With deep reverence, salutations are first offered to the Lord whose chest shines resplendently as he reclines upon Shesha’s mighty serpent-couch. He is the Lord of all gods, the bestower of liberation, and to him, obeisance is due. Adoration is again expressed to the one who bears the bow, sword, and discus, who is untouched by birth or death, and who, wondrously, was born from the great lotus that sprang from his own navel. The Lord’s lips glow with the hue of coral, and his hands shimmer like tender shoots of new growth. Seeking refuge in him, the devotee prays: “O Lord, I am pleased—protect me from the fears that arise from women and serpents.” Yet, upon beholding the Lord in his boar form—dark as the deepest indigo, enveloping the world within his vast body—fear arises once more. In trembling awe, the devotee pleads, “O Janardana, show me your mercy and rescue me from this great fear.” In this spirit of supplication, the devotee invokes the Lord’s protection: “May Kesava guard my feet, Narayana my shanks, Madhava my waist, and Govinda my secret parts. May Vishnu shield my navel, Madhusudana my abdomen, Trivikrama my thighs, and Vamana my heart. May Sridhara protect my throat, Hrishikesha my mouth, Padmanabha my eyes, and Damodara my head.” With this invocation, the Earth herself, feeling secure, offers salutations to the blessed Vishnu and then falls silent. At this, Suta narrates: The Lord Hari, pleased by the Earth’s devotion, revealed his own divine maya and remained there in the wondrous form of the cosmic boar. Addressing the Earth, he spoke affectionately: “O beautiful-hipped one, what is your question? This inquiry is most rare. I shall reveal to you the subject of the Purana, distilled from all the scriptures. Among the Puranas, there is one verse that is considered universal. Listen, O Earth, as I recount the entirety.” The Lord Varaha then began: “A Purana is defined by five characteristics—creation, dissolution, genealogies, the periods of Manus, and the accounts of dynasties. I shall first recount to you the primary creation, radiant-faced one, from which the deeds of gods and kings begin to be known, and the eternal Supreme Soul is understood in fourfold aspects. “At first, I alone was the great sky. From me arose the subtle element: consciousness, a single entity. This consciousness, divided threefold by the qualities of sattva, rajas, and tamas, took on distinct forms as the elements. In that triad, I am the darkness known as ‘mahat’, always regarded as chief by the wise. From that, the knower of the field arose, and from that, intellect was born. From these arose the causes of hearing and other senses, and thus the chain of senses was established for the world. By these elements, O blessed one, I fashioned the embodied form by my own Self. “There was emptiness, sound, and space; from that came air, then light; from that, water, and then you, O goddess, were created by me as the bearer of all beings. On the earth, as in water, there appeared first foam, then a lump, then an egg; when it was formed and split, I existed within it, composed of water, manifesting myself at the beginning. “Having created the waters, I was present there; thus, my name became Narayana, for I dwell in the waters. In every cycle, I return there again, and from my navel, as in the first time, arises one when I sleep. O goddess, from my navel-lotus, the four-faced one—Brahma—arose. To him I instructed: ‘Create the beings, O wise one.’ “Having spoken thus, I disappeared. Brahma pondered, but as the sustainer of the world, he found nothing to support. Then, great anger arose in Brahma, the one born from the Unmanifest. From that anger, a child appeared on his lap, born from wrath. The child cried, and Brahma, whose form was unmanifest, restrained him and said, ‘Give me a name.’ Brahma named him Rudra. He too was told, ‘Create this world, O auspicious one.’ Unable to do so, Rudra entered the waters, intent on austerity. “Immersed in the waters, Brahma then created another lord of creatures from his right thumb among beings; likewise, from his left thumb, he created his wife. In her, the lord begot Manu Svayambhuva. Thus, the creation of beings was accomplished by Brahma in ancient times.” The Earth then inquired further: “Tell me in detail, O Lord of gods, of the original creation, and how Brahma, called Narayana, came to be at the beginning of the cycle.” The Blessed Lord replied: “He created all beings as Narayana; I shall tell you, O goddess, all as it happened. Listen, O Earth. At the end of the past cycle, after waking from sleep at night, Brahma, filled with the quality of sattva, saw the world as empty. Narayana is supreme, inconceivable, the ancestor even of the highest; the Blessed Lord, of the form of Brahma, is beginningless and the source of all. Thus, it is said: the god in the form of Brahma is the origin and dissolution of the world. “The waters are called ‘nara’; the waters are indeed the offspring of Nara; their abode was first his, and thus he is remembered as Narayana. As he pondered creation at the beginning of the cycle, as before, there arose in him, without awareness, a manifestation composed of darkness. Darkness, delusion, great delusion, Tamisra, and what is called Andha—ignorance in five forms—appeared in the great soul. The creation established in fivefold form, while he was absorbed in meditation, was without conscious awareness; it was neither manifest outwardly nor inwardly, its nature concealed, consisting of immobile beings. This is to be known by the wise as the primary creation. “Then, as he continued to meditate, another, superior creation arose; because its current flows sideways, it is known as the ‘tiryak-srotas’—the lateral stream. These, beginning with animals, are well known; they are led astray from the right path. Considering this ‘tiryak-srotas’ also as ineffective, the Four-Faced One regarded it thus. “The ‘urdhva-srotas’—the upward stream—which is threefold, is characterized by sattva and adherence to righteousness; from this arose the gods, who move upward and are born from all wombs. Then, having created another creation, the Lord Prajapati again reflected, considering those originating from the primary creation and others as ineffective. “Then that Lord contemplated the ‘arvāk-srotas’—the downward stream; in the ‘arvāk-srotas’ arose humans, who are considered effective.” Thus, the Lord patiently revealed to the devoted Earth the mysteries of creation, the unfolding of the elements, the birth of the gods, and the origin of humanity, all as they arose from his own divine will.