Adhyaya 21
Cessation of the Brahma–Kṣatra Rooted Royal Line at Kṣemaka in Kali-yuga
In dialogue with Maitreya, Parāśara marks a doctrinal turning point within dynastic history: an illustrious royal line, said to spring from a Brahma–Kṣatra root and revered by rājarṣis, comes to its end with King Kṣemaka in Kali-yuga. Parāśara stresses that this cessation is not chance but the law of kāla—time binds even famed sovereignties. The account thus becomes a meditation on kāla as the instrument of the Supreme Lord Viṣṇu, the measurer of the ages, rather than a mere political chronicle. The guru teaches the student to see historical endings as niyati under divine governance: Viṣṇu as Jagat-kāraṇa sustains, regulates, and withdraws all compounded entities, including dynasties, according to yuga-dharma.
Shlokas
Frequently Asked Questions
Parāśara states that the illustrious royal line reaches King Kṣemaka and then, in Kali-yuga, comes to its cessation—showing that dynasties are finite under kāla.
By attributing the rise and end of sovereignties to time’s law under the Supreme Lord who measures the ages, the chapter teaches that historical processes are regulated within Viṣṇu’s sovereignty as Jagat-kāraṇa.