Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 26
The Narration of the Brāhma Purāṇa’s Account
Brāhma Purāṇānukramaṇikā
अस्त्येव तस्य सारस्तु चतुर्लक्षेण वर्ण्यते । ब्राह्मं पाद्मं वैष्णवं च वायवीयं तथैव च ॥ २६ ॥
astyeva tasya sārastu caturlakṣeṇa varṇyate | brāhmaṃ pādmaṃ vaiṣṇavaṃ ca vāyavīyaṃ tathaiva ca || 26 ||
En vérité, il en existe aussi l’essence condensée, décrite selon la mesure de quatre lakṣa : le Brāhma, le Pādma, le Vaiṣṇava et, de même, le Vāyavīya.
Narada
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: shanta (peace)
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta (wonder)
FAQs
It frames Purāṇic literature as having a recognized “essence” and organized transmission, pointing seekers to authoritative streams (Brāhma, Pādma, Vaiṣṇava, Vāyavīya) for dharma, devotion, and sacred history.
By explicitly naming the Vaiṣṇava tradition among the core summaries, it signals that Viṣṇu-centered devotion is a principal and sanctioned current within the Purāṇic corpus used for teaching bhakti and dharma.
The verse reflects anukramaṇikā-style cataloging—text classification and quantitative tradition (verse-counts)—a practical scholastic method used to organize scriptural study and transmission.