SB 12.13.5 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

ब्राह्मं दशसहस्राणि पाद्मं पञ्चोनषष्टि च । श्रीवैष्णवं त्रयोविंशच्चतुर्विंशति शैवकम् ॥ ४ ॥ दशाष्टौ श्रीभागवतं नारदं पञ्चविंशति । मार्कण्डं नव वाह्नं च दशपञ्च चतु:शतम् ॥ ५ ॥ चतुर्दश भविष्यं स्यात्तथा पञ्चशतानि च । दशाष्टौ ब्रह्मवैवर्तं लैङ्गमेकादशैव तु ॥ ६ ॥ चतुर्विंशति वाराहमेकाशीतिसहस्रकम् । स्कान्दं शतं तथा चैकं वामनं दश कीर्तितम् ॥ ७ ॥ कौर्मं सप्तदशाख्यातं मात्स्यं तत्तु चतुर्दश । एकोनविंशत्सौपर्णं ब्रह्माण्डं द्वादशैव तु ॥ ८ ॥ एवं पुराणसन्दोहश्चतुर्लक्ष उदाहृत: । तत्राष्टदशसाहस्रं श्रीभागवतमिष्यते ॥ ९ ॥

Verse text

brāhmaṁ daśa sahasrāṇi pādmaṁ paṣcona-ṣaṣṭi ca śrī-vaiṣṇavaṁ trayo-viṁśac catur-viṁśati śaivakam daśāṣṭau śrī-bhāgavataṁ nāradaṁ paṣca-viṁśati mārkaṇḍaṁ nava vāhnaṁ ca daśa-paṣca catuḥ-śatam catur-daśa bhaviṣyaṁ syāt tathā paṣca-śatāni ca daśāṣṭau brahma-vaivartaṁ laiṅgam ekādaśaiva tu catur-viṁśati vārāham ekāśīti-sahasrakam skāndaṁ śataṁ tathā caikaṁ vāmanaṁ daśa kīrtitam kaurmaṁ sapta-daśākhyātaṁ mātsyaṁ tat tu catur-daśa ekona-viṁśat sauparṇaṁ brahmāṇḍaṁ dvādaśaiva tu evaṁ purāṇa-sandohaś catur-lakṣa udāhṛtaḥ tatrāṣṭadaśa-sāhasraṁ śrī-bhāgavatam iṣyate

Synonyms

brāhmam — the Brahma Purāṇa ; daśa — ten ; sahasrāṇi — thousands ; pādmam — the Padma Purāṇa ; paṣca — ūna — ṣaṣṭi — five less than sixty ; ca — and ; śrī — vaiṣṇavam — the Viṣṇu Purāṇa ; trayaḥ — viṁśat — twenty-three ; catuḥ — viṁśati — twenty-four ; śaivakam — the Śiva Purāṇa ; daśa — aṣṭau — eighteen ; śrī — bhāgavatam — Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam ; nāradam — the Nārada Purāṇa ; paṣca — viṁśati — twenty-five ; mārkaṇḍam — the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa ; nava — nine ; vāhnam — the Agni Purāṇa ; ca — and ; daśa — paṣca — catuḥ — śatam — fifteen thousand four hundred ; catuḥ — daśa — fourteen ; bhaviṣyam — the Bhaviṣya Purāṇa ; syāt — consists of ; tathā — plus ; paṣca — śatāni — five hundred (verses) ; ca — and ; daśa — aṣṭau — eighteen ; brahma — vaivartam — the Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa ; laiṅgam — the Liṅga Purāṇa ; ekādaśa — eleven ; eva — indeed ; tu — and ; catuḥ — viṁśati — twenty-four ; vārāham — the Varāha Purāṇa ; ekāśīti — sahasrakam — eighty-one thousand ; skāndam — the Skanda Purāṇa ; śatam — hundred ; tathā — plus ; ca — and ; ekam — one ; vāmanam — the Vāmana Purāṇa ; daśa — ten ; kīrtitam — is described ; kaurmam — the Kūrma Purāṇa ; sapta — daśa — seventeen ; ākhyātam — is said ; mātsyam — the Matsya Purāṇa ; tat — that ; tu — and ; catuḥ — daśa — fourteen ; eka — ūna — viṁśat — nineteen ; sauparṇam — the Garuḍa Purāṇa ; brahmāṇḍam — the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa ; dvādaśa — twelve ; eva — indeed ; tu — and ; evam — in this way ; Purāṇa — of the Purāṇas ; sandohaḥ — the sum ; catuḥ — lakṣaḥ — four hundred thousand ; udāhṛtaḥ — is described ; tatra — therein ; aṣṭa — daśa — sāhasram — eighteen thousand ; śrī — bhāgavatam — Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam ; iṣyate — is said .

Translation

The Brahma Purāṇa consists of ten thousand verses, the Padma Purāṇa of fifty-five thousand, Śrī Viṣṇu Purāṇa of twenty-three thousand, the Śiva Purāṇa of twenty-four thousand and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam of eighteen thousand. The Nārada Purāṇa has twenty-five thousand verses, the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa nine thousand, the Agni Purāṇa fifteen thousand four hundred, the Bhaviṣya Purāṇa fourteen thousand five hundred, the Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa eighteen thousand and the Liṅga Purāṇa eleven thousand. The Varāha Purāṇa contains twenty-four thousand verses, the Skanda Purāṇa eighty-one thousand one hundred, the Vāmana Purāṇa ten thousand, the Kūrma Purāṇa seventeen thousand, the Matsya Purāṇa fourteen thousand, the Garuḍa Purāṇa nineteen thousand and the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa twelve thousand. Thus the total number of verses in all the Purāṇas is four hundred thousand. Eighteen thousand of these, once again, belong to the beautiful Bhāgavatam.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The Brahmā Purāṇa consists of ten thousand verses, the Padma Purāṇa of fifty-five thousand, Viṣṇu Purāṇa of twenty-three thousand, the Śiva Purāṇa of twenty-four thousand and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam of eighteen thousand. The Nārada Purāṇa has twenty-five thousand verses, the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa nine thousand, the Agni Purāṇa fifteen thousand four hundred, the Bhaviṣya Purāṇa fourteen thousand five hundred, the Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa eighteen thousand and the Liṅga Purāṇa eleven thousand. The Varāha Purāṇa contains twenty-four thousand verses, the Skanda Purāṇa eighty-one thousand one hundred, the Vāmana Purāṇa ten thousand, the Kūrma Purāṇa seventeen thousand, the Matsya Purāṇa fourteen thousand, the Garuḍa Purāṇa nineteen thousand and the Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa twelve thousand. Thus the total number of verses in all the Purāṇas is four hundred thousand. Eighteen thousand of these belong to the Bhāgavatam. Trayoviṁśat means twenty-three. Śaivakam means Śiva Purāṇa. Vāhnam means Agni Purāṇa. It has fifteen thousand four hundred verses. Skanda Purāṇa has eighty-one thousand verses. Just as Kṛṣṇa is included in the listing of avatāras since he appears in this world as an avatāra, and yet is distinguished by the words kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svavyam, so Bhāgavatam is included in the list of Purāṇas since it is also a Purāṇa, but it again mentioned at the end as having eighteen thousand verses, to indicate its role as the emperor among the Purāṇas. Just as the svayam indicates the supreme position of Kṛṣṇa in the First Canto verse, the word śrī with Bhāgavatam indicates that it is the most complete among all Purāṇas.

Purport

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has quoted from the Matsya Purāṇa as follows: aṣṭādaśa purāṇāni kṛtvā satyavatī-sutaḥ bhāratākhyānam akhilaṁ cakre tad-upabṛṁhitam lakṣaṇaikena tat proktaṁ vedārtha-paribṛṁhitam vālmīkināpi yat proktaṁ rāmopakhyānam uttamam brahmaṇābhihitaṁ tac ca śata-koṭi-pravistarāt āhṛtya nāradenaiva vālmīkāya punaḥ punaḥ vālmīkinā ca lokeṣu dharma-kāmārtha-sādhanam evaṁ sa-pādāḥ paṣcaite lakṣās teṣu prakīṛtitāḥ “After compiling the eighteen Purāṇas, Vyāsadeva, the son of Satyavatī, composed the entire Mahābhārata, which contains the essence of all the Purāṇas. It consists of over one hundred thousand verses and is filled with all the ideas of the Vedas. There is also the account of the pastimes of Lord Rāmacandra, spoken by Vālmīki — an account originally related by Lord Brahmā in one billion verses. That Rāmāyaṇa was later summarized by Nārada and related to Vālmīki, who further presented it to mankind so that human beings could attain the goals of religiosity, sense gratification and economic development. The total number of verses in all the Purāṇas and itihāsas (histories) is thus known in human society to amount to 525,000.” Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura points out that in the First Canto, Third Chapter, of this work, after Sūta Gosvāmī lists the incarnations of Godhead, he adds the special phrase kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam: “But Kṛṣṇa is the original Personality of Godhead.” Similarly, after mentioning all of the Purāṇas, Śrī Suta Gosvāmī again mentions the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam to emphasize that it is the chief of all Purāṇic literatures.