Vīraṇa (Prajāpati)

Vīraṇa

Vīraṇa has other meanings too: see all meanings of Vīraṇa.

Vīraṇa is a Prajāpati, one of the lords of created beings. The Brahma Purāṇa names him as the father of two daughters through whom creation grew: Vairaṇī, in whom Cakshus begot Cākshusha Manu, and Asiknī, whom Daksha took as his wife to increase creation by union.

His daughter Vairaṇī, mother of Cākshusha Manu

Lomaharshaṇa tells the munis the line of Dhruva. From Dhruva, Śambhu bore Ślishṭi and Bhavya. From Ślishṭi, Succhāyā bore five sons, Ripu, Ripuñjaya, Vīra, Vṛkala and Vṛkatejas. From Ripu, Bṛhatī bore Cakshus, full of every tejas (radiance). Cakshus begot Cākshusha Manu in Vairaṇī, the daughter of Prajāpati Vīraṇa. To Cākshusha Manu, ten sons were then born of Naḍvalā, daughter of Vairāja Prajāpati.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 2

His daughter Asiknī, wife of Daksha

The munis ask Lomaharshaṇa to tell them in detail how the devas, dānavas, gandharvas, uragas and rākshasas came to be. By the command of Svayambhū, Daksha began to create. First he created beings by the mind alone, but that offspring did not grow much. Then, wishing to increase it by the dharma of union, he took Asiknī, the daughter of Prajāpati Vīraṇa. In her, a tapasvinī able to bear the worlds, Daksha begot five thousand sons, who became known as the Haryaśvas.

Nārada, the devarshi, turned the Haryaśvas from the work of creation; they went away to the four directions and, like rivers that enter the ocean, never returned. The text also says that Nārada, who had earlier been born of Brahmā, was born in Asiknī, daughter of Vīraṇa. When the Haryaśvas had gone, Daksha begot another thousand sons in Vairiṇī, the daughter of Vīraṇa.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 3

Sources

• Brahma Purāṇa, Chapters 2–3