maitreyaḥ uvāca - Maitreya said; ṛk-yajuḥ-sāma-atharva - the four Vedas; ākhyān - of the name; vedān - Vedic literatures; pūrva-ādibhiḥ - beginning with the front; mukhaiḥ - by the mouths; śāstram - Vedic hymns not pronounced before; ijyām - priestly rituals; stuti-stomam - the subject matter of the reciters; prāyaścittam - transcendental activities; vyadhāt - established; kramāt - one after another.

Maitreya said: Beginning from the front face of Brahmā, gradually the four Vedas — Ṛk, Yajur, Sāma and Atharva — became manifest. Thereafter, Vedic hymns which had not been pronounced before, priestly rituals, the subject matters of the recitation, and transcendental activities were all established, one after another.