Shloka 36
इक्ष्वाकुवंश-प्रसङ्गः, पुरंजय-दैवसाहाय्य-कथा, युवनाश्व-मांधातृ-उत्पत्तिः, सौभरि-वैराग्योपदेशः
भवति चात्र श्लोकः । यावत् सूर्य उदेति स्म यावच् च प्रतितिष्ठति । सर्वं तद् यौवनाश्वस्य मांधातुः क्षेत्रम् उच्यते ॥
bhavati cātra ślokaḥ | yāvat sūrya udeti sma yāvac ca pratitiṣṭhati | sarvaṃ tad yauvanāśvasya māṃdhātuḥ kṣetram ucyate ||
And here a verse is recited: “As far as the sun rises, and as far as it comes to rest—everything within that span is proclaimed to be the realm of Māndhātṛ, son of Yuvanāśva.”
Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: The extent and fame of Māndhātṛ’s rule as preserved in traditional verse.
Teaching: Historical
Quality: authoritative
Concept: Royal power is idealized as encompassing, sun-like governance—implying responsibility to uphold dharma across the whole inhabited world.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Treat leadership (even in small domains) as stewardship: ensure fairness ‘from sunrise to sunset’ in one’s sphere of influence.
Vishishtadvaita: Order in the world (rājya) is a limb of divine order; legitimate sovereignty is meaningful when aligned with dharma under the Lord’s overarching rule.
Vamsha: Surya
Dharma Exemplar: Cakravartin ideal—universal kingship framed as dharmic order
Key Kings: Māndhātṛ, Yuvanāśva
FAQs
It is a poetic way to express near-universal sovereignty—his rule is portrayed as extending across the whole inhabited world, measured by the sun’s visible course.
By embedding genealogical facts within praise-verses (ślokas) that use cosmic markers—like the sun—to frame a king’s power as aligned with universal order (dharma).
Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the Purana’s royal genealogies imply that legitimate sovereignty functions under the larger divine order upheld by Vishnu as the supreme sustaining reality.