Srimad Bhagavatam — Shashtha Skandha, Shloka 25
Dakṣa’s Daughters, Cosmic Lineages, and the Population of the Three Worlds
पुन: प्रसाद्य तं सोम: कला लेभे क्षये दिता: । शृणु नामानि लोकानां मातृणां शङ्कराणि च ॥ २४ ॥ अथ कश्यपपत्नीनां यत्प्रसूतमिदं जगत् । अदितिर्दितिर्दनु: काष्ठा अरिष्टा सुरसा इला ॥ २५ ॥ मुनि: क्रोधवशा ताम्रा सुरभि: सरमा तिमि: । तिमेर्यादोगणा आसन् श्वापदा: सरमासुता: ॥ २६ ॥
punaḥ prasādya taṁ somaḥ kalā lebhe kṣaye ditāḥ śṛṇu nāmāni lokānāṁ mātṝṇāṁ śaṅkarāṇi ca
Thereafter the King of the moon pacified Prajāpati Dakṣa with courteous words and thus regained the portions of light he had lost during his disease. Nevertheless he could not beget children. The moon loses his shining power during the dark fortnight, and in the bright fortnight it is manifest again. O King Parīkṣit, now please hear from me the names of Kaśyapa’s wives, from whose wombs the population of the entire universe has come. They are the mothers of almost all the population of the entire universe, and their names are very auspicious to hear. They are Aditi, Diti, Danu, Kāṣṭhā, Ariṣṭā, Surasā, Ilā, Muni, Krodhavaśā, Tāmrā, Surabhi, Saramā and Timi. From the womb of Timi all the aquatics took birth, and from the womb of Saramā the ferocious animals like the tigers and lions took birth.
FAQs
The verse lists Aditi, Diti, Danu, Kāṣṭhā, Ariṣṭā, Surasā, and Ilā as wives of Kaśyapa connected with populating the world.
He is presenting the cosmic genealogy—how various classes of beings arise—within the broader narration of Dakṣa’s daughters and the expansion of creation.
It encourages seeing life within a sacred, ordered cosmos—cultivating humility and dharmic responsibility rather than a random view of existence.