Shloka 11
सुनीथा नाम या कन्या मृत्योः प्रथमजाभवत् अङ्गस्य भार्या सा दत्ता तस्यां वेनो व्यजायत
sunīthā nāma yā kanyā mṛtyoḥ prathamajābhavat aṅgasya bhāryā sā dattā tasyāṃ veno vyajāyata
There was a maiden named Sunīthā, the first-born daughter of Mṛtyu. She was given as wife to King Aṅga, and through her Vena was born.
Sage Parāśara (speaking to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Genealogical background explaining Vena’s birth and nature (in response to Maitreya’s query).
Teaching: Genealogical
Quality: authoritative; explanatory lineage-setting
Key Kings: Mṛtyu, Aṅga, Sunīthā, Vena
FAQs
It frames Vena’s lineage with a symbolic association to death and moral decline, foreshadowing the later narrative where unrighteous kingship disrupts dharma and necessitates restoration.
Parāśara presents lineage as a narrative map of dharma across generations—linking marriages, births, and royal succession to the unfolding of cosmic and social order.
Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the Purana’s dynastic history operates under Vishnu’s sovereignty: the rise and fall of kings becomes a mechanism through which dharma is ultimately protected and re-established.