SB 3.12.39 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

इतिहासपुराणानि पञ्चमं वेदमीश्वर: । सर्वेभ्य एव वक्त्रेभ्य: ससृजे सर्वदर्शन: ॥ ३९ ॥

Verse text

itihāsa-purāṇāni paṣcamaṁ vedam īśvaraḥ sarvebhya eva vaktrebhyaḥ sasṛje sarva-darśanaḥ

Synonyms

itihāsa — histories ; purāṇāni — the Purāṇas (supplementary Vedas) ; paṣcamam — the fifth ; vedam — the Vedic literature ; īśvaraḥ — the Lord ; sarvebhyaḥ — all together ; eva — certainly ; vaktrebhyaḥ — from his mouths ; sasṛje — created ; sarva — all around ; darśanaḥ — one who can see all time.

Translation

Then he created the fifth Veda — the Purāṇas and the histories — from all his mouths, since he could see all the past, present and future.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Brahmā, who has faces in all directions, created the fifth Veda composed of the Purāṇas and Itihāsas from all of his mouths. The fifth Veda came from all his mouths, since the fifth Veda embodies all the Vedas.

Purport

There are histories of particular countries and nations and of the world, but the Purāṇas are the histories of the universe, not only in one millennium but in many kalpas. Brahmā has knowledge of those historical facts, and therefore all the Purāṇas are histories. As originally composed by Brahmā, they are part of the Vedas and are called the fifth Veda.