Shloka 8
Pracetās, Māriṣā, Dakṣa’s Re-manifestation, and the Brahma-parastava; Cyclic Creation and Genealogies
मारिषा नाम नाम्नैषा वृक्षाणाम् इति निर्मिता भार्या वो ऽस्तु महाभागा ध्रुवं वंशविवर्धिनी
māriṣā nāma nāmnaiṣā vṛkṣāṇām iti nirmitā bhāryā vo 'stu mahābhāgā dhruvaṃ vaṃśavivardhinī
She is fashioned by the trees and is renowned by the name Māriṣā. Let this noble lady become your wife; assuredly, she will enlarge and sustain your lineage.
Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: How progeny and cosmic administration proceed through ordained marriages and births.
Teaching: Genealogical
Quality: authoritative
Concept: Righteous union (vivāha) is presented as a dharmic instrument for sustaining cosmic continuity through worthy progeny.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Treat family responsibilities as sacred stewardship—choose relationships grounded in virtue and long-term welfare.
Vishishtadvaita: Householder life is not opposed to spirituality; it becomes a mode of serving the Lord’s embodied universe (cit-acit as His śarīra) through sustaining lineage and order.
Dharma Exemplar: Gṛhastha-dharma as a sanctioned means for vaṃśa-vṛddhi (continuity of creation through righteous family life).
Key Kings: Pracetās
FAQs
This verse presents Māriṣā as a divinely fashioned bride whose marriage is destined to expand the royal line, making her a pivotal link in the Purāṇic genealogy.
Through narrative causality: a providential marriage is arranged, and the text explicitly marks the bride as “vaṃśa-vivardhinī,” indicating that succession and social order proceed through destined progeny.
Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the Purāṇa’s genealogies function as an expression of Vishnu’s sovereignty—dynastic continuity and order unfold within the divinely governed structure of creation.