Adhyaya 53 — Rudrasarga and the Measure of the Manvantaras: Svayambhuva Manu, Priyavrata’s Line, and the Seven Dvipas
यच्च तेषामभूत् क्षेत्रं तत्पुत्राणां महात्मनाम् ।
मनोः स्वायम्भुवस्यासन् दश पुत्रास्तु तत्समाः ॥
yacca teṣām abhūt kṣetraṃ tatputrāṇāṃ mahātmanām |
manoḥ svāyambhuvasyāsan daśa putrās tu tatsamāḥ ||
ആ മഹാത്മപുത്രന്മാർക്കു ഏതു ഏതു ക്ഷേത്രം (ഭൂഭാഗം) ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നുവോ, അതിനൊത്ത ദേഹപ്രമാണമുള്ള സ്വായംഭുവ മനുവിന്നും പത്തു പുത്രന്മാർ ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു।
Legitimate rule is presented as orderly succession: territories and authority are transmitted through righteous lineages, emphasizing continuity of dharma through progeny and governance.
Primarily Manvantara (accounts of Manus and their lines) and Vaṃśa/Vaṃśānucarita (dynastic genealogy and the deeds/standing of descendants).
‘Kṣetra’ can be read symbolically as the field of embodied experience (dharma-kṣetra): the text frames cosmic order as mirrored in social/political order—inheritance of duty as much as inheritance of land.