Shloka 41
कलियुग-प्रवृत्तिः, सप्तर्षि-गणना, धरणीगीताः, च वंश-समाप्तिः
Kali-yuga onset, Saptarṣi reckoning, Dharaṇī-gītā, and closure of the dynastic account
एष तूद्देशतो वंशस् तवोक्तो भूभुजां मया निखिलो गदितुं शक्यो नैव जन्मशतैर् अपि
eṣa tūddeśato vaṃśas tavokto bhūbhujāṃ mayā nikhilo gadituṃ śakyo naiva janmaśatair api
Thus I have told you—only in summary—the lineage of the earth’s rulers. To recount it in its entirety is truly not possible, even across a hundred lifetimes.
Sage Parāśara
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Request for royal lineages and historical succession; scope and limits of narration.
Teaching: Genealogical
Quality: authoritative
Concept: Human narration and memory are finite, while saṃsāric history and succession are effectively immeasurable in detail.
Vedantic Theme: Maya
Application: Prioritize the essential lessons (dharma and devotion) over obsessive accumulation of information.
Vishishtadvaita: Even when details are infinite, the Purāṇa’s purpose is to orient the listener toward Bhagavān as the meaningful center of history.
FAQs
This verse states that the royal genealogies are vast beyond complete enumeration, so the Purana presents them in an outline to convey continuity of dharma and rulership across ages.
He explicitly marks the account as uddeśataḥ (a concise sketch), emphasizing that a full telling of all kings and branches would exceed even many lifetimes.
Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the Purana’s dynastic sections function within Vishnu’s cosmic governance—history is presented as ordered succession under a higher divine sovereignty.