Shloka 111
Pracetās, Māriṣā, Dakṣa’s Re-manifestation, and the Brahma-parastava; Cyclic Creation and Genealogies
आपस्य पुत्रो वैतण्डः श्रमः श्रान्तो ऽधुनिस् तथा ध्रुवस्य पुत्रो भगवान् कालो लोकप्रकालनः
āpasya putro vaitaṇḍaḥ śramaḥ śrānto 'dhunis tathā dhruvasya putro bhagavān kālo lokaprakālanaḥ
From Āpa was born Vaitaṇḍa; then Śrama, Śrānta, and likewise Dhuni. And to Dhruva was born the venerable Bhagavān Kāla—Time itself—who orders and governs the worlds.
Sage Parāśara (narrating) to Maitreya
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Continuation of cosmogonic progeny/emanational genealogies of beings and principles.
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: authoritative
Concept: Time (Kāla) is presented as a venerable, world-regulating principle that orders the worlds.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Contemplate impermanence and order: align daily actions with dharma, mindful of time’s governance.
Vishishtadvaita: Cosmic regulation is intelligible as the Lord’s immanent governance (niyantṛtva) operating through Kāla as an ordering power.
Key Kings: Āpa, Vaitaṇḍa, Śrama, Śrānta, Dhuni, Dhruva, Kāla
FAQs
This verse frames Time not as mere chronology but as the governing principle that arranges and regulates worldly order—an instrument through which cosmic sovereignty is maintained.
Parāśara presents sequential lineages—naming descendants in order—to map sacred history; the list also signals how cosmic functions (like Kāla) are woven into royal/ancestral lines.
By inserting Kāla into Dhruva’s lineage, the text links historical descent with cosmic governance—suggesting that worldly rule and cosmic order ultimately operate under the supreme divine principle upheld by Vishnu.