illustrious ruler. Pleased by their devotion, King Pṛthu granted them a boon: the Sūtas received their own domain, and the Māgadhas theirs, establishing their respective places in society. It was during this very sacrifice that a Sūta was born, and in this world, he is known by that name. When the Indra-sacrifice is performed, with Bṛhaspati united with the planets, Indra himself presides, and there too, the Sūta emerges. In that ritual, what was poured forth by the hand of a disciple surpassed even the offering of the teacher. This birth was the result of a union—a stream from above and below—a mingling of castes, where a Kṣatriya and a Brāhmaṇa woman produced offspring. Their differences and duties are explained by their resemblance to those who came before; thus, the Sūta’s middle duty is described, one who earns livelihood by the field. In the Purāṇas, my authority has been established by the Brāhmaṇas; seeing the law, you have questioned me, O speakers of Brahman. Therefore, I shall rightly declare the Purāṇa upon this earth, honored by sages. The mind-born daughter of the ancestors became the wife of Vāsava. But, rejected by the ancestors, she entered the womb of a fish; like the kindling stick for fire, she became the cause of a virtuous birth. Within her was born the pure-souled, great sage from Parāśara. To that blessed one, the truthful creator, I offer homage. To the ancient person, follower of Brahman’s words, to Viṣṇu who took the form of a man and whose nature is praised, I bow. As soon as he was born, the Veda approached him, with all its branches. With his intellect, he churned the ocean of the Veda, illuminating the world and producing the moon of the Mahābhārata. If Bhārata, the sun, and Viṣṇu did not exist, the world would remain in the darkness of ignorance. Know Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa as Nārāyaṇa, the Lord. For who else but the lotus-eyed one could be the author of the Mahābhārata? Thus, I have heard the Purāṇa from the speakers of Brahman, from the all-knowing one, honored in all worlds, radiant with splendor. The Purāṇa, first among all scriptures, was remembered by Brahmā. It is the highest among worlds, the foundation of all knowledge, the means for the three aims of life, virtuous and vast. When all the worlds were exhausted, Keśava, in the form of a horse, at Brahmā’s command, retrieved the Vedas. The four Vedas, their limbs, the Purāṇa, and the vast science of law—all scriptures—were seized by the Asura and made his own. In the form of a fish, the Lord recovered them at the beginning of the kalpa in the ocean of waters, and remaining within the waters, spoke all this in full. Having heard, the Four-faced One, Brahmā, spoke to the sages and the knowers of the Vedas; at that time, the origin of all scriptures and the Purāṇa took place. Over time, seeing that the Purāṇa was not being properly retained, the Lord, in the form of Vyāsa, appeared in every age for the sake of compilation. In each Dvāpara age, he declared it in four hundred thousand verses, then divided it into eighteen parts and revealed it to the world. Even today, in the worlds of the gods, it extends to a hundred crores of verses, but here it is arranged in summary as four hundred thousand. Now, I shall declare the highly meritorious Purāṇa called Padma, consisting of fifty-five thousand verses and endowed with five sections. First is the Section on Creation, then the Section on the Earth; after that, the Section on Heaven, then the Section on the Netherworld. The fifth, known as the Uttara Section, is the supreme section; this great Padma has arisen, from which the world is composed. Because its narratives are based on the lotus, it is called Padma; this Purāṇa is pure, purified by the greatness of Viṣṇu. What the god of gods, Hari, formerly spoke to Brahmā, and what Brahmā previously told Marīci in its entirety—this very Padma Purāṇa was declared by Brahmā in the world. Because it is the support of all beings, the wise call it Padma. This Padma is recited here as fifty-five thousand verses, spoken in five sections, composed in summary by Vyāsa. The first section is Pauṣkara, in which the great Virāṭ was self-born; the second is the Section on Sacred Fords, which contains all the groups of planets. In the third section are the accounts of kings who gave abundant gifts; the genealogies are described in the fourth. In the fifth, the essence of liberation and all truths are explained. In Pauṣkara, the creation of all beings by Brahmā is described in nine ways. The creation of gods, sages, and ancestors is another topic; in the second section, the mountains and the seven islands with their oceans are described. In the third, the creation of Rudra and the curse of Dakṣa are told; in the fourth, the origin of kings and the narration of all dynasties. In the last, the arrangement of the final paths and the teaching of the scriptures on liberation are recounted. All this I shall tell you, O twice-born, in this Purāṇa. This is pure, a treasure of fame, greatly beloved by the ancestors; it is always for the happiness of the Lord, and for men, it removes even great sins. Sūta then spoke: I bow to the lord of all worlds, the master of the universe, who, knowing primordial matter, creates this existence in the form of creation. The creator of worlds, knower of their essence, established in yoga and expert in it, produced all beings, both immobile and mobile.