Vishnu Purana

श्रीपराशर उवाच अविकाराय शुद्धाय नित्याय परमात्मने । सदैकरूपरूपाय विष्णवे सर्वजिष्णवे

Śrī Parāśara said: Salutations to Viṣṇu, pure, changeless, eternal, supreme soul, whose form is ever one, and who conquers all.

नमो हिरण्यगर्भाय हरये शंकराय च । वासुदेवाय ताराय सर्गस्थित्यन्तकारिणे

Salutations to Hiraṇyagarbha, to Hari, to Śaṃkara, to Vāsudeva, to the savior, the creator, sustainer, and destroyer of the world.

एकानेकस्वरूपाय स्थूलसूक्ष्मात्मने नमः । अव्यक्तव्यक्तरूपाय विष्णवे मुक्तिहेतवे

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.

सर्गस्थितिविनाशानां जगतो यो जगन्मयः । मूलभूतो नमस्तस्मै विष्णवे परमात्मने

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.

आधारभूतं विश्वस्याप्यणीयांसमयीयसाम् । प्रणम्य सर्वभूतस्थमच्युतं पुरुषोत्तमम्

I bow to Acyuta, the supreme person, who is the foundation of the universe, who is subtler than the subtlest, and who dwells in all beings.

ज्ञानस्वरूपमत्यन्तनिर्मलं परमार्थतः । तमेवार्थस्वरूपेण भ्रान्तिदर्शनतः स्थितम्

The essential nature of knowledge is utterly pure in the highest sense; that alone, due to mistaken perception, appears as the nature of objects.

विष्णुं ग्रसिष्णुं विश्वस्य स्थितौ सर्गे तथा प्रभुम् । प्रणम्य जगतामीशमजमक्षयमव्ययम्

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,

कथयामि यथापूर्व दक्षाद्यैर्मुनिसत्तमैः । पृष्ट प्रोवाच भगवानब्जयोनिः पितामहः

I shall relate, just as before, what the venerable lotus-born Lord, the grandsire, spoke when asked by the foremost sages beginning with Dakṣa.

तैश्चौक्तं पुरुकुत्साय भूभुजे निर्मदातटे । सारस्वताय तेनापि मह्मं सारस्वतेन च

That which was told to Purukutsa, the king of the earth, on the banks of the Nirmadā, by Sārasvata, and by him to me, and by me to Sārasvata.

परः पराणां परमः परमात्मात्मसंस्थितः । रूपवर्णादिनिर्देशविशेषणविवर्जितः

He is the supreme among the supreme, the highest Self established in itself, devoid of distinctions such as form, color, or any other attribute.

अपक्षयविनाशाभ्यां परिणामर्धिजन्मभिः । वर्जितः शक्यते वक्तुंयः सदास्तीति केवलम्

Free from decay, destruction, transformation, growth, and birth, he can only be described as 'He always exists,' and nothing more.

सर्वत्रासौ समस्तं च वसत्यत्रेति वै यतः । ततः स वासुदेवेति विद्वद्भिः परिपठ्यते

Because he pervades everything and dwells in all, therefore the wise call him Vāsudeva.

तद्‌ब्रह्म परंमं नित्यमजमक्षयमव्ययम् । एकस्वरूपं तु सदा हेयाभावाच्च निर्मलम्

That supreme Brahman is eternal, unborn, imperishable, and unchanging; always of one nature, pure because it is free from anything to be rejected.

तदेव सर्वमेवैतद्‌व्यक्ताव्यक्तस्वरूपवत् । तथा पुरुषरूपेण कालरूपेण च स्थितम्

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.

परस्य ब्रह्मणो रूपं पुरुषः प्रथमं द्विज । व्यक्ताव्यक्ते तथैवान्ये रूपे कालस्तथा परम्

O twice-born, the Person is the first form of the Supreme Brahman; likewise, the manifest and unmanifest, and Time are other supreme forms.

प्रधानपुरुषव्यक्तकालानां परमं हि यत् । पश्यन्ति सूरयः शुद्धं तद्विष्णोः परमं पदम्

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.

प्रधानपुरुषव्यक्तकालास्तु प्रविभागशः । रूपाणि स्थितिसर्गान्तव्यक्तिसद्भावहेतवः

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.

व्यक्तं विष्णुस्तथाव्यक्तं पुरुषः काल एव च । क्रीडतो बालकस्येव चेष्टां तस्य निशामय

Viṣṇu is the manifest, the unmanifest, the Person, and indeed Time; observe his activity as that of a child at play.

अव्यक्तं कारणं यत्तत्प्रधानमृषिसत्तमैः । प्रोच्यते प्रकृतिः सूक्ष्मा नित्यं सदसदात्मकम्

That unmanifest cause, which the foremost sages call primordial matter, is subtle nature, eternal, and of the essence of both being and non-being.

अक्षय्यं नान्यदाधारममेयमजरं ध्रुवम् । शब्दस्पर्शविहीनं तद्रूपादिभिरसंहितम्

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.

त्रिगुणं तज्जगद्योनिरनादिप्रभवाप्ययम् । तेनाग्रे सर्वमेवासीद्व्‌यांत्पं वै प्रलयादनु

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.

वेदवादविदो विद्दन्नियता ब्रह्मवादिनः । पठन्ति चैतमेवार्थ प्रधानप्रतिपादकम्

Those who know the Vedic doctrines, and the established teachers of Brahman, recite this very meaning, which establishes the primacy of primordial matter.

नाहो न रात्रिर्न नभो न भूमि- र्नासीत्ममोज्योतिरभूच्च नान्यत् । श्रोत्रादिबुद्धयानुपलभ्यमेकं प्राधानिकं ब्रह्म पुमांस्तदासीत्

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.

विष्णोः स्वरूपात्प​रतो हि ते द्वे रूपे प्रधानं पुरुषश्च विप्र । तस्यैव तेऽन्येन धूते वियुक्ते रूपांन्तरं तद्‌द्विज कालसंज्ञम्

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.

प्रकृतौ संस्थितं व्यक्तमतीतप्रलये तु यत् । तस्मात्प्राकृतसंज्ञोऽयमुच्यते प्रतिसत्र्चरः

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.

अनादिर्भगवान्कालो नान्तोऽस्य द्विज विद्यते । अव्युच्छिन्नास्ततस्त्वेते सर्गस्थित्यन्तसंयमाः

The Blessed Lord, Time, is without beginning and, O twice-born, has no end; therefore, the cycles of creation, maintenance, and dissolution are uninterrupted.

गुणसाम्ये ततस्तस्मिन्पृथक्पूंसि व्यवस्थिते । कालस्वरूपं तद्विष्णोर्मैत्रेय परिवर्त्तते

When the qualities are in equilibrium and the individual soul is distinct, then, O Maitreya, the form of Time belonging to Viṣṇu undergoes transformation.

ततस्तु तप्तरं ब्रह्मं परमात्मा जगन्मयः । सर्वगः सर्वभूतेशः सर्वात्मा परमेश्वरः

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.

प्रधानपुरुषौ चापि प्रविश्यात्मेच्छया हरिः । क्षोभयामास सम्प्राप्ते सर्गकाले व्ययाव्ययौ

Hari, by his own will, entered both Pradhāna and Puruṣa, the perishable and the imperishable, and agitated them at the time of creation.