Vishnu Purana

01Parashara and Maitreya

Maitreya asks how the world arose and where it goes. Parashara recalls that he once began a yajna to destroy the rakshasas, since one had killed his father Shakti, and that his grandfather Vasishtha and the rishi Pulastya turned him from anger. Pulastya blessed him that he would know the Puranas. Out of that blessing comes the whole Vishnu Purana, spoken in six amshas, or portions, in plain and ordered Sanskrit. The tradition counts it third among the eighteen Mahapuranas and holds that Vyasa, Parashara's son, gave it its place in the collection.

02The five marks, kept in order

In the third amsha Parashara names the five marks that every Purana carries: sarga, pratisarga, vamsha, manvantara and vamshanucharita. In the last adhyaya of the sixth he says he has now told all five, and he has. The first amsha is sarga, the unfolding of the world from Prakriti under Vishnu's will, and the lineages of the Prajapatis. The third gives the fourteen Manvantaras and the twenty-eight Vyasas who divide the Veda in each Dvapara. The fourth is vamsha and vamshanucharita, king after king. The sixth closes with pratisarga, the three kinds of pralaya. Teachers who want to show a student what a Purana is often open this one.

03Durvasa's garland and the churning

Durvasa gave Indra a garland of flowers. Indra hung it on the head of Airavata, the elephant flung it to the ground, and the rishi's curse fell: the three worlds would lose their Shri. Lakshmi left, the devas grew weak, and on Vishnu's counsel they joined the asuras to churn the ocean of milk with Mandara as the rod and Vasuki as the rope. Lakshmi rose from the waters seated on a lotus and chose Vishnu. Parashara then teaches that she is eternal, the mother of the world, never apart from him: where he is meaning she is speech, where he is dharma she is right action.

04Prahlada and Dhruva

The first amsha holds two of the best-loved child devotees in Sanatan Dharma. Dhruva, hurt by his stepmother's words, goes to the forest, does tapas, and is given the fixed place in the sky that the Pole Star keeps. Prahlada, son of Hiranyakashipu, is thrown from cliffs, given poison and set among serpents, and keeps saying that Vishnu is everywhere. His teaching to his schoolfellows, that the only true work is the one that does not bind, is quoted to this day. He tells the daitya boys to see all beings alike, because sameness of vision is itself the worship of Achyuta.

05The land called Bharata

The second amsha maps the seven dvipas and the oceans around Mount Meru, and then stops at one land. The country north of the sea and south of the snowy mountains is called Bharata, and its people are the descendants of Bharata. Here alone, Parashara says, karma is done; the other lands are only for enjoying its fruits. The devas themselves sing that those born in Bharata are blessed, since it is the road to both svarga and moksha. The same amsha tells of Jada Bharata, the king reborn as a deer and then as a silent brahmana, and of Ribhu teaching his disciple Nidagha that the Self is one in all.

06Kings and the Kali Yuga

The fourth amsha is a register of kings. It runs through the Solar line of Ikshvaku to Shri Rama and beyond, the Lunar line through Yayati, Puru and Yadu, and then, spoken as prophecy, the kings who would rule Magadha in the Kali Yuga. The sixth amsha describes the marks of the Kali age, the shrinking of dharma and the short lives of men, and then the three kinds of pralaya: the daily dissolution at the end of Brahma's day, the great dissolution at the end of his life, and the final dissolution of the soul that is liberation.

07Shri Krishna in thirty-eight adhyayas

The fifth amsha gives the whole life of Shri Krishna in thirty-eight adhyayas, more briefly than the Bhagavata and in a cooler, narrative voice. The devas, burdened by the earth's complaint, go to Vishnu, who plucks two hairs, one white and one dark: Balarama and Krishna. Then come the birth in Mathura, the childhood in Vraja, Kaliya, Govardhan, the rasa in the autumn moonlight, the killing of Kamsa, the founding of Dvaraka, Rukmini, the Parijata tree carried from svarga, and Banasura's thousand arms. It ends with the Yadavas destroyed at Prabhasa, Krishna's departure, and Arjuna leading the women of Dvaraka away as the sea takes the city.

08Vishnu as Brahman

The theology of the Vishnu Purana is plain. Vishnu is the Supreme Brahman; the world comes from him, stands in him and is his body. Brahma creates and Rudra dissolves as his forms for those tasks. In the sixth amsha Parashara explains the word Bhagavan: bhaga is the fullness of six things, sovereignty, valour, fame, Shri, knowledge and detachment, and the one who holds all six without limit is Bhagavan. King Keshidhvaja teaches Khandikya the yoga that ends in seeing Vishnu in the heart. Shri Vaishnava acharyas honour this Purana as the Purana-ratna, the jewel among Puranas, and Ramanujacharya draws on it page after page in the Shri Bhashya.

09Shraddha, dharma and how it is read

The Vishnu Purana is a book of the study and the pathashala more than of the pandal. Its third amsha, on varnashrama, the daily rites of the householder and the rules of shraddha, is consulted by those who perform the rites for their ancestors, and the Dhruva and Prahlada kathas of the first amsha are told in every Vaishnava home. Shridhara Svami wrote a commentary on it, and the Shri Vaishnava teacher Vishnuchitta wrote another. H. H. Wilson's English translation of 1840 was among the first renderings of a Purana into English, and Gita Press prints the Sanskrit with a Hindi translation.

What it contains

1. 1
   Prathama Amsha प्रथमोंऽशः

   Twenty-two adhyayas on creation from Prakriti, the lineages of the Prajapatis, and Durvasa's curse that leads to the churning of the ocean and the return of Lakshmi. The kathas of Dhruva and Prahlada fill its second half. It ends with the appointment of rulers over every class of being, with Vishnu as the lord of all.

2. 2
   Dvitiya Amsha द्वितीयोंऽशः

   Sixteen adhyayas on the earth and the heavens: the seven dvipas, Mount Meru, Bharatavarsha with its rivers and mountains, the nether worlds, the hells, and the chariot of the Sun. The kathas of Jada Bharata and of Ribhu and Nidagha close it with teaching on the one Self.

3. 3
   Tritiya Amsha तृतीयोंऽशः

   Eighteen adhyayas on the Manvantaras, the twenty-eight Vyasas and Vyasa's division of the Veda into its shakhas. It sets out varnashrama, the duties of the householder, and the rules of shraddha. Yama's instruction to his messengers to keep away from devotees of Vishnu is here.

4. 4
   Chaturtha Amsha चतुर्थोंऽशः

   Twenty-four adhyayas of dynasties: the Solar line from Manu through Ikshvaku, Mandhata, Sagara, Bhagiratha and Shri Rama, and the Lunar line through Pururavas, Yayati and the Yadavas. It closes with the kings of Magadha in the Kali Yuga, told as what is to come.

5. 5
   Panchama Amsha पञ्चमोंऽशः

   Thirty-eight adhyayas on Shri Krishna, from the plea of the burdened earth to the departure of the Lord and the sinking of Dvaraka. The Vraja leelas, the slaying of Kamsa, Dvaraka's founding and Banasura's defeat are all here. It is among the oldest continuous tellings of Krishna's life in Sanskrit verse.

6. 6
   Shashtha Amsha षष्ठोंऽशः

   Eight adhyayas on the Kali Yuga, the three pralayas, and the sorrows of samsara. Keshidhvaja teaches Khandikya the yoga of knowledge, and Parashara defines the word Bhagavan. The last adhyaya sums up the Purana and its fruit for those who hear it.

Famous verses

तत्कर्म यन्न बन्धाय सा विद्या या विमुक्तये। आयासायापरं कर्म विद्यान्या शिल्पनैपुणम्॥

That is action which does not bind; that is knowledge which sets free. All other action is only toil, and all other learning only a craftsman's skill.Vishnu Purana 1.19.41

असारसंसारविवर्तनेषु मा यात तोषं प्रसभं ब्रवीमि। सर्वत्र दैत्याः समतामुपैत समत्वमाराधनमच्युतस्य॥

Prahlada to the daitya boys: I tell you plainly, take no delight in the turnings of this hollow samsara. Be even-minded toward all, O daityas, for evenness of mind is the worship of Achyuta.Vishnu Purana 1.17.90

उत्तरं यत्समुद्रस्य हिमाद्रेश्चैव दक्षिणम्। वर्षं तद्भारतं नाम भारती यत्र सन्ततिः॥

The land that lies north of the ocean and south of the snowy mountains is called Bharata, and there dwell the descendants of Bharata.Vishnu Purana 2.3.1

गायन्ति देवाः किल गीतकानि धन्यास्तु ते भारतभूमिभागे। स्वर्गापवर्गास्पदमार्गभूते भवन्ति भूयः पुरुषाः सुरत्वात्॥

The devas themselves sing this song: blessed are those who, after being devas, are born again as men in the land of Bharata, which is the road to svarga and to moksha.Vishnu Purana 2.3.24 (GRETIL / Venkateshvara ed.)

ऐश्वर्यस्य समग्रस्य वीर्यस्य यशसः श्रियः। ज्ञानवैराग्ययोश्चैव षण्णां भग इतीरणा॥

Complete sovereignty, valour, fame, Shri, knowledge and detachment: these six together are called bhaga, and the one who possesses them is Bhagavan.Vishnu Purana 6.5.74