Out of deep respect for my noble father’s admonition, I immediately ceased the sacrifice as he had instructed. At that very moment, the blessed sage Vasiṣṭha, foremost among the wise, was pleased with my action. Just then, Pulastya, the illustrious son of Brahmā and elder brother of Pulaha, arrived at the scene. Pulastya accepted the offering of water from my grandsire, took his seat, and addressed me, Maitreya. He spoke with kindness: "Because you have embraced patience today, even amid great hostility, as taught by your teacher, you will come to know all the sacred texts. Since my lineage was not interrupted, even by anger, O noble one, I grant you another great boon. You, my child, will become the composer of the Purāṇa-saṃhitā, and you will know the true nature of the gods exactly as it is. In both action and cessation, your mind will remain pure; by my grace, it will be free from doubt." Then my grandsire Vasiṣṭha blessed me further, saying, "All that Pulastya has spoken to you will surely come to pass." Thus, what was formerly spoken by wise Vasiṣṭha and Pulastya returns to my memory in full because of 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 then spoke: 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; that alone, due to mistaken perception, appears as the nature of objects. Having bowed to Viṣṇu, the devourer and lord of the universe in its preservation and creation, ruler of all worlds, unborn, imperishable, and unchanging, I shall relate, just as before, what the venerable lotus-born Lord, the grandsire, spoke when asked by the foremost sages beginning with Dakṣa. That which 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 the 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. It is imperishable, has no other support, is immeasurable, ageless, and constant; devoid of sound and touch, and not associated with form or other qualities. It is endowed with the three qualities, the source of the world, without beginning, origin, or end; therefore, before creation and after dissolution, all was indeed that. Those who know the Vedic doctrines, and the established teachers of Brahman, recite this very meaning, which establishes the primacy of primordial matter. There was no day, no night, no sky, no earth, no self, no light, nor anything else; only the one primordial Brahman, not accessible to the senses or mind, existed then. O sage, beyond the true form of Viṣṇu, there are indeed two forms: Pradhāna (primordial matter) and Puruṣa (spirit). When these two are separated and purified, there arises another form, called Time, O twice-born one. That which remains manifest in Prakṛti (nature) even after the great dissolution is called by the wise the Prākṛta (primordial) state, for it endures through each cycle. The Blessed Lord, Time, is without beginning and, O twice-born, has no end; therefore, the cycles of creation, maintenance, and dissolution are uninterrupted. When the qualities are in equilibrium and the individual soul is distinct, then, O Maitreya, the form of Time belonging to Viṣṇu undergoes transformation. Then, the Supreme Soul, the essence of the universe, the all-pervading, the Lord of all beings, the Self of all, the Supreme Lord, becomes the blazing Brahman. Hari, by his own will, entered both Pradhāna and Puruṣa, the perishable and the imperishable, and agitated them at the time of creation.