Shloka 7
मैत्रेयप्रश्नः—पुराणसंहिताप्रतिज्ञा च
Maitreya’s Questions and Parāśara’s Resolve to Teach
सूर्यादीनां च संस्थानं प्रमाणं मुनिसत्तम देवादीनां तथा वंशान् मनून् मन्वन्तराणि च
sūryādīnāṃ ca saṃsthānaṃ pramāṇaṃ munisattama devādīnāṃ tathā vaṃśān manūn manvantarāṇi ca
O best of sages, describe the forms and measures of the Sun and the other heavenly bodies; and likewise recount the lineages of the gods and the rest, together with the Manus and the Manvantaras.
Maitreya (questioning Sage Parāśara)
Speaker: Maitreya
Topic: Measures/forms of the Sun and other luminaries; lineages of gods and others; Manus and Manvantara cycles
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: comprehensive, time-cycle oriented
Creation Stage: Manvantara
Cosmic Hierarchy: Lokas (celestial bodies: sūryādi)
FAQs
This verse highlights Manvantara as a central organizing principle of cosmic history—epochs ruled by different Manus through which order, dharma, and creation’s administration proceed.
Maitreya explicitly requests a structured account: (1) the form and measurement of the Sun and other luminaries, and (2) the genealogies of gods and beings, anchored within the sequence of Manus and Manvantaras.
By framing cosmic measurements, divine genealogies, and time-cycles as knowable and ordered topics of instruction, the Purana implies a single sovereign ground of order—Vishnu—under whose governance the cosmos, its rulers, and its epochs unfold.