Garudapurana 1.1

Om. Unborn, unaging, endless, whose nature is consciousness, great, benevolent, stainless, beginningless, devoid of material body and the like,
devoid of all sense organs, abiding in all beings—that one, stainless, illusion-free, omnipresent Hari, I praise.

I always bow to Hari, Rudra, Brahmā, and Gaṇādhipa,
and also to the goddess Sarasvatī, in mind, speech, and action.

To the Sūta, versed in the Purāṇas, calm, skilled in all scriptures,
a devotee of Viṣṇu, high-souled, who had arrived at the Naimiṣa Forest,

seated on an auspicious seat in the course of a pilgrimage,
meditating on sinless Viṣṇu—having worshipped him, the wise sage, they praised him:

Śaunaka and the other exalted [sages] of the Naimiṣa Forest, whose wealth was asceticism,
sages resplendent like the sun, tranquil, devoted to sacrifice.

The sages said:
O Sūta! You know everything; therefore we ask you:
who indeed is the God of gods, the Lord, and who alone is to be worshipped?

Who is to be meditated upon? Who created the universe? And who protects and destroys the universe?
From whom does dharma proceed, and who is known as the slayer of the wicked?

What is the form of that God? How is the creation of the universe conceived?
By which religious observances is he pleased, or by what yoga is he attained?

And what are his incarnations? How did lineages and the like originate?
Who is the protector and who is the proclaimer of the duties of castes and life-stages?

Tell us all this and other matters as well, O Sūta of great intellect!
Tell us all the supreme stories of Nārāyaṇa.

Sūta said:
I shall proclaim the Garuḍa Purāṇa, the essence centered on tales of Viṣṇu,
spoken by Garuḍa to Kaśyapa, which was heard by me formerly from Vyāsa.

One is the God Nārāyaṇa, the Lord of lords among the gods,
the Supreme Self, the supreme Brahman, from whom the origin and so forth of this [universe] proceed.

For the protection of the universe, Vāsudeva, unaging and immortal,
unborn, takes incarnations in the form of the Kumāras and others.

First, that divine Hari, adopting the creation of the Kumāras,
practised unbroken celibate studenthood, difficult to perform, O brāhmaṇa.

Second, for the welfare of this [world], desiring to raise up the earth
that had sunk into Rasātala, the Lord of sacrifice assumed the Boar incarnation.

Third, in the creation of sages, having attained the status of a divine sage,
he proclaimed the Sātvata scripture, whence arises actionlessness from actions.

In the fourth [incarnation], Hari, having become Nara-Nārāyaṇa, performed penance
for the protection of dharma, worshipped by gods and asuras.

The fifth, named Kapila, lord of the perfected ones, proclaimed to Āsuri the Sāṅkhya,
which had been lost over time, determining the aggregate of principles.

Sixth, having attained sonship to Atri through Anasūyā as Datta,
he taught rational inquiry to Alarka, Prahlāda, and others.

Then, seventh, Yajña was born to Ruci by Ākūti,
having sacrificed along with the host of gods headed by Sutrāman in the Svāyambhuva period.

In the eighth, Uruskrama was born to Nābhi by Merudevī,
showing the path honoured by all stages of life to men.

Entreated by the sages, he took his ninth, royal body;
by him the subjects were revived through potent medicinal herbs that were milked [from the earth], O brāhmaṇas.

He assumed the Fish incarnation at the inundation of the Cākṣuṣa period,
and having placed Vaivasvata Manu on a boat made of earth, he protected him.

As gods and asuras churned the ocean with Mount Mandara,
the omnipresent Lord bore it upon his back in the eleventh, the Tortoise incarnation.

The twelfth was the Dhanvantari incarnation, and the thirteenth likewise;
he nourished the gods while bewitching the others with Mohinī, a woman's form.

In the fourteenth, the Nārasiṃha [incarnation], he tore apart the powerful king of the Daityas
with his fierce claws, as a mat-weaver tears a reed.

In the fifteenth, having become a dwarf (Vāmana), he went to the sacrifice of Bali,
begging for three paces of land, wishing to recover heaven.

In the sixteenth incarnation, seeing kings who were enemies of brāhmaṇas,
enraged, he cleared the earth of kṣatriyas thrice seven times.

Then, in the seventeenth, born to Satyavatī from Parāśara,
he made branches of the tree of the Veda, seeing that men were of small intellect.

Having attained human kingship with the desire to accomplish the work of the gods,
he performed deeds such as subduing the ocean thereafter.

In the nineteenth and twentieth, having taken birth among the Vṛṣṇis
as Rāma and Kṛṣṇa, the Lord removed the burden of the earth.

Then, at the close of the twilight of the Kali age, to delude the enemies of the gods,
he will be born among the Kīkaṭas under the name of Buddha, son of Jina.

Thereafter, in the eighth twilight, when kings have practically perished,
the Lord of the universe will be born from Viṣṇuyaśas under the name of Kalkin.

Countless indeed are the incarnations of Hari, the storehouse of sattva, O twice-born ones;
the Manus, knowers of the Veda, and others are all considered portions of Viṣṇu.

From him the creation and other processes arose, and he is to be worshipped by religious observances and the like.
This Garuḍa Purāṇa Vyāsa told me formerly.

Thus ends the first chapter, named 'The Exposition of the Reason for the Origin of this Purāṇa', in the ritual section called the first division of the first section in the glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa.