PURPORT

The words itihasam puratanam mean "an old history." The Puranas are not chronologically recorded, but the incidents mentioned in the Puranas are actual histories of bygone ages. Srimad-Bhagavatam is the Maha-purana, the essence of all the Puranas. The Mayavadi scholars do not accept the Puranas, but Srila Madhvacarya and all other authorities accept them as the authoritative histories of the world.