King Parikshit requested Sukhdev to describe about the dynasty of his contemporary Manu, Shraddha Dev. Sukhdev said: ‘Parikshit, I describe about the dynasty of Manu in short because if I go in detail, it will not be completed in hundreds of years.’ Manu Shraddha Dev was the son of Surya and Sandhya. Name of Manu’s wife was Shradha. They did not have any child initially, so they organised a Putrayeshti Yagya under the auspices of their family teacher Vashishtha. But right amidst the proceedings, the queen Shraddha prayed the Brahmins to bless her for a female child. The Brahmins made offerings as per her wish. Consequently a girl, instead of a boy, was born to them. She was named Ila. But the King requested Vashishtha to transform her into a boy. Vashishtha did the same, and the boy thus obtained was named as Sudyumna.
