Devanagari
पुराणसङ्ख्यासम्भूतिमस्य वाच्यप्रयोजने ।
दानं दानस्य माहात्म्यं पाठादेश्च निबोधत ॥ ३ ॥
Verse text
purāṇa-saṅkhyā-sambhūtim
asya vācya-prayojane
dānaṁ dānasya māhātmyaṁ
pāṭhādeś ca nibodhata
Synonyms
purāṇa
—
of the Purāṇas
;
saṅkhyā
—
of the counting (of verses)
;
sambhūtim
—
the summation
;
asya
—
of this Bhāgavatam
;
vācya
—
the subject matter
;
prayojane
—
and the purpose
;
dānam
—
the method of giving as a gift
;
dānasya
—
of such gift-giving
;
māhātmyam
—
the glories
;
pāṭha
—
ādeḥ — of teaching and so on
;
ca
—
and
;
nibodhata
—
please hear .
Translation
Now please hear a summation of the verse length of each of the Purāṇas. Then hear of the prime subject and purpose of this Bhāgavata Purāṇa, the proper method of giving it as a gift, the glories of such gift-giving, and finally the glories of hearing and chanting this literature.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Now please hear a summation of the length of each Purāṇa according to the number of verses, and as well hear the subject and purpose of this Bhāgavata Purāṇa, the proper method of giving it as a gift, the glories of giving it, and finally the glories of hearing and chanting this literature.
Just as the various rulers who come before the emperor of the world to praise him should be counted, so the various Mahā-purāṇas should be counted in the presence of the emperor among Mahā-purāṇas. Sambhūtim means manifestation. Please hear the manifested number of Purāṇas and also Bhāgavatam’s subject and purpose.
Purport
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
is the best of all
Purāṇas.
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura explains that the other
Purāṇas
will now be mentioned just as the assistants of a king are mentioned in connection with his glorification.