अथातः कीर्तये वंशं पुण्यकीर्तेः कुरूद्वह स्वायम्भुवस्यापि मनोर्हरेरंशांशजन्मनः
athātaḥ kīrtaye vaṁśaṁ puṇya-kīrteḥ kurūdvaha svāyambhuvasyāpi manor harer aṁśāṁśa-janmanaḥ
Synonyms
atha—now; ataḥ—hereafter; kīrtaye—I shall describe; vaṁśam—dynasty; puṇya-kīrteḥ—celebrated for virtuous activities; kuru-udvaha—O best of the Kurus; svāyambhuvasya—of Svāyambhuva; api—even; manoḥ—of the Manu; hareḥ—of the Personality of Godhead; aṁśa—plenary expansion; aṁśa—part of; janmanaḥ—born of..
Translation
Maitreya continued: O best of the Kuru dynasty, I shall now describe before you the descendants of Svāyambhuva Manu, who was born of the part of the plenary expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Purport
Lord Brahmā is a powerful expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Although Brahmā is jīva-tattva, he is empowered by the Lord, and therefore he is considered a plenary expansion of the Supreme Godhead. Sometimes it happens that when there is no suitable living being to be empowered to act as Brahmā, the Supreme Lord Himself appears as Brahmā. Brahmā is the plenary expansion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and Svāyambhuva Manu was the direct son of Brahmā. The great sage Maitreya was now going to explain about the descendants of this Manu, all of whom are widely celebrated for their pious activities. Before speaking of these pious descendants, Maitreya had already described the descendants of impious activities, representing anger, envy, unpalatable speech, quarrel, fearfulness and death. Purposely, therefore, he is next relating the history of the life of Dhruva Mahārāja, the most pious king within this universe.