Verse 1

¹All the ages of the Manus have been told by you and heard by me, and the mighty deeds done in them by Hari, whose might has no end. ²That royal sage named Satyavrata, lord of the Dravidas, who at the end of the age that had gone by came into knowledge by serving the Person, ³he became the Manu, the son of Vivasvat: so I have heard it from you. And his sons were named to us, kings with Iksvaku at their head. ⁴Their line, brahmin, one by one, and the doings that go with the line, tell out to us, greatly favoured one, for we always want to hear. ⁵Those who have been, those who are to be, and those who are today: tell us the valour of all of them, whose fame is holy.

⁶So asked by king Pariksit in the assembly of those who speak of Brahman, the revered Suka, who knows dharma best of all, spoke. ⁷Hear the line of Manu in its main run, scorcher of foes. It cannot be told out at full length even in hundreds of years.