Text 27
atrāpy udāharantīmam
itihāsaṁ purātanam
yamasya preta-bandhūnāṁ
saṁvādaṁ taṁ nibodhata
atra — in this connection; api — indeed; udāharanti — they cite; imam — this; itihāsam — history; purātanam — very old; yamasya — of Yamarāja, the superintendent of death, who gives judgment after death; preta-bandhūnām — of the friends of a dead man; saṁvādam — discussion; tam — that; nibodhata — try to understand.
In this regard, an example is given from an old history. This involves a discourse between Yamarāja and the friends of a dead person. Please hear it attentively.
The words itihāsaṁ purātanam mean “an old history.” The Purāṇas are not chronologically recorded, but the incidents mentioned in the Purāṇas are actual histories of bygone ages. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the Mahā-purāṇa, the essence of all the Purāṇas. The Māyāvādī scholars do not accept the Purāṇas, but Śrīla Madhvācārya and all other authorities accept them as the authoritative histories of the world.