FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.1.1

मैत्रेय उवाच मनोस्तु शतरूपायां तिस्र: कन्याश्च जज्ञिरे । आकूतिर्देवहूतिश्च प्रसूतिरिति विश्रुता: ॥ १ ॥
maitreya uvāca
[maitreya uvaacha]
manos tu śatarūpāyāṁ
[manos tu shataroopaayaam]
tisraḥ kanyāś ca jajñire
[tisrah kanyaash cha jajnire]
ākūtir devahūtiś ca
[aakootir devahootish cha]
prasūtir iti viśrutāḥ
[prasootir iti vishrutaah]
maitreyaḥ uvāca — the great sage Maitreya said manoḥ tu — of Svāyambhuva Manu śatarūpāyām — in his wife, Śatarūpā tisraḥ — three kanyāḥ ca — daughters also jajñire — gave birth ākūtiḥ — named Ākūti devahūtiḥ — named Devahūti ca — also prasūtiḥ — named Prasūti iti — thus viśrutāḥ — well known.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
maitreya uvāca
maitreyaḥ uvāca
the great sage Maitreya said
manos tu śatarūpāyāṁ
manoḥ tu
of Svāyambhuva Manu
śatarūpāyām
in his wife, Śatarūpā
tisraḥ kanyāś ca jajñire
tisraḥ
three
kanyāḥ ca
daughters also
jajñire
gave birth
ākūtir devahūtiś ca
ākūtiḥ
named Ākūti
devahūtiḥ
named Devahūti
ca
also
prasūtir iti viśrutāḥ
prasūtiḥ
named Prasūti
iti
thus
viśrutāḥ
well known.
Śrī Maitreya said: Svāyambhuva Manu begot three daughters in his wife, Śatarūpā, and their names were Ākūti, Devahūti and Prasūti.

First of all let us offer our respectful obeisances unto our spiritual master, Oṁ Viṣṇupāda Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Prabhupāda, by whose order I am engaged in this herculean task of writing commentary on the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam as the Bhaktivedanta purports. By his grace we have finished three cantos already, and we are just trying to begin the Fourth Canto. By his divine grace let us offer our respectful obeisances unto Lord Caitanya, who began this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement of Bhāgavata-dharma five hundred years ago, and through His grace let us offer our obeisances to the Six Gosvāmīs, and then let us offer our obeisances to Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa, the spiritual couple who enjoy eternally in Vṛndāvana with Their cowherd boys and damsels in Vrajabhūmi. Let us also offer our respectful obeisances to all the devotees and eternal servitors of the Supreme Lord.

In this Fourth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there are thirty-one chapters, and all these chapters describe the secondary creation by Brahmā and the Manus. The Supreme Lord Himself does the real creation by agitating His material energy, and then, by His order, Brahmā, the first living creature in the universe, attempts to create the different planetary systems and their inhabitants, expanding the population through his progeny, like Manu and other progenitors of living entities, who work perpetually under the order of the Supreme Lord. In the First Chapter of this Fourth Canto there are descriptions of the three daughters of Svāyambhuva Manu and their descendants. The next six chapters describe the sacrifice performed by King Dakṣa and how it was spoiled. Thereafter the activities of Mahārāja Dhruva are described in five chapters. Then, in eleven chapters, the activities of King Pṛthu are described, and the next eight chapters are devoted to the activities of the Pracetā kings.

As described in the first verse of this chapter, Svāyambhuva Manu had three daughters, named Ākūti, Devahūti and Prasūti. Of these three daughters, one daughter, Devahūti, has already been described, along with her husband, Kardama Muni, and her son, Kapila Muni. In this chapter the descendants of the first daughter, Ākūti, will specifically be described. Svāyambhuva Manu was the son of Brahmā. Brahmā had many other sons, but Manu’s name is specifically mentioned first because he was a great devotee of the Lord. In this verse there is also the word ca, indicating that besides the three daughters mentioned, Svāyambhuva Manu also had two sons.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Maitreya said: Through Śatarūpā, Manu bore three daughters known as Ākūti, Devahūti and Prasūti. Offering respects to Śrī-guru, to Kṛṣṇa, the ocean of mercy, and to Lokanātha, the eye of the universe, I take shelter of Śrī Śuka. I offer myself and everything I have to the absolute Lord who is dearer than life to all the cowherd men and women, and to the service of his dear devotees. In the Fourth Canto, in thirty-one chapters, there is a description of visarga-- what was created by Brahmā and the Manus by the order of the Lord. In one chapter, the Manus and Manu’s daughters are described, and in six chapters the destruction of Dakṣa’s sacrifice and its restoration are described. Five chapters describe Dhruva, and eleven chapters describe Pṛthu. Eight chapters describe the Pracetās. In the First Chapter, the descendents of the three daughters head by Ākūti and the stories Yajña and Dattātreya, born of Nārāyaṇa, are described. In the previous volume, in relating the story of Kardama, the family of Devahūti, Manu’s second daughter, was not described. To put things in order, now the lineage of the first daughter, Ākūti, is described. Brahmā had many sons, but among them Manu was outstanding for his devotion. That is the significance of the word tu. The word ca indicates that he also had two sons.
The Bhāgavatam grounds its cosmic teachings in real lineage — Manu's daughters birth dynasties that shape humanity. Even ordinary family life, when offered to dharma, becomes the soil of spiritual history. Your household choices ripple beyond what you can see.
Reflection Questions
  • Whose lineage — physical or spiritual — am I extending through my daily choices?
  • Do I treat family duties as obstacles to devotion, or as the field where devotion is tested?
📝 My note

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