purÄṇa-saá¹…khyÄ-sambhÅ«tim
asya vÄcya-prayojane
dÄnaá¹ dÄnasya mÄhÄtmyaá¹
pÄá¹hÄdeÅ› ca nibodhata
purÄṇa - of the PurÄṇas; saá¹…khyÄ - of the counting (of verses); sambhÅ«tim - the summation; asya - of this BhÄgavatam; vÄcya - the subject matter; prayojane - and the purpose; dÄnam - the method of giving as a gift; dÄnasya - of such gift-giving; mÄhÄtmyam - the glories; pÄá¹ha-Ädeḥ - of teaching and so on; ca - and; nibodhata - please hear.
Now please hear a summation of the verse length of each of the PurÄṇas. Then hear of the prime subject and purpose of this BhÄgavata PurÄṇa, 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.
ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam is the best of all PurÄṇas. ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« ṬhÄkura explains that the other PurÄṇas will now be mentioned just as the assistants of a king are mentioned in connection with his glorification.
