Shloka 41
प्रियव्रतवंशवर्णनम् — सप्तद्वीपविभागः, जम्बूद्वीप-वर्षविभागः, भरत-नामकरणम्
तेषां वंशप्रसूतैस् तु भुक्तेयं भारती पुरा कृतत्रेतादिसर्गेण युगाख्या ह्य् एकसप्ततिः
teṣāṃ vaṃśaprasūtais tu bhukteyaṃ bhāratī purā kṛtatretādisargeṇa yugākhyā hy ekasaptatiḥ
Pada zaman dahulu, tanah Bhāratī ini dinikmati—diperintah dan didiami—oleh mereka yang lahir daripada keturunan itu; dan melalui rangkaian zaman Kṛta, Tretā dan seterusnya, bilangan yuga dinyatakan benar-benar tujuh puluh satu.
Sage Parāśara (addressing Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: How Bhārata was ruled through lineages and how yuga-cycles are reckoned within a Manvantara
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: authoritative
Creation Stage: Manvantara
Yuga: Satya
Cosmic Hierarchy: Varshas (regions)
Concept: Royal history is situated within repeating yuga sequences, and the canonical reckoning of seventy-one caturyugas marks the rhythm of a Manvantara.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Hold personal and political history in perspective against long cycles; practice steadiness and dharma without being intoxicated by transient power.
Vishishtadvaita: Time-cycles function within the Lord’s ordered governance; worldly rule is meaningful when aligned to dharma within that divine order.
FAQs
This verse points to a formal reckoning of time by yugas—successive age-cycles—summarized here as a count of seventy-one, emphasizing that cosmic time is ordered and measurable rather than random.
He frames history as lineage-driven: Bhārata is ‘enjoyed’ (ruled) by descendants of dynasties, while the same stage persists through changing yugas, linking genealogy to cyclical time.
Even when not named explicitly, the Vishnu Purana treats yuga-order and legitimate sovereignty as expressions of a higher cosmic regulation—ultimately grounded in Vishnu as the supreme sustaining reality.