Vishnu Purana

Aṃśa 1 — Creation

प्रथमोऽंशः

Maitreya questions Parāśara. Origin of the universe from Viṣṇu; the cosmic egg; the four-faced Brahmā; Dakṣa and his daughters; the Varāha avatāra lifting the earth from the cosmic waters; the legend of Dhruva.

1497 verses

Aṃśa 2 — Cosmology and Geography

द्वितीयोऽंशः

The seven dvīpas, the Mount Meru system, Bhāratavarṣa; the seven nether worlds; the heavens; the sun-chariot and its movement; Bharata-rāja and his attainment of liberation by detachment.

806 verses

Aṃśa 3 — Manvantaras and Vedas

तृतीयोऽंशः

The fourteen manvantaras; arrangement of the Vedas by Vyāsa; the four āśramas; śrāddha and the duties of householders; the dialogue of the messenger of Yama with the wicked.

891 verses

Aṃśa 4 — Royal Genealogies

चतुर्थोऽंशः

The solar and lunar dynasties — Ikṣvāku, Māndhātṛ, Sagara, Bhagīratha, Daśaratha and Rāma; Yayāti and the Yādavas leading down to Kṛṣṇa; the future kings of Kali Yuga.

628 verses

Aṃśa 5 — Kṛṣṇa-charita

पञ्चमोऽंशः

The largest aṃśa. The full life of Kṛṣṇa: descent at Mathurā, exchange with Yaśodā in Vraja, the gopīs and the rāsa-līlā, killing of Kaṃsa, removal to Dvārakā, the war with Jarāsandha and Śiśupāla, the marriage to Rukmiṇī, and the slaying of Narakāsura.

1644 verses

Aṃśa 6 — Dissolution and Liberation

षष्ठोऽंशः

The four kinds of pralaya (dissolution); the Kali Yuga and its successive degeneration; the path of mokṣa through bhakti and jñāna; Parāśara concludes with the fruits of hearing the Viṣṇu Purāṇa.

527 verses