Shloka 79
Pracetās, Māriṣā, Dakṣa’s Re-manifestation, and the Brahma-parastava; Cyclic Creation and Genealogies
अङ्गुष्ठाद् दक्षिणाद् दक्षः पूर्वं जातः श्रुतो मया कथं प्राचेतसो भूयः स संभूतो महामुने
aṅguṣṭhād dakṣiṇād dakṣaḥ pūrvaṃ jātaḥ śruto mayā kathaṃ prācetaso bhūyaḥ sa saṃbhūto mahāmune
I have heard that Dakṣa was formerly born from the right thumb. O great sage, how then was that same Dakṣa later born again as Prācetasa, the son of the Pracetas?
Maitreya
Speaker: Maitreya
Topic: How Dakṣa can have multiple births (thumb-born and later Prācetasa).
Teaching: Historical
Quality: inquiring
Concept: Purāṇic history admits cyclical roles and repeated manifestations of cosmic offices (like Prajāpatis), requiring a layered understanding of time and identity.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Hold apparent contradictions with patience; investigate context, cycles, and levels of narration before forming conclusions.
Vishishtadvaita: Personal identity and cosmic function can recur without collapsing individuality—compatible with a world of real relations sustained by the Lord’s governance.
FAQs
It signals Daksha’s status as a primordial progenitor (prajāpati), arising in an extraordinary, symbolic manner to establish ordered creation and lineage.
The question sets up Parāśara’s explanation that cosmic roles and progenitors can reappear across cycles or narrative phases, preserving continuity of creation and genealogy.
Even when the verse focuses on genealogy, the Purāṇic framework treats such ordered succession as operating under Vishnu’s supreme governance of cosmic law and unfolding creation.