proktaṁ kilaitad bhagavattamena
proktaṁ kilaitad bhagavattamena
nivṛtti-dharmābhiratāya tena
sanat-kumārāya sa cāha pṛṣṭaḥ
sāṅkhyāyanāyāṅga dhṛta-vratāya
The Lord spoke this Bhāgavatam to Sanat-kumāra, who was engaged in pure bhakti. Sanat-kumāra spoke it to the sage named Sāṅkhyāyana, engaged in determined vows.
This was spoken by Saṅkārṣaṇa (bhagavattamena) to Sanat-kumāra. Bhagavattama has the same meaning as bhagavān. Or bhagvattama can mean “the best of the devotees who have knowledge concerning the creation of the universe.”
|| 3.8.8 ||
sāṅkhyāyanaḥ pāramahaṁsya-mukhyo
vivakṣamāṇo bhagavad-vibhūtīḥ
jagāda so ’smad-gurave ’nvitāya
parāśarāyātha bṛhaspateś ca
The best of the paramahaṁsas, Sāṅkhyāyana, desiring to describe the Lord’s powers, spoke this Bhāgavatam to our guru Parāśara who was obedient to him, and to Bṛhaspati as well.
Bṛhaspateḥ stands for bṛhaspataye.
|| 3.8.9 ||
provāca mahyaṁ sa dayālur ukto
muniḥ pulastyena purāṇam ādyam
so ’haṁ tavaitat kathayāmi vatsa
śraddhālave nityam anuvratāya
Merciful Parāśara, blessed by Pulasya, spoke this foremost Purāṇa to me. I now speak this Purāṇa to you, who are faithful and always obedient.
Hearing that his father had been eaten by demons, Parāśara performed a sacrifice to kill all the demons. Vaśiṣṭa advised him to stop the sacrifice. Pulastya, whose offspring were thus saved,[233] gave him a blessing, “You will become the speaker of Purāṇas.”
|| 3.8.10 ||
udāplutaṁ viśvam idaṁ tadāsīd
yan nidrayāmīlita-dṛṅ nyamīlayat
ahīndra-talpe ’dhiśayāna ekaḥ
kṛta-kṣaṇaḥ svātma-ratau nirīhaḥ
The universe lay in the water of devastation when Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, full of his cit-śakti, with Śeṣa as his bed, enjoying with his svarūpa-śakti and having given up glancing at māyā, lay with his eyes closed.
Having showed how the Bhāgavatam started from Saṅkarṣaṇa, Maitreya now begins the story. The universe remained submerged in one body of water when Nārāyaṇa, Garbhodakaśāyī, whose eyes do not close (amīlita-dṛk), since his cit-ṣakti was very active, had his eye s closed at the time of periodic destruction (the night of Brahmā). He was enjoying with his svarūpa-śakti (svātma-ratau), having given up glancing at māyā (nirīhaḥ). Talpe stands for talpaḥ (who has a snake bed).
|| 3.8.11 ||
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