Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 45, Shloka 10
Adhyaya 45 — Jaimini’s Cosmological Questions and the Opening of Markandeya’s Account of Primary Creation
कथञ्च वंशाः देवर्षि-पितृभूतादिसम्भवाः ।
मन्वन्तराणि च कथं वंशानुचरितञ्च यत् ॥
kathaṃ ca vaṃśā devarṣi-pitṛ-bhūtādi-sambhavāḥ | manvantarāṇi ca kathaṃ vaṃśānucaritaṃ ca yat ||
And how did the lineages arising from the gods, the seers (ṛṣis), the Pitṛs (ancestral fathers), the bhūtas, and others come to be? How are the Manvantaras to be described, and also the histories that follow upon those lineages?
FAQs
Human life is situated within vast networks of ancestry and cosmic administration; remembering lineage and epoch encourages responsibility (dharma) and continuity rather than isolated self-concern.
Explicitly calls for manvantara, vaṃśa, and vaṃśānucarita—three of the five lakṣaṇas—alongside earlier questions on sarga/pralaya.
Lineages can be read as streams of guṇa and saṃskāra; ‘Manu-epochs’ mirror phases of inner governance where different ‘laws’ (manu-dharma) dominate one’s psyche.