Shloka 73
Pracetās, Māriṣā, Dakṣa’s Re-manifestation, and the Brahma-parastava; Cyclic Creation and Genealogies
दशभ्यस् तु प्रचेतोभ्यो मारिषायां प्रजापतिः जज्ञे दक्षो महाभागो यः पूर्वं ब्रह्मणो ऽभवत्
daśabhyas tu pracetobhyo māriṣāyāṃ prajāpatiḥ jajñe dakṣo mahābhāgo yaḥ pūrvaṃ brahmaṇo 'bhavat
From the ten Pracetas, in Māriṣā, was born the illustrious Prajāpati Dakṣa—he who had formerly arisen from Brahmā.
Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Origin of Dakṣa and how creation resumes through Prajāpatis.
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: revealing
Creation Stage: Secondary
Concept: Cosmic administration is cyclic: the same functional beings (like Dakṣa) can reappear to uphold sṛṣṭi, showing ordered recurrence within kalpic time.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: See recurring patterns in life as opportunities to restore order and responsibility rather than as meaningless repetition.
Vishishtadvaita: The Lord as jagat-kāraṇa sustains recurring cosmic functions through appointed agents, while remaining the ultimate ground of their existence.
Dharma Exemplar: prajā-pālana (ordering and sustaining progeny)
Key Kings: Pracetas, Māriṣā, Dakṣa
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
Jagat Karana: Yes
FAQs
This verse highlights cyclical creation: Daksha, a key progenitor, reappears to re-establish and expand progeny, showing how creation proceeds through recurring cosmic phases.
Parāśara presents creation as sustained through successive genealogies; the Pracetas generate Daksha through Māriṣā, and Daksha functions as a Prajāpati who organizes and multiplies beings.
Though not named in the verse, the Vishnu Purana frames such orderly genealogical unfoldings as operating under Vishnu’s supreme sovereignty, with Prajāpatis serving as instruments of the divine cosmic order.