Shloka 13
Daitya–Dānava Vaṁśa, Kaśyapa’s Progeny, and the Birth of the Maruts
एते वै दानवश्रेष्ठा दनुवंशविवर्धनाः एतेषां पुत्रपौत्राश् च शतशो ऽथ सहस्रशः
ete vai dānavaśreṣṭhā danuvaṃśavivardhanāḥ eteṣāṃ putrapautrāś ca śataśo 'tha sahasraśaḥ
These indeed were the foremost among the Dānavas, enlargers of Danu’s line; from them sons and grandsons arose in the hundreds, and then in the thousands.
Sage Parāśara (speaking to Maitreya)
Concept: Lineage (vaṃśa) unfolds by orderly generative succession, producing vast populations that condition the moral drama of the worlds.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: See social and personal tendencies as partly inherited/conditioned; cultivate saṃskāra through discipline so lineage does not dictate destiny.
Vishishtadvaita: Multiplicity of jīvas and lineages exists within a single divinely governed order, implying the Lord’s sovereignty over diverse embodied streams.
FAQs
This verse highlights the rapid proliferation of Danu’s descendants, establishing the scale and continuity of Asura lineages that later intersect with cosmic governance, conflicts, and dharmic restoration.
Parāśara presents lineage growth as a structured unfolding of creation—naming key progenitors first, then indicating that their descendants multiply into vast numbers, a typical Purāṇic method for compressing long genealogies.
Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the Purāṇa’s genealogies function within a Vishnu-centered cosmic order: all beings and lineages arise and operate within the sovereignty of the Supreme Reality who sustains and regulates the universe.