Maitreya continued to speak about the descendants of the daughters of
Svayambhuva Manu: after telling the story of Devahuti, he spoke about
Akuti and Prasuti.Although he already had two sons, Svayambhuva Manu consulted with his
wife Satarupa and then gave her daughter Akuti in marriage to Prajapati
Ruci, on the condition of adopting their son. Akuti had a son, Yajna, who
was an avatara of Vishnu, and a daughter, Dakshina, who was a partial
incarnation of Lakshmi. According to the agreement, Yajna was adopted by
Manu and became his son; later he married Dakshina, who had a strong
desire to get him as a husband. The couple had twelve children, named
Tosha, Pratosha, Santosha, Bhadra, Santi, Idaspati, Idhma, Kavi, Vibhu,
Svahna, Sudeva and Rochana. Yajna took the position of Indra and his
children became known as the Tushita Devas.
As we have seen, the nine daughters of Devahuti married various Rishis.
Kala married Marici, the first of the seven Rishis, and had twin sons,
Kasyapa and Purnima. Purnima generated Viraja, Visvaga and Devakulya,
the water that washed the feet of the Supreme Lord and later became the
Ganga of the heavenly planets.
Anasuya married Atri Rishi and had three sons: Soma, Dattatreya and
Durvasa, partial manifestations respectively of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva,
who were attracted to take birth from Atri Rishi by watching the powerful
austerities performed by the sage - so intense that his head emanated a
blazing fire. When he saw Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma arriving in his
ashrama, Atri was honored and delighted, and he rushed to welcome them.
After graciously accepting his prayers, the three Devas appeared as his sons.
Another of Devahuti's daughters, Sraddha, married Angira Rishi and had
four daughters, named Sinivali, Kuhu, Raka and Anumati, and two sons
named Utathya and Brihaspati. Havirbhu married Pulastya and had two
sons: Agastya, who in his next life became Dahragni, and Visrava, who
became a great saint. Visrava had two wives - Idavida who became the wife
of Kuvera, and Kesini, who gave birth to three sons: Ravana, Kumbhakarna
and Vibhisana. Gati married Pulaha Rishi and had three sons, named
Karmarestha, Variyan and Sahisnu.
Kriya, who married Kratu, generated the 60,000 sages known as the
Valakhilyas. Urja, also called Arundhati, married Vasistha and gave birth to
seven great sages: Citraketu, Suroci, Viraja, Mitra, Ulbana, Vasubhrdyana
and Dyuman. Citti, the wife of Atharva Rishi, had a son named Asvasira,
due to performing the vow called Dadhyancha.Khyati married Bhrigu Rishi and had two sons named Dhata and Vidhata,
and a daughter named Sri. Dhata and Vidhata married Ayati and Niyati, the
two daughters of Meru Rishi, and gave birth to Mrikanda and Prana.
Mrikanda gave birth to Markandeya Rishi and Prana gave birth to Vedaira,
the father of Ushana, also known as Sukracharya or Kavi. Sukracharya
therefore belongs to the descendance of Brighu Rishi.
The other daughter of Svayambhuva Manu, Prasuti, married the son of
Brahma named Daksha, who was one of the most important progenitors of
all the living beings, and had sixteen beautiful daughters. Of these, thirteen
married Dharma: Sraddha, Maitri, Daya, Santi, Tusti, Pusti, Kriya, Unnati,
Buddhi, Medha, Titiksha, Hri and Murti.
Sraddha gave birth to Subha, Maitri gave birth to Prasada, Daya gave birth
to Abhaya, Shanti gave birth to Sukha, Tusti gave birth to Muda, Pushti
gave birth to Smaya, Kriya gave birth to Yoga, Unnati gave birth to Barpa,
Buddhi gave birth to Artha, Medha gave birth to Smriti, Titiksha gave birth
to Kshema, and Hri gave birth to Praraya. Murti gave birth to the avatara of
Vishnu as the two twins Nara and Narayana, whose birth was celebrated all
over the universe and was accompanied by many good omens. After
blessing the Devas for their prayers, Nara and Narayana went to the
Gandhamadana hill, where they engaged in meditation and sense control to
establish a good example for human beings. Nara and Narayana appeared
again in this age as Krishna and Arjuna respectively in the Yadu and Kuru
dynasties.
Another daughter of Prasuti and Daksha, Svaha, married Agni and had
three sons named Pavaka, Pavamana and Suci, who in turn fathered 45
descendants, all archetypal manifestations of fire. Together with their
fathers and grandfather, these forms of fire are 49 in number, and the
oblations of sacrifice are offered for them.
Another daughter of Prasuti and Daksha, Svadha, married the Pitas named
Agnisvatta, Barhisada, Saumya and Ajyapa, and gave birth to two daughters,
Vayuna and Dharini, both very expert in Vedic knowledge and
transcendence. The last daughter of Prasuti and Daksha, Sati, became the
faithful wife of Lord Shiva, but she did not have children because she left
her body at a very young age.Vidura wanted to know why Sati had left her body and Maitreya told him
the story of the ritual sacrifice performed by Daksha, in which Prajapati
Daksha offended Lord Shiva and Sati became so annoyed that she gave up
the body she had received from him.
All the Devas, Rishis and Prajapatis had organized a grand ritual sacrifice, to
which all the most important personalities of the universe were invited.
When Daksha arrived at the arena of the celebrations, he was so radiant
that all the persons present, except Brahma and Shiva, stood up to offer
their respects.
Daksha was not expecting to be honored as a superior by Brahma, who was
his father, but he felt offended in seeing that Shiva - who having married
his daughter Sati had become his son in law - had not risen to greet him. In
his pride, Daksha started to publicly insult Shiva, then becoming
overwhelmed by anger, he cursed him and left the assembly, going back
home.
These unwarranted offenses angered Nandisvara, one of the most
prominent companions of Lord Shiva. In turn, Nandisvara cursed Daksha
and his followers, arrogant family men who perform rituals for materialistic
purposes and behave like goats because they are attached to sex above all
else. Stung by that attack against the ritual ceremonies of the Karma kanda,
Bhrigu Muni too turned against the followers of Lord Shiva who imitate
him externally without understanding the Vedic principles and the rules of
civilized society. Saddened by that bickering and insults, and by the cursing
and counter-coursing, Lord Shiva left the arena of the sacrifice, followed by
his devotees. After that, Daksha did not make any effort to reconcile with
Shiva and the situation remained tense.
When Brahma appointed him as leader of all the Prajapatis, Daksha became
even more arrogant and started to perform great rituals, such as the
Vajapeya and the Brihaspati sava, to which he invited all the Devas, Rishis,
Pitas and the other prominent personalities of the universe together with
their consorts - all of them, except Lord Shiva and his wife Sati.
Eager to participate to that important social occasion and to see her own
family, Sati said she wanted to go to the celebrations, but Shiva knew that
they would not be properly welcomed by Daksha, and tried to dissuade her.
