Shloka 4
भार्गवसर्गः, ऋषिवंशाः, वह्नयः (अग्निवंशः), पितृसृष्टिः
प्राणश् चैव मृकण्डुश् च मार्कण्डेयो मृकण्डुतः ततो वेदशिरा जज्ञे प्राणस्यापि सुतं शृणु
prāṇaś caiva mṛkaṇḍuś ca mārkaṇḍeyo mṛkaṇḍutaḥ tato vedaśirā jajñe prāṇasyāpi sutaṃ śṛṇu
அந்த வம்சத்தில் பிராணனும் ம்ருகண்டு என்பவரும் பிறந்தனர். ம்ருகண்டுவிலிருந்து மார்கண்டேயர் தோன்றினார்; பின்னர் வேதசிரஸ் பிறந்தான்—இப்போது பிராணனின் மகனைப் பற்றியும் கேள்.
Sage Parāśara (narrating) to Maitreya
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Genealogical enumeration of sages and their progeny within the creation narrative.
Teaching: Genealogical
Quality: authoritative, enumerative
Dharma Exemplar: Tapas/ṛṣi-dharma (ascetic integrity associated with Mārkaṇḍeya).
Key Kings: Prāṇa, Mṛkaṇḍu, Mārkaṇḍeya, Vedaśiras
FAQs
This verse models how dharma and Vedic knowledge are preserved through named successions of sages, presenting lineage as a mechanism of cosmic and social continuity.
Parāśara narrates births in a concise chain—naming progenitors and descendants—so Maitreya can track authoritative transmission across generations.
Even when Vishnu is not named, the Purana frames ordered succession as part of Vishnu’s sustaining sovereignty—lineage becomes a sign of the world’s divinely upheld structure.