Text 5
rucir yo bhagavān brahman
dakṣo vā brahmaṇaḥ sutaḥ
yathā sasarja bhūtāni
labdhvā bhāryāṁ ca mānavīm
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.
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.
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?”