Shloka 22
सामवेद–अथर्ववेदशाखाः, पुराणसंहिता, अष्टादशपुराणानि, विद्यास्थानानि
Sāma/Atharvan branches, Purāṇa compendium, 18 Purāṇas, knowledge taxonomy
आग्नेयम् अष्टमं चैव भविष्यं नवमं तथा दशमं ब्रह्मवैवर्तं लैङ्गम् एकादशं स्मृतम्
āgneyam aṣṭamaṃ caiva bhaviṣyaṃ navamaṃ tathā daśamaṃ brahmavaivartaṃ laiṅgam ekādaśaṃ smṛtam
The Āgneya is remembered as the eighth; the Bhaviṣya as the ninth; the Brahmavaivarta as the tenth; and the Laiṅga (Liṅga) is recalled as the eleventh.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Continuation of Purāṇa enumeration and ordering
Teaching: Historical
Quality: authoritative
FAQs
This verse helps establish a traditional ordering of Purāṇic texts, presenting them as remembered authorities within the broader framework of dharma and cosmic order taught by Parāśara.
He transmits an inherited enumeration—“smṛtam” (remembered/recognized)—indicating a received canon rather than a personal invention, while instructing Maitreya in an organized map of sacred literature.
Even when discussing textual classifications, the Vishnu Purana frames knowledge as serving the comprehension of universal order ultimately grounded in the Supreme Reality—Vishnu—as the sustaining principle behind dharma and tradition.