O Brāhmaṇa, I beseech you—turn your mind toward me with kindness. Please, O great sage, grant me your grace so that I may understand all these mysteries. Śrī Parāśara responded warmly, “You have asked well, dear Maitreya, knower of dharma. Your question has stirred memories of ancient events. Let me recount what my venerable grandfather, Vasishtha, once told me. Long ago, a demon sent by Viśvāmitra devoured my father. Upon hearing this, my maternal uncle was seized with anger. Driven by grief and fury, I began a sacrifice for the destruction of the demons, and in that ritual, hundreds of night-wandering demons were reduced to ashes. As these demons were being consumed, my revered grandfather Vasishtha, blessed and greatly fortunate, approached me and spoke, ‘Enough, my child, restrain this excessive anger. The demons are not truly at fault—what befell your father was destined. Anger arises only in the ignorant, not in those who possess wisdom. Who is slain by whom? Each person experiences the results of their own actions. Even for one engaged in a great sacrifice, anger destroys fame and ascetic merit, bringing nothing but distress to people. The great sages, who are the cause of heaven and liberation, always avoid anger. Dear one, do not be subject to it. Enough of this sacrifice, tormented by night-dwellers, miserable and undeserving; let it cease, for the virtuous are founded upon patience.’ Thus admonished by my noble father, I honored his words and immediately ended the sacrifice. At that moment, my grandfather Vasishtha was pleased, and Pulastya, son of Brahmā, arrived. He received the offering of water from Vasishtha and took his seat. Pulastya, elder brother of Pulaha, addressed me, saying, ‘Because you have embraced patience today, even amidst great hostility, as taught by your teacher, you will come to know all the sacred texts. Since your lineage was not broken even by anger, O noble one, I grant you another great boon: you will become the composer of the Purāṇa-saṃhitā, and you will know the true nature of the gods as it truly is. In both action and cessation, your mind will remain pure; by my grace, it will be free from doubt.’ Then my grandfather Vasishtha assured me, ‘All that Pulastya has spoken to you will surely come to pass.’ Thus, what was spoken long ago by the wise Vasishtha and Pulastya returns to my memory now, awakened by your question, Maitreya. Therefore, as you inquire, I will tell you everything. Listen well to the Purāṇa-saṃhitā, exactly as it is. From Viṣṇu the universe arises, and in him it abides. He is the sustainer and controller of this world, and he himself is the world. Śrī Parāśara continued, “Salutations to Viṣṇu, pure, changeless, eternal, supreme soul, whose form is ever one, and who conquers all. Salutations to Hiraṇyagarbha, to Hari, to Śaṃkara, to Vāsudeva, to the savior, the creator, sustainer, and destroyer of the world. Salutations to Viṣṇu, whose form is both one and many, who is the gross and subtle self, whose nature is both manifest and unmanifest, and who is the cause of liberation. Salutations to Viṣṇu, the supreme soul, who is the root of the creation, preservation, and destruction of the universe, and who is the essence of all worlds. I bow to Acyuta, the supreme person, who is the foundation of the universe, subtler than the subtlest, and who dwells in all beings. The essential nature of knowledge is utterly pure in the highest sense; yet, through mistaken perception, it appears as the nature of objects. Having bowed to Viṣṇu, the devourer and lord of the universe in its preservation and creation, the ruler of all worlds, unborn, imperishable, and unchanging, I shall now relate, just as before, what the venerable lotus-born Lord, the grandsire, spoke when asked by the foremost sages beginning with Dakṣa. What was told to Purukutsa, king of the earth, on the banks of the Nirmadā by Sārasvata, and by him to me, and by me to Sārasvata. He is the supreme among the supreme, the highest Self established in itself, devoid of distinctions such as form, color, or any other attribute. Free from decay, destruction, transformation, growth, and birth, he can only be described as ‘He always exists,’ and nothing more. Because he pervades everything and dwells in all, the wise call him Vāsudeva. That supreme Brahman is eternal, unborn, imperishable, and unchanging; always of one nature, pure because it is free from anything to be rejected. That alone is all this, possessing both manifest and unmanifest forms, and is established as the form of the Person and as the form of Time. O twice-born, the Person is the first form of the Supreme Brahman; likewise, the manifest and unmanifest, and Time are other supreme forms. What is supreme beyond primordial matter, the Person, the manifest, and Time—that pure state, the sages see as the supreme abode of Viṣṇu. The forms of primordial matter, the Person, the manifest, and Time are, in their divisions, the causes of the existence, creation, and dissolution of beings. Viṣṇu is the manifest, the unmanifest, the Person, and indeed Time; observe his activity as that of a child at play. That unmanifest cause, which the foremost sages call primordial matter, is subtle nature, eternal, and of the essence of both being and non-being. Thus, Maitreya, I have begun to reveal to you the profound wisdom of the Purāṇa-saṃhitā, as it was handed down by the sages. Listen and reflect, for all arises from and abides in the eternal Viṣṇu.