Shloka 1
Guṇa-vibhāga and Prāṇa–Agni–Yoga Upadeśa (गुणविभाग तथा प्राण-अग्नि-योगोपदेश)
््ड् #<+ (9) #::..# #25-१ द्र्याधिकद्विशततमो< ध्याय: उत्तड़कका राजा बृहदश्चवसे धुन्धुका वध करनेके लिये आग्रह मार्कण्डेय उवाच इक्ष्वाकौ संस्थिते राजन् शशाद: पृथिवीमिमाम् । प्राप्त: परमधर्मात्मा सोडयोध्यायां नृपो5भवत्,मार्कण्डेयजी कहते हैं--राजन्! महाराज इक्ष्वाकुके देहावसानके पश्चात् उनके परम धर्मात्मा पुत्र शशाद इस पृथ्वीपर राज्य करने लगे। वे अयोध्यामें रहते थे
Mārkaṇḍeya uvāca — Ikṣvākau saṁsthite rājan śaśādaḥ pṛthivīm imām | prāptaḥ paramadharmātmā so ’yodhyāyāṁ nṛpo ’bhavat ||
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “O king, after Ikṣvāku had passed away, his son Śaśāda—endowed with the highest righteousness—came to rule this very earth. He became the king residing in Ayodhyā.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames legitimate kingship as grounded in dharma: succession is not merely hereditary, but ideally marked by the heir’s ‘parama-dharma’—a moral fitness to rule and uphold order on earth.
Mārkaṇḍeya begins a dynastic account: after Ikṣvāku’s death, his son Śaśāda assumes sovereignty over the earth and rules from Ayodhyā, establishing the setting for the subsequent story.