Text 37
maitreya uvāca
ṛg-yajuḥ-sāmātharvākhyān
vedān pūrvādibhir mukhaiḥ
śāstram ijyāṁ stuti-stomaṁ
prāyaścittaṁ vyadhāt kramāt
maitreyaḥ uvāca — Maitreya said; ṛk-yajuḥ-sāma-atharva — the four Vedas; ākhyān — of the name; vedān — Vedic literatures; pūrva-ādibhiḥ — beginning with the front; mukhaiḥ — by the mouths; śāstram — Vedic hymns not pronounced before; ijyām — priestly rituals; stuti-stomam — the subject matter of the reciters; prāyaścittam — transcendental activities; vyadhāt — established; kramāt — one after another.
Maitreya said: Beginning from the front face of Brahmā, gradually the four Vedas — Ṛk, Yajur, Sāma and Atharva — became manifest. Thereafter, Vedic hymns which had not been pronounced before, priestly rituals, the subject matters of the recitation, and transcendental activities were all established, one after another.