Devanagari
आकूतिं रुचये प्रादादपि भ्रातृमतीं नृप: ।
पुत्रिकाधर्ममाश्रित्य शतरूपानुमोदित: ॥ २ ॥
Verse text
ākūtiṁ rucaye prādād
api bhrātṛmatīṁ nṛpaḥ
putrikā-dharmam āśritya
śatarūpānumoditaḥ
Synonyms
ākūtim
—
Ākūti
;
rucaye
—
unto the great sage Ruci
;
prādāt
—
handed over
;
api
—
although
;
bhrātṛ
—
matīm — daughter having a brother
;
nṛpaḥ
—
the King
;
putrikā
—
get the resultant son
;
dharmam
—
religious rites
;
āśritya
—
taking shelter
;
śatarūpā
—
by the wife of Svāyambhuva Manu
;
anumoditaḥ
—
being sanctioned .
Translation
Ākūti had two brothers, but in spite of her brothers, King Svāyambhuva Manu handed her over to Prajāpati Ruci on the condition that the son born of her be returned to Manu as his son. This he did in consultation with his wife, Śatarūpā.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
With the consent of Śatarūpa, Manu gave Ākūti to Ruci, taking shelter of putrikā-dharma, even though Ākūti had brothers.
Though he had sons, Manu gave Ākūti to Ruci on the condition that Ruci’s son would be give back to Manu as his own son (putrikā-dharma). He did not desire more sons, but knew that Ākūti would give birth to an avatāra, since Manu had omniscience. May the Lord be my daughter’s son and my son as well. In giving the daughter away the following would be said:
abhrātṛkāṁ pradāsyāmi tubhyaṁ kanyām alaṅkṛtām
asyāṁ yo jāyate putraḥ sa me putro bhavet
I will give you my daughter well ornamented, with few brothers. The son born to her will be my son.
Abhrātṛkām means few brothers, rather than no brothers.
Purport
Sometimes a sonless person offers his daughter to a husband on the condition that his grandson be returned to him to be adopted as his son and inherit his property. This is called
putrikā-dharma,
which means that by execution of religious rituals one gets a son, although one is sonless by one’s own wife. But here we see extraordinary behavior in Manu, for in spite of his having two sons, he handed over his first daughter to Prajāpati Ruci on the condition that the son born of his daughter be returned to him as his son. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura comments in this connection that King Manu knew that the Supreme Personality of Godhead would take birth in the womb of Ākūti; therefore, in spite of having two sons, he wanted the particular son born of Ākūti because he was ambitious to have the Supreme Personality of Godhead appear as his son and grandson. Manu is the lawgiver of mankind, and since he personally executed the
putrikā-dharma,
we may accept that such a system may be adopted by mankind also. Thus, even though one has a son, if one wants to have a particular son from one’s daughter, one may give one’s daughter in charity on that condition. That is the opinion of Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī.