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The Matsya Purana earns its title from the fish incarnation of Vishnu, the other nine being- Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, Bharagava Parshurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha and Kalki. The Matsya Purana is not all based totally on the life story of Matsya, but it deals with various other subjects, though in some of the chapters Matsya himself is the speaker.
Matsya Purana contains 291 chapters in total. First among all it describes the dialogues between Manu and the Lord, known as Manusamvada and deals with the following subjects in successive order, viz.,- the history of Brahmanda, the Shariraka Sankhya as explained by Brahma, the origin of Devas and Asuras, as well as Maruts, the observance of Madanadvadashi Vrata, the ways of the worship of the Lokapalas, the description of Manvantaras, the history of king Vena, the birth of Sun and Vaivasvata and the meeting with Budha.
Then it deals with the families of the Manes, the times of performing Shraddha, Pitritirtha Pravasa, the birth of the moon, the history of Yavati, the glory of Svamikartika etc. Then it describes various ordinances, glory of various tirthas and rivers, the movement of sun and moon and their relative positions, the churning of the ocean, worship of the Devas, the characteristics of palaces, pandals and housebuilding, the form of temples, description of gifts, names of Kalpas etc.
The present edition of Matsya Purana is a complete book in 2 vols. that includes Sanskrit text, English translation with Notes, an exhaustive Introduction and complete Index of Verses.
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