Shloka 35
प्रियव्रतवंशवर्णनम् — सप्तद्वीपविभागः, जम्बूद्वीप-वर्षविभागः, भरत-नामकरणम्
सुमतेस् तेजसस् तस्माद् इन्द्रद्युम्नो व्यजायत परमेष्ठी ततस् तस्मात् प्रतिहारस् तदन्वयः
sumates tejasas tasmād indradyumno vyajāyata parameṣṭhī tatas tasmāt pratihāras tadanvayaḥ
From Sumati was born Tejas; from him arose Indradyumna, eminent as Parameṣṭhī. From Indradyumna came Pratihāra—thus the lineage proceeds.
Sage Parāśara (narrating) to Maitreya
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Genealogical and geographic ordering of Priyavrata’s descendants (Amśa 2 opening genealogy).
Teaching: Historical
Quality: authoritative
Dharma Exemplar: Rājadharma (eminent rulership/paramaiśvarya implied by 'parameṣṭhī')
Key Kings: Sumati, Tejas, Indradyumna, Pratihara
FAQs
This verse exemplifies how the Vishnu Purana preserves royal succession as a record of dharma-bearing rulers, linking historical memory to the maintenance of social and cosmic order under Vishnu’s sovereignty.
Parāśara presents a concise father-to-son succession—Sumati → Tejas → Indradyumna → Pratihāra—typical of vamsha narration, emphasizing continuity of rulership and inherited responsibility to uphold dharma.
Even when Vishnu is not named in a specific verse, the genealogical account functions within a Vaishnava Purāṇic worldview where righteous sovereignty and historical cycles unfold within Vishnu’s overarching cosmic order.