vyāsa uvāca iti bruvāṇaṁ saṁstūya munīnāṁ dīrgha-satriṇām vṛddhaḥ kula-patiḥ sūtaṁ bahvṛcaḥ śaunako ’bravīt
Universal Translation
Vyāsadeva said: On hearing Sūta Gosvāmī speak thus, Śaunaka Muni, who was the elderly, learned leader of all the ṛṣis engaged in that prolonged sacrificial ceremony, congratulated Sūta Gosvāmī by addressing him as follows.
śaunaka uvāca sūta sūta mahā-bhāga vada no vadatāṁ vara kathāṁ bhāgavatīṁ puṇyāṁ yad āha bhagavāñ chukaḥ
Universal Translation
Śaunaka said: O Sūta Gosvāmī, you are the most fortunate and respected of all those who can speak and recite. Please relate the pious message of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which was spoken by the great and powerful sage Śukadeva Gosvāmī.
kasmin yuge pravṛtteyaṁ sthāne vā kena hetunā kutaḥ sañcoditaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ kṛtavān saṁhitāṁ muniḥ
Universal Translation
In what period and at what place was this first begun, and why was this taken up? From where did Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Vyāsa, the great sage, get the inspiration to compile this literature?
tasya putro mahā-yogī sama-dṛṅ nirvikalpakaḥ ekānta-matir unnidro gūḍho mūḍha iveyate
Universal Translation
His [Vyāsadeva’s] son was a great devotee, an equibalanced monist, whose mind was always concentrated in monism. He was transcendental to mundane activities, but being unexposed, he appeared like an ignorant person.
dṛṣṭvānuyāntam ṛṣim ātmajam apy anagnaṁ devyo hriyā paridadhur na sutasya citram tad vīkṣya pṛcchati munau jagadus tavāsti strī-pum-bhidā na tu sutasya vivikta-dṛṣṭeḥ
Universal Translation
While Śrī Vyāsadeva was following his son, beautiful young damsels who were bathing naked covered their bodies with cloth, although Śrī Vyāsadeva himself was not naked. But they had not done so when his son had passed. The sage inquired about this, and the young ladies replied that his son was purified and when looking at them made no distinction between male and female. But the sage made such distinctions.
katham ālakṣitaḥ pauraiḥ samprāptaḥ kuru-jāṅgalān unmatta-mūka-jaḍavad vicaran gaja-sāhvaye
Universal Translation
How was he [Śrīla Śukadeva, the son of Vyāsa] recognized by the citizens when he entered the city of Hastināpura [now Delhi], after wandering in the provinces of Kuru and Jāṅgala, appearing like a madman, dumb and retarded?
kathaṁ vā pāṇḍaveyasya rājarṣer muninā saha saṁvādaḥ samabhūt tāta yatraiṣā sātvatī śrutiḥ
Universal Translation
How did it so happen that King Parīkṣit met this great sage, making it possible for this great transcendental essence of the Vedas [Bhāgavatam] to be sung to him?
sa go-dohana-mātraṁ hi gṛheṣu gṛha-medhinām avekṣate mahā-bhāgas tīrthī-kurvaṁs tad āśramam
Universal Translation
He [Śukadeva Gosvāmī] was accustomed to stay at the door of a householder only long enough for a cow to be milked. And he did this just to sanctify the residence.
abhimanyu-sutaṁ sūta prāhur bhāgavatottamam tasya janma mahāścaryaṁ karmāṇi ca gṛṇīhi naḥ
Universal Translation
It is said that Mahārāja Parīkṣit is a great first-class devotee of the Lord and that his birth and activities are all wonderful. Please tell us about him.
sa samrāṭ kasya vā hetoḥ pāṇḍūnāṁ māna-vardhanaḥ prāyopaviṣṭo gaṅgāyām anādṛtyādhirāṭ-śriyam
Universal Translation
He was a great emperor and possessed all the opulences of his acquired kingdom. He was so exalted that he was increasing the prestige of the Pāṇḍu dynasty. Why did he give up everything to sit down on the bank of the Ganges and fast until death?
namanti yat-pāda-niketam ātmanaḥ śivāya hānīya dhanāni śatravaḥ kathaṁ sa vīraḥ śriyam aṅga dustyajāṁ yuvaiṣatotsraṣṭum aho sahāsubhiḥ
Universal Translation
He was such a great emperor that all his enemies would come and bow down at his feet and surrender all their wealth for their own benefit. He was full of youth and strength, and he possessed kingly opulences that were difficult to give up. Why did he want to give up everything, including his life?
śivāya lokasya bhavāya bhūtaye ya uttama-śloka-parāyaṇā janāḥ jīvanti nātmārtham asau parāśrayaṁ mumoca nirvidya kutaḥ kalevaram
Universal Translation
Those who are devoted to the cause of the Personality of Godhead live only for the welfare, development and happiness of others. They do not live for any selfish interest. So even though the Emperor [Parīkṣit] was free from all attachment to worldly possessions, how could he give up his mortal body, which was the shelter for others?
tat sarvaṁ naḥ samācakṣva pṛṣṭo yad iha kiñcana manye tvāṁ viṣaye vācāṁ snātam anyatra chāndasāt
Universal Translation
We know that you are expert in the meaning of all subjects, except some portions of the Vedas, and thus you can clearly explain the answers to all the questions we have just put to you.
sūta uvāca dvāpare samanuprāpte tṛtīye yuga-paryaye jātaḥ parāśarād yogī vāsavyāṁ kalayā hareḥ
Universal Translation
Sūta Gosvāmī said: When the second millennium overlapped the third, the great sage [Vyāsadeva] was born to Parāśara in the womb of Satyavatī, the daughter of Vasu.
sa kadācit sarasvatyā upaspṛśya jalaṁ śuciḥ vivikta eka āsīna udite ravi-maṇḍale
Universal Translation
Once upon a time he [Vyāsadeva], as the sun rose, took his morning ablution in the waters of the Sarasvatī and sat alone to concentrate.
parāvara-jñaḥ sa ṛṣiḥ kālenāvyakta-raṁhasā yuga-dharma-vyatikaraṁ prāptaṁ bhuvi yuge yuge
Universal Translation
The great sage Vyāsadeva saw anomalies in the duties of the millennium. This happens on the earth in different ages, due to the unseen force of time.
cātur-hotraṁ karma śuddhaṁ prajānāṁ vīkṣya vaidikam vyadadhād yajña-santatyai vedam ekaṁ catur-vidham
Universal Translation
He saw that the sacrifices mentioned in the Vedas were means by which the people’s occupations could be purified. And to simplify the process he divided the one Veda into four, in order to expand them among men.
ṛg-yajuḥ-sāmātharvākhyā vedāś catvāra uddhṛtāḥ itihāsa-purāṇaṁ ca pañcamo veda ucyate
Universal Translation
The four divisions of the original sources of knowledge [the Vedas] were made separately. But the historical facts and authentic stories mentioned in the Purāṇas are called the fifth Veda.
tatrarg-veda-dharaḥ pailaḥ sāmago jaiminiḥ kaviḥ vaiśampāyana evaiko niṣṇāto yajuṣām uta
Universal Translation
After the Vedas were divided into four divisions, Paila Ṛṣi became the professor of the Ṛg Veda, Jaimini the professor of the Sāma Veda, and Vaiśampāyana alone became glorified by the Yajur Veda.
atharvāṅgirasām āsīt sumantur dāruṇo muniḥ itihāsa-purāṇānāṁ pitā me romaharṣaṇaḥ
Universal Translation
The Sumantu Muni Aṅgirā, who was very devotedly engaged, was entrusted with the Atharva Veda. And my father, Romaharṣaṇa, was entrusted with the Purāṇas and historical records.
ta eta ṛṣayo vedaṁ svaṁ svaṁ vyasyann anekadhā śiṣyaiḥ praśiṣyais tac-chiṣyair vedās te śākhino ’bhavan
Universal Translation
All these learned scholars, in their turn, rendered their entrusted Vedas unto their many disciples, granddisciples and great-granddisciples, and thus the respective branches of the followers of the Vedas came into being.
ta eva vedā durmedhair dhāryante puruṣair yathā evaṁ cakāra bhagavān vyāsaḥ kṛpaṇa-vatsalaḥ
Universal Translation
Thus the great sage Vyāsadeva, who is very kind to the ignorant masses, edited the Vedas so they might be assimilated by less intellectual men.
strī-śūdra-dvijabandhūnāṁ trayī na śruti-gocarā karma-śreyasi mūḍhānāṁ śreya evaṁ bhaved iha iti bhāratam ākhyānaṁ kṛpayā muninā kṛtam
Universal Translation
Out of compassion, the great sage thought it wise that this would enable men to achieve the ultimate goal of life. Thus he compiled the great historical narration called the Mahābhārata for women, laborers and friends of the twice-born.
evaṁ pravṛttasya sadā bhūtānāṁ śreyasi dvijāḥ sarvātmakenāpi yadā nātuṣyad dhṛdayaṁ tataḥ
Universal Translation
O twice-born brāhmaṇas, still his mind was not satisfied, although he engaged himself in working for the total welfare of all people.
nātiprasīdad-dhṛdayaḥ sarasvatyās taṭe śucau vitarkayan vivikta-stha idaṁ covāca dharma-vit
Universal Translation
Thus the sage, being dissatisfied at heart, at once began to reflect, because he knew the essence of religion, and he said within himself:
tathāpi bata me daihyo hy ātmā caivātmanā vibhuḥ asampanna ivābhāti brahma-varcasya sattamaḥ
Universal Translation
I am feeling incomplete, though I myself am fully equipped with everything required by the Vedas.
kiṁ vā bhāgavatā dharmā na prāyeṇa nirūpitāḥ priyāḥ paramahaṁsānāṁ ta eva hy acyuta-priyāḥ
Universal Translation
This may be because I did not specifically point out the devotional service of the Lord, which is dear both to perfect beings and to the infallible Lord.
tasyaivaṁ khilam ātmānaṁ manyamānasya khidyataḥ kṛṣṇasya nārado ’bhyāgād āśramaṁ prāg udāhṛtam
Universal Translation
As mentioned before, Nārada reached the cottage of Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Vyāsa on the banks of the Sarasvatī just as Vyāsadeva was regretting his defects.
tam abhijñāya sahasā pratyutthāyāgataṁ muniḥ pūjayām āsa vidhivan nāradaṁ sura-pūjitam
Universal Translation
At the auspicious arrival of Śrī Nārada, Śrī Vyāsadeva got up respectfully and worshiped him, giving him veneration equal to that given to Brahmājī, the creator.