11 verses
Mahārāja Parīkṣit inquired: O great sage! Please explain to me the activities of Manu and the others in each Manvantara, and by whose order they are so engaged.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: The Manus, the sons of Manu, the great sages, the Indras and all the devatās, O King, are under the control of the Supreme Lord.
The forms of the Lord who control are Yajña and other Manvantara incarnations.
O King! I have already described to you various incarnations of the Lord, such as Yajña. The Manus and others are chosen by these incarnations, under whose direction they conduct the universal affairs.
This verse explains the incarnations who control.
At the end of every four yugas, the sages see by their austerity that the Vedas, by which eternal dharma is established, have been lost with time.
This verse describes the action of the sages. Yataḥ means by which Vedas.
O King! Thereafter, the Manus, instructed and engaged by the Supreme Lord, directly reestablish the principles of occupational duty in its full four parts on earth.
The Manus establish dharma on the earth (mahīm).
The sons of Manu, and their descendents, protect dharma till the end of the Manvantara. The devatās, who share the results of sacrifice, also protect dharma along with them.
Manus sons (praja-pālāḥ) protect that dharma until the end of the Manvantara. Their sons and grandsons in their turn, and the devatās also protect dharma.
Indra, enjoying great wealth of the three worlds given by the Lord, maintains the living entities and pours sufficient rain.
In every yuga, the Supreme Lord assumes the form of Siddhas such as Sanaka to preach transcendental knowledge, he assumes the form of great sages such as Yājñavalkya to teach the way of karma, and he assumes the form of great yogīs such as Dattātreya to teach the system of mystic yoga.
After showing how the Lord performs actions through the Manus and others, Śukadeva explains that the work is not limited to these six types of persons. He now briefly mentions others who are engaged in two verses. Siddha refers to the Kumāras and others. Yogeśa refers to Dattātreya and others.
In the form of Prajāpati Marīci and others, the Supreme Lord who has various qualities creates progeny; becoming the king, the Lord kills the thieves and rogues; and in the form of time, he annihilates everything.
Prajeśa refers to Marīci and others. The kings refers to Manus sons. He becomes aging in order to destroy. All qualities such as fat and thin, aging and senility arise from the Lord.
Though the Lord is sought by persons with various philosophies, whose minds are bewildered by māyā with names and forms, his intentions cannot be understood.
Since the Lord is able to perform all these activities just by his will, what is the use of all these separate persons endeavoring? Though the Lord is defined by many knowers of scripture who are bewildered by māyā with many names and forms, with philosophies like logic, he cannot be seen. This means that though his actions are glorified, the Lords intention is hard to understand.
I have given the evidence for the divisions of a day of Brahmā in which previous scholars describe fourteen Manvantaras.
I have given the evidence of the recurring divisions of a kalpa in which scholars describe fourteen Manvantaras.
Thus ends the commentary on the Fourteenth Chapter of the Eighth Canto of the Bhāgavatam for the pleasure of the devotees, in accordance with the previous ācāryas.
In the Fourteenth Chapter the duties of the six persons appointed during the fourteen Manvantaras are explained.