Shloka 103

Pracetās, Māriṣā, Dakṣa’s Re-manifestation, and the Brahma-parastava; Cyclic Creation and Genealogies

Devanagari script

ददौ स दश धर्माय कश्यपाय त्रयोदश सप्तविंशति सोमाय चतस्रो ऽरिष्टनेमिने

Transliteration

dadau sa daśa dharmāya kaśyapāya trayodaśa saptaviṃśati somāya catasro 'riṣṭanemine

Translation

Er gab zehn (Töchter) an Dharma, dreizehn an Kaśyapa, siebenundzwanzig an Soma und vier an Ariṣṭanemi.

Word by Word

• ददौ: gave
• ददौ: Kriya (Main verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √दा (धातु)
• Form: लिट्-लकार (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• सः: he (Dakṣa)
• सः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nom.), एकवचन

• दश: ten
• दश: Karma (Count of object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दशन् (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् संख्याशब्दः; (स्त्रीलिङ्ग-बहुवचन-प्रमाणे) ‘कन्याः’ इत्यनुवृत्त्या संख्या

• धर्माय: to Dharma
• धर्माय: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: धर्म (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (Dative), एकवचन

• कश्यपाय: to Kaśyapa
• कश्यपाय: Sampradana (Recipient)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कश्यप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (Dative), एकवचन

• त्रयोदश: thirteen
• त्रयोदश: Karma (Count of object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: त्रयोदशन् (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: संख्याशब्दः (13); ‘कन्याः’ इत्यनुवृत्त्या संख्या

• सप्तविंशति: twenty-seven
• सप्तविंशति: Karma (Count of object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सप्तविंशति (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: संख्याशब्दः (27); ‘कन्याः’ इत्यनुवृत्त्या संख्या

• सोमाय: to Soma (Moon)
• सोमाय: Sampradana (Recipient)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सोम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (Dative), एकवचन

• चतस्रः: four
• चतस्रः: Karma (Count of object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: चतस्ृ (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nom.), बहुवचन; ‘कन्याः’ इत्यनुवृत्त्या संख्या

• अरिष्टनेमिने: to Ariṣṭanemi
• अरिष्टनेमिने: Sampradana (Recipient)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अरिष्टनेमि (प्रातिपदिक: अरिष्ट + नेमि)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी (Dative), एकवचन

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (speaking to Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: How Dakṣa’s daughters become channels for cosmic populations and time-order.

Teaching: Cosmological

Quality: revealing

Cosmological Context

Creation Stage: Secondary

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Cosmic order (dharma), living lineages, and the measurement of time (through Soma’s wives as nakṣatras) proceed through divinely structured relationships.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Honor time-discipline and ethical order as sacred structures; align daily life with rhythms (vrata, calendar, duty) rather than impulse.

Vishishtadvaita: Multiplicity (wives, lineages, time-divisions) is real and meaningful as the Lord’s ordered body (śarīra) under His sovereignty.

Dynasty & Genealogy

Dharma Exemplar: Dharma (as personified righteousness)

Key Kings: Dakṣa, Dharma, Kaśyapa, Soma, Ariṣṭanemi

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman

Jagat Karana: Yes

Characters & Entities

• Dharma
• Kaśyapa
• Soma (Chandra)
• Ariṣṭanemi
• Viṣṇu

FAQs

What is the significance of Soma receiving twenty-seven wives in the Vishnu Purana?

The twenty-seven refer to the Nakṣatras (lunar mansions), linking Soma (the Moon) to the measurement of time and ritual-calendar order—time itself functioning within Viṣṇu’s overarching cosmic rule.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the spread of creation through these marriages?

Parāśara presents creation as structured through sanctioned lineages: Dharma embodies order, Kaśyapa becomes a prolific progenitor of many classes of beings, and Soma governs cyclical time—together forming a coherent cosmic system.

What is the theological importance of Lord Viṣṇu in this genealogical context?

Even when the verse lists human-divine allocations, the Purāṇic frame treats these lineages as instruments of Viṣṇu’s supreme reality—His sovereignty sustaining both moral order (dharma) and cosmological continuity.