SB 3.21.5 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

रुचिर्यो भगवान् ब्रह्मन्दक्षो वा ब्रह्मण: सुत: । यथा ससर्ज भूतानि लब्ध्वा भार्यां च मानवीम् ॥ ५ ॥

Verse text

rucir yo bhagavān brahman dakṣo vā brahmaṇaḥ sutaḥ yathā sasarja bhūtāni labdhvā bhāryāṁ ca mānavīm

Synonyms

ruciḥ — Ruci ; yaḥ — who ; bhagavān — worshipful ; brahman — O holy sage ; dakṣaḥ — Dakṣa ; vā — and ; brahmaṇaḥ — of Lord Brahmā ; sutaḥ — the son ; yathā — in what way ; sasarja — generated ; bhūtāni — offspring ; labdhvā — after securing ; bhāryām — as their wives ; ca — and ; mānavīm — the daughters of Svāyambhuva Manu .

Translation

O holy sage, tell me how the worshipful Ruci and Dakṣa, the son of Brahmā, generated children after securing as their wives the other two daughters of Svāyambhuva Manu.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Please describe how the sons of Brahmā, Ruci and Dakṣa, obtained Ākuti and Prasūti, the daughters of Manu as their wives and how they produced offspring. Mānavīm means the daughter of Manu—Ākuti or Prasūti.

Purport

All the great personalities who increased the population in the beginning of the creation are called Prajāpatis. Brahmā is also known as Prajāpati, as were some of his later sons. Svāyambhuva Manu is also known as Prajāpati, as is Dakṣa, another son of Brahmā. Svāyambhuva had two daughters, Ākūti and Prasūti. The Prajāpati Ruci married Ākūti, and Dakṣa married Prasūti. These couples and their children produced immense numbers of children to populate the entire universe. Vidura’s inquiry was, “How did they beget the population in the beginning?”