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 ||
அந்த மகாத்மா புதல்வர்களுக்குச் சொந்தமான எந்த எந்த க்ஷேத்திரம் இருந்ததோ, அதற்கு ஒப்பான உடற்கட்டுடன் ஸ்வாயம்புவ மனுவுக்கும் பத்து புதல்வர்கள் இருந்தனர்.
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.