Shloka 24

Devanagari script

अत्रिर् वसिष्ठो वह्निश् च पितरश् च यथाक्रमम् ख्यात्याद्या जगृहुः कन्या मुनयो मुनिसत्तम

Transliteration

atrir vasiṣṭho vahniś ca pitaraś ca yathākramam khyātyādyā jagṛhuḥ kanyā munayo munisattama

Translation

O best of sages, in due order Atri, Vasiṣṭha, Agni (Vahni), and the Pitṛs took the maidens—beginning with Khyāti—as their wives.

Word by Word

• अत्रिः: Atri
• अत्रिः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अत्रि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• वसिष्ठः: Vasiṣṭha
• वसिष्ठः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वसिष्ठ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• वह्निः: Vahni (Agni)
• वह्निः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वह्नि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-निपात (conjunction/particle)

• पितरः: the Pitṛs (manes)
• पितरः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन (Plural)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-निपात (conjunction/particle)

• यथाक्रमम्: in due order
• यथाक्रमम्: Kriya-vishesana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा (अव्यय) + क्रम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-समास; अव्यय (adverb)

• ख्याति-आद्याः: (women) beginning with Khyāti
• ख्याति-आद्याः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ख्याति (प्रातिपदिक) + आदि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; तत्पुरुष (आदि-समास: 'beginning with Khyāti')

• जगृहुः: accepted/took (as wives)
• जगृहुः: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ग्रह् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), बहुवचन

• कन्याः: daughters/maidens
• कन्याः: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कन्या (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), बहुवचन

• मुनयः: sages
• मुनयः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुनि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• मुनिसत्तम: O best of sages
• मुनिसत्तम: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुनि (प्रातिपदिक) + सत्तम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/Vocative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (मुनिनां सत्तमः = best of sages)

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (to Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: How progenitors formed households and generated further beings

Teaching: Cosmological

Quality: didactic

Cosmological Context

Creation Stage: Secondary

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Cosmic order (niyati/dharma) expresses itself through regulated relationships that sustain creation.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Honor responsibilities and ethical order in relationships, seeing them as supports of social harmony rather than mere personal preference.

Vishishtadvaita: Household order functions within the Lord’s governance, where worldly structures serve a higher, divinely sustained purpose.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman

Characters & Entities

• Atri
• Vasiṣṭha
• Agni (Vahni)
• Pitṛs
• Khyāti

FAQs

What is the significance of these marriages (Atri, Vasiṣṭha, Agni, and the Pitṛs) in the Vishnu Purana?

They formalize creation-era alliances that generate key progeny lines, linking sages and cosmic beings to the unfolding of universal order and genealogical continuity.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the idea of yathākramam (proper sequence) here?

Parāśara emphasizes that the unions occur in an ordained order, suggesting a dharmic and cosmic sequencing that governs how lineages and functions arise in creation.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this genealogical context?

Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the Purāṇic framework treats these orderly lineages and cosmic roles as operating within Vishnu’s supreme governance of creation and continuity.