maharṣayaḥ sapta pūrve
catvÄro manavas tathÄ
mad-bhÄvÄ mÄnasÄ jÄtÄ
yeá¹£Äá¹ loka imÄḥ prajÄḥ
mahÄ-ṛṣayaḥ - the great sages; sapta - seven; pÅ«rve - before; catvÄraḥ - four; manavaḥ - Manus; tathÄ - also; mat-bhÄvÄḥ - born of Me; mÄnasÄḥ - from the mind; jÄtÄḥ - born; yeá¹£Äm - of them; loke - in the world; imÄḥ - all this; prajÄḥ - population.
The Lord is giving a genealogical synopsis of the universal population. BrahmÄ is the original creature born out of the energy of the Supreme Lord, who is known as Hiraṇyagarbha. And from BrahmÄ all the seven great sages, and before them four other great sages, named Sanaka, Sananda, SanÄtana and Sanat-kumÄra, and the fourteen Manus, are manifested. All these twenty-ï¬ve great sages are known as the patriarchs of the living entities all over the universe. There are innumerable universes and innumerable planets within each universe, and each planet is full of population of different varieties. All of them are born of these twenty-ï¬ve patriarchs. BrahmÄ underwent penance for one thousand years of the demigods before he realized by the grace of Kṛṣṇa how to create. Then from BrahmÄ came Sanaka, Sananda, SanÄtana and Sanat-kumÄra, then Rudra, and then the seven sages, and in this way all the brÄhmaṇas and ká¹£atriyas are born out of the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. BrahmÄ is known as PitÄmaha, the grandfather, and Kṛṣṇa is known as PrapitÄmaha, the father of the grandfather. That is stated in the Eleventh Chapter of the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (11.39).