Shloka 17
Śukra’s Ultimatum and Devayānī’s Demand (शुक्र-प्रतिज्ञा तथा देवयानी-वर-याचना)
नाभागारिष्टदशमान् मनो: पुत्रान् प्रचक्षते । पज्चाशत् तु मनो: पुत्रास्तथैवान्ये5भवन् क्षितौ,धन्यं यशस्यमायुष्यं कीर्तयिष्यामि तेडनघ । वैशम्पायनजी कहते हैं--निष्पाप जनमेजय! अब मैं दक्ष प्रजापति, वैवस्वत मनु, भरत, कुरु, पूर, अजमीढ, यादव, कौरव तथा भरतवंशियोंकी कुल-परम्पराका तुमसे वर्णन करूँगा। उनका कुल परम पवित्र, महान् मंगलकारी तथा धन, यश और आयुकी प्राप्ति करानेवाला है उनमेंसे ब्राह्मणजातीय मानवोंने छहों अंगोंसहित वेदोंको धारण किया। वेन, धृष्णु, नरिष्यन्त, नाभाग, इक्ष्वाकु, कारूष, शर्याति, आठवीं इला, नवें क्षत्रिय-धर्मपरायण पृषपध्र तथा दसवें नाभागारिष्ट--इन दसोंको मनुपुत्र कहा जाता है। मनुके इस पृथ्वीपर पचास पुत्र और हुए
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
nābhāgāriṣṭa-daśamān manoḥ putrān pracakṣate |
pañcāśat tu manoḥ putrās tathaivānye 'bhavan kṣitau |
dhanyaṁ yaśasyam āyuṣyaṁ kīrtayiṣyāmi te 'n-agha |
Vaiśampāyana said: “They declare the sons of Manu to be ten, with Nābhāgāriṣṭa counted as the tenth. Yet, on this earth, Manu had fifty other sons as well. O sinless one, I shall recount to you a lineage that is blessed, fame-bearing, and life-enhancing.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames genealogical remembrance as ethically and spiritually auspicious: recounting righteous lineages is said to confer blessing, fame, and longevity, reinforcing the Mahābhārata’s view that dharma is preserved and understood through exemplary ancestral traditions.
Vaiśampāyana begins a formal genealogy, noting a traditional list of ten sons of Manu (with Nābhāgāriṣṭa as the tenth) while also stating that Manu had fifty additional sons on earth, thereby preparing the listener for an extended lineage account.