SB 12.13.4-9

Srimad-Bhagavatam - Twelfth Canto - Chapter 13: The Glories of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam

SB 12.13.3 - SB 12.13.10

His Divine Grace
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Please note: The synonyms, translation and purport of this verse were composed by disciples of Śrīla Prabhupāda

TEXTS 4-9

brāhmaṁ daśa sahasrāṇi

pādmaṁ pañcona-ṣaṣṭi ca

śrī-vaiṣṇavaṁ trayo-viṁśac

catur-viṁśati śaivakam

daśāṣṭau śrī-bhāgavataṁ

nāradaṁ pañca-viṁśati

mārkaṇḍaṁ nava vāhnaṁ ca

daśa-pañca catuḥ-śatam

catur-daśa bhaviṣyaṁ syāt

tathā pañca-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-bhāgavataṁ iṣyate

SYNONYMS

brāhmam—the Brahmā Purāṇa; daśa—ten; sahasrāṇi—thousands; pādmam—the Padma Purāṇa; pañca-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; pañca-viṁśati—twenty-five; mārkaṇḍam—the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa; nava—nine; vāhnam—the Agni Purāṇa; ca—and; daśa-pañca-catuḥ-śatam—fifteen thousand four hundred; catuḥ-daśa—fourteen; bhaviṣyam—the Bhaviṣya Purāṇa; syāt—consists of; tathā—plus; pañca-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 and purport composed by disciples of Śrīla Prabhupāda

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TRANSLATION

The Brahmā 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.

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

vālmīkinā ca lokeṣu

dharma-kāmārtha-sādhanam

evaṁ sa-pādāḥ pañcaite

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: (SB 1.3.28) "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.

SB 12.13.3 - SB 12.13.10