sargo 'syÄtha visargaÅ› ca
vá¹›tti-raká¹£ÄntarÄṇi ca
vamÅ›o vamÅ›ÄnucarÄ«taá¹
saá¹sthÄ hetur apÄÅ›rayaḥ
daÅ›abhir laká¹£aṇair yuktaá¹
purÄṇaá¹ tad-vido viduḥ
kecit pañca-vidhaṠbrahman
mahad-alpa-vyavasthayÄ
sargaḥ - the creation; asya - of this universe; atha - then; visargaḥ - the secondary creation; ca - and; vá¹›tti - maintenance; raká¹£Ä - protection by sustenance; antarÄṇi - the reigns of the Manus; ca - and; vamÅ›aḥ - the dynasties of great kings; vamÅ›a-anucaritam - the narrations of their activities; saá¹sthÄ - the annihilation; hetuḥ - the motivation (for the living entities' involvement in material activities); apÄÅ›rayaḥ - the supreme shelter; daÅ›abhiḥ - with the ten; laká¹£aṇaiḥ - characteristics; yuktam - endowed; purÄṇam - a PurÄṇa; tat - of this matter; vidaḥ - those who know; viduḥ - they know; kecit - some authorities; pañca-vidham - fivefold; brahman - O brÄhmaṇa; mahat - of great; alpa - and lesser; vyavasthayÄ - according to the distinction.
O brÄhmaṇa, authorities on the matter understand a PurÄṇa to contain ten characteristic topics: the creation of this universe, the subsequent creation of worlds and beings, the maintenance of all living beings, their sustenance, the rule of various Manus, the dynasties of great kings, the activities of such kings, annihilation, motivation and the supreme shelter. Other scholars state that the great PurÄṇas deal with these ten topics, while lesser PurÄṇas may deal with five.
The ten subjects of a great PurÄṇa are also described in the Second Canto of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam (2.10.1):
atra sargo visargaÅ› ca
sthÄnaá¹ poá¹£aṇam Å«tayaḥ
manvantareÅ›ÄnukathÄ
nirodho muktir ÄÅ›rayaḥ
“ŚrÄ« Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« said: In the ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam there are ten divisions of statements regarding the following: the creation of the universe, subcreation, planetary systems, protection by the Lord, the creative impetus, the change of Manus, the science of God, returning home (back to Godhead), liberation and the summum bonum.â€
According to ÅšrÄ«la JÄ«va GosvÄmÄ«, PurÄṇas such as ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam deal with these ten topics, whereas lesser PurÄṇas deal with only five. As stated in Vedic literature:
sargaÅ› ca pratisargaÅ› ca
vaá¹Å›o manvantarÄṇi ca
vaá¹Å›Änucaritaá¹ ceti
purÄṇaá¹ pañca-laká¹£aṇam
“Creation, secondary creation, the dynasties of kings, the reigns of Manus and the activities of various dynasties are the five characteristics of a PurÄṇa.†PurÄṇas covering five categories of knowledge are understood to be secondary PurÄṇic literature.
ÅšrÄ«la JÄ«va GosvÄmÄ« has explained that the ten principal topics of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam are found within each of the twelve cantos. One should not try to assign each of the ten topics to a particular canto. Nor should the ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam be artificially interpreted to show that it deals with the topics successively. The simple fact is that all aspects of knowledge important to human beings, summarized in the ten categories mentioned above, are described with various degrees of emphasis and analysis throughout the ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam.
