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span class="kMeaningPrefix">MANVANTARA(M)
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1)
Kalpa, Manvantara and Caturyuga. The Prapañca (
universe) is
perishable. At
one time,
it takes
its origin, at
another time it perishes. Brahmā, the
creator of the
universe has
birth and
death. The
period between the
birth and
death of a Brahmā is
known as a “Mahākalpa”. The
flood that comes at the
death of a Brahmā is
called “Mahāpralaya”.
one day of Brahmā is
called Kalpakāla. In the Purāṇas
one Kalpa or
one day of Brahmā is
divided into
fourteen parts. The
master or
ruler of
each of
these divisions is a
manu.
there are fourteen manus. The
life span of
each manu is
called a “Manvantaram”.
there are seventy one Caturyugas in
each Manvantara. The
four yugas
namely Kṛtayuga, Tretāyuga, Dvāparayuga and Kaliyuga
make np one Caturyuga. At the
end of seventyone
such Caturyugas, that is, at the
end of
every two hundred and eightyfour (
71 × 4) yugas, a
manu completes
his life-
span.
along with that, the Devas
who were
born at the
time of the
birth of that
manu,
also come to the
end of
their lives.
fourteen such Manvantaras
make one day of Brahmā.
it is at the
end of that
day that the
original universe perishes. Brahmā's
life-
span is 120
years. At the
end of that
period, that Brahmā perishes. That is to
say, at the
end of
every 42,200
divine days (120 × 360)
which is the
life-
span of a Brahmā, a
deluge takes
place.
thus in
one Brahmā's
time 42,200 Kalpas
take place. A Brahmā's
life span is
known as “Mahākalpa” and the
close of a Brahmā's
period is
called “Mahāpralaya”.
2)
human year (Manuṣya varṣa) and divine year (Deva varṣa). When
two leaves
are placed one over the
other and
they are pierced by a
needle, the
time required for the
needle to
pass from the
first leaf to the
second is
called “Alpakāla”.
thirty such alpakālas
make one “Truṭi”.
thirty truṭis
make one “Kalā”.
thirty Kalās
make one “Kāṣṭhā”,
which is
also known as “Nimiṣa” “Noṭi” or “Mātrā”.
four “Nimiṣas”
make one “Gaṇita”.
ten Gaṇitas,
one “Neṭuvīrppu”.
six neṭuvīrppus,
one “Vināzhikā”.
sixty vināzhikās
one “Ghaṭikā”.
sixty ghaṭikās
one day (
day and
night together).
fifteen days,
one “Pakṣa”.
two Pakṣas,
one “Cāndra māsa” (
lunar month).
one Cāndramāsa for
human beings is
one “ahorātra” (
one day and
night making up
one full day) for the pitṛs.
twelve Cāndra māsas
make one year for
human beings.
one year for
human beings is
one ahorātra for the gods.
three hundred ahorātras of gods
make one “Deva Vatsara” or “Divya vatsara”. 4,800 divyavatsaras
make one Kṛtayuga. 3,600 divyavatsaras
make one Tretāyuga, 2,400 divyavatsaras
make one Dvāparayuga. 1,200 divyavatsaras
make one Kaliyuga.
12,
000 divyavatsaras
comprising a
set of Kṛta, Tretā. Dvāpara and Kaliyugas
make one Caturyuga. A
manu's
period is
completed at the
end of
71 Caturyugas. With that, the
first group of gods
also comes to an
end. At the
end of
fourteen such manus,
one “Kalpa” is
over and a
deluge takes
place. The
whole of
this period comprises
one night for Brahmā.
night is the
time of
complete inactivity. With the
end of the
night,
creation is
started again. When 360
such ahorātras of Brahmā
are completed,
he completes
one year.
after completing 120
such years, a Brahmā perishes.
again a
period of
absolute inactivity follows for the
length of a Brahmā's
life-
span.
after a
period of 120
brahma varṣas (the
lifespan of a Brahmā)
another Brahmā comes into
being. The
life-
span of Brahmā is
shown in the
following tabular form: 360
days for gods--
one Deva vatsara.
12,
000 Deva vatsaras--1 caturyuga (
36 lakhs
years for
human beings).
71 caturyugas--1 Manvantaram (
one manu's
life-
span).
14 Manvantaras--1 Kalpa (
one day time for Brahmā) 2 Kalpas--
one day (and
night) for Brahmā. (Ahorātra) 360
days of Brahmā--1
brahma Varṣa 120
brahma Varṣas--
one Brahmā's
life-
span.
this life-
span of
one Brahmā is
therefore 30 crores 9 lakhs
17 thousands 376
hundreds of
years of
human beings.
it is
said that a
manu's
period of
reign is 4,
32,
000 Manuṣyarvarṣas.
[Bhāgavata, 3rd Skandha] .
3)
The caturyuga scheme. A caturyuga consists of the
four yugas,
namely Kṛta, Tretā, Dvāpara and
kali yugas. At the
end of
each Caturyuga, the Vedas
perish then the “Saptarṣis” (
seven sages)
come down from
heaven to the
earth and
restore them again.
manu who is the
propounder of Dharma śāstra, is
also born in
every Kṛtayuga. The Devas of
each Manvantaram
feed upon the
share of Havis (
offerings at sacrifices) of the yāga
till the
end of that Manvantara.
during the
whole period of the Manvantara, the
earth is
protected and
preserved by the sons of
manu and
their descendants.
thus manu, the Saptarṣis, Devas,
indra and the Kings
who are the sons of
manu are the
authorities of the Manvantara.
after 14 Manvantaras a Kalpa of
about 1,
000 yugas, comes to an
end.
after that
there is a
night extending
over the
same period in
duration. At that
time Mahāviṣṇu sleeps on
his bed Ananta in the
ocean of
deluge.
after that,
he wakes up
again and performs
creation.
manus, Kings,
indra, Devas and Saptarṣis
are the Sāttvika aspects of Mahāviṣṇu,
who performs the
work of protecting the
world. In Kṛta yuga, Mahāviṣṇu assumes the
form of Kapila and others and preaches “Paramajñāna”. In Tretā yuga
he assumes the
form of an
emperor and destroys the
wicked people. In Dvāpara yuga,
he assumes the
form of Vyāsa and
after dividing the
veda into 4 sections, classifies
each of the sections into the
various branches. At the
end of Kaliyuga, Mahāviṣṇu assumes the
form of
kalki and restores the
vicious to the
path of
righteousness.
this is the “Caturyuga scheme” of Mahāviṣṇu.
[Viṣṇu Purāṇa. Part III, Chapter 2] .
4)
The fourteen manus. The
names of the
fourteen manus of
one Kalpa
are given below:
(1) Svāyambhuva
(2) Svārociṣa
(3) Uttama (Auttami)
(4) Tāmasa
(5) Raivata
(6) Cākṣuṣa
(7) Vaivasvata
(8) Sāvarṇi
(9) Dakṣasāvarṇi
(
10) Brahmasāvarṇi
(
11) Dharmasāvarṇi
(
12) Rudrasāvarṇi
(
13) Raucyadevasāvarṇi
(
14) Indrasāvarṇi.
each of the
above manus is
described below:--
(1)
Svāyambhuva. (a)
general. Svāyambhuva was
born as the
spiritual son of Brahmā.
this manu got his name because he was “Svāyambhuva” or
born from Brahmā.
he married the
goddess Śatarūpā, the
spiritual daughter of Brahmā.
after that,
he went to the
shore of the
ocean of
milk,
made an
image of Mahādevī
there and
worshipped her by chanting Vāgbhava
mantra and
performed an
austere penance.
after a
hundred years of
such worship the
goddess was
pleased.
she appeared
before Svāyambhuva and
granted him boons.
she blessed him to
attain the
highest place in
heaven (Paramapada)
after begetting
vast progeny.
then the
goddess went to Vindhya
mountain and
became the
deity of Vindhya. Svāyambhuva
returned and
started his reign by
worshipping the
goddess.
this Svāyambhuva is
regarded as the
author of the
famous work “Manusmṛti”. Kālidāsa says that the Kings of the Raghu
dynasty lived in
strict obedience to the laws
laid down by
this manu.
[Devī Bhāgavata, Daśama Skandha] . (b)
other details.(i) The Saptarṣis of
first Manvantara were--Marīci, Aṅgiras, Atri, Pulaha, Kratu, Pulastya and Vasiṣtha. Devas
are known as Yamas. The
first manu had
ten sons namelv Agnīdhra, Agnibāhu, Medhā, Medhātithi, Vasu, Jyotiṣmān, Dyutimān, Havya, Savana and Putra and
they ruled over the
country.
[Harivaṁśa, Chapter 7] .
(
ii)
emperor Pṛthu
turned Svāyambhuva
manu into a
calf and
obtained medicine from Bhūmi by
milking her as a
cow.
[Bhāgavata, 4th Skandha] .
(
iii)
born from Virāṭ aṇḍa.
[M.B. Ādi Parva Chapter 1, Verse 32] .
(
iv)
sage Cyavana
married this manu's
daughter.
[M.B. Ādi Parva, Chapter 66, Verse 46] .
(v)
this manu taught soma, the
art of Cākṣuṣī.
[M.B. Ādi Parva, Chapter 169, Verse 43] .
(
vi)
since this manu had
blessed the clouds of the Magadha
country they sent periodical rains to that
region.
[M.B. Sabhā Parva, Chapter 21, Verse 10] .
(
vii)
manu came to the
world,
riding in the
chariot of the gods to
see Arjuna's
fight.
[M.B. Virāṭa Parva, Chapter 56, Verse 10] .
(
viii)
this manu had a
wife named Sarasvatī (Śatarūpā). ---
10--- .
(
ix)
this manu lives in Bindusaras. ---
11--- .
(x)
he came at the
time of Subrahmaṇya's
birth. ---
12--- .
(
xi)
manu held discussions with Siddhas. ---
13--- .
(
xii)
he was the
king of
men. ---
14--- .
(
xiii)
this manu is
called “Prajāpati Manu”.
once he had a
talk with Bṛhaspati on the
subject of Dharma. ---
15--- .
(
xiv) Upamanyu
saw Svāyambhuva
manu sitting by the
side of Śiva.
[Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 14, Verse 280] .
(
xv)
he talked with the
sage Suparṇa
about the
greatness of flowers, fumes,
lights,
offerings and gifts. ---
17--- .
(2)
Svārociṣa. (a) general. Svāyambhuva had
two great sons Priyavrata and Uttānapāda. The
second manu was the
son of Priyavrata and
his name was Svārociṣa.
he was a
glorious and
adventurous man.
he went to the banks of the
river Kālindī,
made a
hermitage there,
installed an
idol of Devī
made of
earth and
offered worship most fervently. At the
end of
12 years of tapas when
he ate
only dried leaves, Devī appeared
before him in
her dazzling brilliance and
blessed him. The
name of
this Devī was “Dhāriṇīdevī”.
after a
reign of
many years this king went to
heaven. ---
18--- . (b)
other details.(i) Pārāvatas and Tuṣitas were the Devas in
this Manvantara. The
mighty Vipaścit was Devendra. The Saptarṣis were Ūrjja, Stambha, Prāṇa, Rāma, Ṛṣabha, Niraya, and Parīvān.
caitra, Kimpuruṣa and others were the sons of Svārociṣa
manu.
[Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Part 3, Chapter 1] .
(
ii) In Harivaṁśa,
chapter 7
we read that the Saptarṣis of
this Manvantaram were Aurva, Stambha, Kaśyapa, Prāṇa, Bṛhaspati, Datta and Niścyavana.
(
iii) Brahmā
taught this manu, Sātvatadharma. Svārociṣa
taught this dharma to
his son Śaṅkhavadana. ---
20--- .
(3)
Auttami (Uttama). (a) general. Uttama was
also the
son of Priyavrata.
he went to Gaṅgā tīrtha and
offered worship to Devī for
three years with Vāgbīja
mantra. At the
end of
it, Devī was
pleased and
blessed him with
worthy sons and a
kingdom without the
threat of enemies
after a
happy reign of
many years, at the
close of the Manvantara,
he reached the
highest place in
heaven. Devi Bhāgavata,
10th Skandha). (b)
other details. Suśānti was the
name of the Devendra of
this Manvantara.
there were
five groups of Devas,
namely Sudhāmans, Satyas, Japas, Pratardanas and Śivas,
each group consisting of
twelve Devas. The
seven sons of the
sage Vasiṣṭha were the saptarṣis of
this Manvantara.
these seven sons of Vasiṣṭha by
his wife Ūrjjā were Rajas, Gotra, Ūrdhvabāhu, Savana, Anagha, Sutapas and Śukra. Aja, Paraśudīpta and others were the sons of the
manu Uttama. ---
21--- .
(4)
Tāmasa. (a) general. The
fourth manu Tāmasa was the
son of Priyavrata. That
king performed penance to Devī on the
northern bank of the
river Narmadā with Kāmarāja
mantra. As a
result of Devī's
blessing,
he obtained a
prosperous kingdom and
worthy sons.
after a
long reign he attained heaven.
[Devī Bhāgavata, 10th Skandha] .
(b) other details. At the
time of
this manu,
there were
four groups of Devas,
namely--Supāras, Haris, Satyas, and Sudhīs.
each of
these groups
contained 27 Devas. Śibi
who had
performed a
hundred yāgas was the
indra. The Saptarṣis of
this Manvantara were Jyotirmān, Pṛthu, Kāvya,
caitra, Agnivanaka, and Pīvara and Nara. Khyāti, Keturūpa, Jānujaṅgha and others were the sons of Tāmasa
manu.
[Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Part I, Chapter 1] .
(5)
Raivata. (a)
general. The
fifth manu Raivata was the
younger brother of Tāmasa.
he worshipped Devī with Kāmabīja
mantra on the banks of the
river Kālindī. With the
blessing of Devī
he ruled for
many years and
then attained heaven.
[Devī Bhāgavata, 10th Skandha] . (b)
other details. The
name of the
indra of
this Manvantara was Vibhu.
there were
four groups of Devas--Amitābhas, Bhūtarayas, Vaikuṇṭhas and Sumedhas.
each of
these groups
contained fourteen Devas. The Saptarṣis of Raivata Manvantara were-- Hiraṇyaromā, Vedasrī, Ūrdhvabāhu, Vedabāhu, Sudāmā, Parjanya and Mahāmuni. The sons of Raivata
manu, Balabandhu, Sambhāvya, Satyaka and others were
mighty Kings.
[Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Part 3, Chapter 1] .
(6)
Cākṣuṣa. (a) general. this manu was the
son of Aṅga.
once he went to the Rājarṣi (
royal saint) Pulaha and
prayed for
prosperity,
mastery of the
whole world,
invincible power and
profound scholarship. Pulaha
sent him to Devī. The Rājarṣi
taught him the
worship of Devī.
after acquiring the
mantra Cākṣuṣa went to the banks of the
river Virajā and
offered worship to Devī. At the
end of
twelve years, Devī appeared
before him and
blessed him with “Manuhood”,
mastery of the
manu kingdom and
brilliant sons
after many years he distributed his kingdoms
among his sons and at
last attained “Devīpada”.
[Devī Bhāgavata, Daśama Skandha] .
(b) other details. (i) The
following account is
given in Viṣṇu Purāṇa,
part I,
chapter 13,
about the
birth of Cākṣuṣa
manu. Dhruva and
his wife Śambhu had
two sons,
namely Śiṣṭi and Bhavya. Succhāyā, the
wife of Śiṣṭi gave
birth to
five sons, Ripu, Ripuñjaya, Vipra, Vṛkala and Vṛkatejas,
who were
all sinless. Cākṣuṣa was
born to Bṛhatī, the
wife of Ripu. Cākṣuṣa begot
manu by Puṣkariṇī,
daughter of Vīraṇa Prajāpati.
this was the
sixth manu. By
his wife Naḍvalā, the
daughter of Vairāja Prajāpati,
he had
10 sons,
namely,
kuru, Puru, Śatadyumna, Tapasvī, Satyavān, Śuci, Agniṣṭoma, Atirātra, Sudyumna and Abhimanyu. Āgneyī,
wife of
kuru, gave
birth to
six sons
who were Aṅga, Sumanas, Khyāti, Kratu, Aṅgiras and Śibi. Sunīthā,
wife of Aṁga, gave
birth to
vena. Pṛthu was the
son of
vena.
he is
also known as “Vainya”.
(
ii) The
indra of that
period was Manojava.
there were
five groups of Devas--Ākhyas, Prasūtas, Bhavyas, Pṛthukas and Lekhas,
each group consisting of
eight Devas. The Saptarṣis of
this Manvantara were-- Sumedhas, Virajas, Haviṣmān, Uttama, Madhu, Atināman and Sahiṣṇu. Śatadyumna and
other mighty Kings were the sons of Cākṣuṣa
manu. ---
27--- .
(
iii) The sons of
this manu became famous under the
name “Variṣṭhas”
[M.B. Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 18, Verse 20] .
(7)
Vaivasvata. (a) general. he was
born from Sūrya.
it is
this manu who rules the
world today.
all living beings that
we see today were
born from
him. Vaivasvata
manu is Satyavrata
manu who escaped from the
last deluge. To
save him Viṣṇu took up the
incarnation of Matsya (
fish). Vaivasvata
manu was
also the
first of the Kings of the Sūrya vaṁśa (
solar dynasty)
who ruled over Ayodhyā.
(b) other details. (i) In
[Devī Bhāgavata, Saptama Skandha] ,
we see that the sons of Vaivasvata
namely Ikṣvāku, Nābhāga, Dhṛṣṭa, Śaryāti, Nariṣyanta, Prāṁśu, Nṛga, Diṣṭa, Karūṣa and Pṛṣadhra were
also called manus.
(
ii)
this manu worshipped Devī and
received her blessing and
attained heaven after a
long reign. ---
30--- .
(
iii) Vaivasvata
manu had
another name, “Śrāddhadeva.” The Devas of
this Manvantaram
are Ādityas, Vasus and Rudras. The
name of the
indra of
this period is Purandara. The Saptarṣis
are, Vasiṣṭha, Kaśyapa, Atri, Jamadagni,
gautama, Viśvāmitra and Bharadvāja. The
nine Dhārmikas (
virtuous ones), Ikṣvāku, Nṛga, Dhṛṣṭa, Śaryāti, Nariṣyanta, Nābhāga, Ariṣṭa, Karūṣa and Prṣadhra
are the sons of Vaivasvata
manu.
[Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Part 8, Chapter 1] .
(
iv)
ten sons were
born to
this manu who were
vena, Dhṛṣṇu, Nariṣyanta, Nābhāga, Ikṣvāku, Kārūṣa, Śaryāti, lla, Pṛṣadhra, and Nābhāgāriṣṭa. ---
32--- .
(v) Mahāviṣṇu incarnated as Matsya for the
sake of Vaivasvata
manu. ---
33--- .
(
vi)
he received Yogavidyā from Sūrya and Ikṣvāku
received it later from
him.
[M.B. Bhīṣma Parva, Chapter 122, Verse 38] .
(
vii) At the
beginning of Tretāyuga, Sūrya
taught “Sātvata Dharma” to
manu and
manu taught it to Ikṣvāku for the
protection of
all creatures.
[M.B. Śānti Parva, Chapter 348, Verse 51] .
(
viii) The
sage gautama taught Śivasahasranāma to Vaivasvata
manu. ---
36--- .
(8)
Sāvarṇi. (a) general. even in
his previous birth he was a
devotee of Devī. In
his former birth (
during the
period of Svārociṣa Manvantara) Sāvarṇi was
born as a
king of Caitravaṁśa
under the
name Suratha. The
origin of the
dynasty known as Caitravaṁśa was as follows:--Atri,
son of Brahmā had a
son named Niśākara.
this Niśākara
became an
emperor by
performing Rājasūya.
emperor Niśākara had a
son Budha and Budha had a
son named caitra,
both of whom were
greatly renowned.
it was
caitra's
family which later on
became the
reputed caitra dynasty. The
son of that
caitra was Viratha. Suratha was the
son of Viratha.
this was the
previous birth of Sāvarṇi
manu. Suratha was a
great hero and
poet.
once another king besieged his city and
defeated him. Suratha
left his kingdom and went
alone on horseback and took
shelter in a
dense forest.
while wandering in the
forest like a
mad man with a
broken heart,
he happened to
reach the āśrama of the
sage Sumedhas. The
sage advised him to
worship Devī in
order to
retrieve his lost kingdom and
prosperity.
accordingly the
king worshipped Devī
who was
pleased and
restored to
him his kingdom and
prosperity.
besides,
she blessed him that in
his next birth he would become Sāvarṇi, the
king of the
solar dynasty and
would be revered as the
eighth manu.
thus the
eighth manu Sāvarṇi
will be the
second birth of Suratha.
[Devī Bhāgavata, 10th Skandha] .
(b) other details. Sāvarṇi is
also the
son of Sūrya.
how he came to
be called Sāvarṇi is
explained below:-- Sūrya had
three children
manu,
yama and Yamī by Saṁjñā, the
daughter of Viśvakarmā.
this manu was Vaivasvata
manu, the
seventh manu.
unable to
bear the
intense heat of Sūrya, Saṁjñā
once sent her maid Chāyā to Sūrya in
her own disguise and went to the
forest for tapas. Sūrya had
three children by Chāyā, Śanai- ścara,
another manu and Tapatī.
this manu is
known as Sāvarṇi
who will become the
eighth manu. In
his time there will be three groups of Devas--Sutapas, Amitābhas and Mukhyas.
each of
these groups
will consist of
twelve persons. The Saptarṣis of the
eighth Manvantara
are Dīptimān, Gālava, Rāma, Kṛpa, Aśvatthāmā
son of Droṇa, Vyāsa
son of Parāśara and Ṛṣyaśṛṅga. Mahābali,
son of Virocana
will be the
indra. Virajas, Urvarīyān, Nirmoka and others
are the Kings
who are the sons of Sāvarṇi
manu. ---
38--- .
(9)
Dakṣa Sāvarṇi. general. At the
time of
this manu there are three groups of Devas
namely, Pāras, Marīcigarbhas and Sudharmans.
each of the groups contains
12 Devas. The
indra who is the
king of
those Devas, is the
mighty Adbhuta. The Saptarṣis of
this Manvantara
are:--Savana, Dyutimān, Bhavya, Vasu, Medhātithi, Jyotiṣmān and Satya, Dhṛtaketu. Dīptiketu, Pañcahasta, Nirāmaya, Pṛthuśravas
are the sons of Dakṣasāvarṇi
manu.
[Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Part III, Chapter 2] .
(
10).
brahma Sāvarṇi. general. In
this Manvantara, the Devas
are Sudhāmans and Viśuddhas.
each of
these groups
will contain 100 Devas.
their indra will be the
heroic Śānti. The Saptarṣis
will be Haviṣmān, Sukṛta, Satya, Tapomūrti, Nabhāga, Apratimaujas and Satyaketu.
brahma Sāvarṇi
will have ten sons,
three of whom
are, Sukṣetra, Uttam- aujas and Bhūtisena
who will become Kings.
[Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Part III, Chapter 2] .
(
11).
Dharma Sāvarṇi. general. In
this Manvantara
there will be three groups of Devas
namely, Vihaṅgamas, Kāmagas and Nirvāṇaratis,
each of the groups consisting of
30 Devas. Vṛṣa, Agnitejas, Vapuṣmān, Ghṛṇī, Āruṇi, Haviṣmān, and Anagha
will be the Saptarṣis. The sons of Dharma Sāvarṇi
viz., Sarvatraga, Sudharmā, Devānīka and others
will be the kings of that
time.
(
12).
rudra Sāvarṇi. general. this manu is the
son of
rudra. The
indra of
this Manvantara
will be Ṛtudhāman.
there will be five groups of Devas
namely, Haritas, Rohitas, Sumanases, Sukarmans and Supāras.
each group will contain 10 Devas. Saptarṣis
are Tapasvī, Sutapas, Tapomūrti, Taporati, Tapodhṛti, Tapodyuti and Tapodhana. The sons of
this manu, Devavān, Upadeva and Deva- śreṣṭha
will be mighty kings.
[Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Part III, Chapter 2] .
(
13).
Raucyadeva Sāvarṇi. (Ruci). general. there will be three groups of Devas
during this period called Sutrāmans, Sukarmans and Sudharmans.
each of
these groups
will contain 33 Devas. The
mighty Divaspati
will be their indra. Nirmoha, Tattvadarśī, Niṣprakampya, Nirutsuka, Dhṛtimān, Avyaya and Sutapas
are the Saptarṣis of that
period. Citrasena, Vicitra and
other sons of
this manu will be kings.
[Viṣṇu Purāṇa, Part III, Chapter 2] .
(
14).
indra Sāvarṇi (Bhaumi). general. The
indra of
this Manvantara
will be Śuci.
under his control there will be five groups of Devas.
they are Cākṣuṣas, Pavitras, Kaniṣṭhas, Bhrājakas and Vācāvṛddhas. The Saptarṣis of
this period are Agnibāhu, Śuci, Śukra, Māgadha, Agnīdhra, Yukta and Jita. At that
time the sons of the
manu who would rule the
earth will be Uru, Gambhīrabuddhi and others. ---
43--- . 5).
some more details. fourteen manus have been
mentioned above. Of
them, the
seventh manu, Vaivasvata
manu is the
head of the
present Manvantrara.
some general facts about the
manus are given below:- 1) The
six manus after the
eighth one namely, Dakṣasāvarṇi, Merusāvarṇi, Sūryasāvarṇi, Candrasāvarṇī, Rudrasāvarṇi and Viṣṇusāvarṇi
are respectively the
re-births of Karūṣa, Pṛṣadhra, Nābh- āga, Diṣṭa, Śaryāti and Triśaṅku
who were the sons of Vaivasvsata
manu.
there is a
story about their taking re-births.
all the
six persons
mentioned above were
once offering worship to the
idol of Devī on the banks of the
river Kālindī.
after twelve years, Devī appeared,
under the
name of Bhramarāmbikā and
blessed them that in
their next births
they would become rulers of Manvantaras.
[Devī Bhāgavata, 10th Skandha] . 2)
it is
said that the
four manus, Svārociṣa, Uttama, Tāmasa and Raivata belonged to Priyavrata's
family.
it was
because Priyavrata
who was a Rājarṣi
offered tapas to Viṣṇu that
four manus were
born in
his family. ---
45--- . 3)
it is the
power of Viṣṇu that dominates
all the Manvantaras as the
basic divinity. In the
first Svāyambhuva Manvantara
it was a
part of that
power of Viṣṇu
itself that
originated as Yajñapuruṣa in Ābhūti.
after that when Svārociṣa Manvantara
came it was
again that
divinity that took
its origin in Tuṣitā as Ajita
among the Tuṣitas. In Uttama Manvantara that
divinity Tuṣita
him self was
born again under the
name of Satya as the
son of Satyā in the
group of Devas
called Satyas. When Tāmasa Manvantara began, that
divinity was
born again as the
son of Haryā as a Hari in the
group of Devas
called Haris.
it was that
divinity Hari
himself who was
born in Sambhūti
under the
name of Mānasa
among the Devas
called Raivatas in Raivata Manvantara. In Cākṣuṣa Manvantara that Viṣṇu Bhagavān took
birth in Vikuṇṭhī as
one of the Vaikuṇṭhas. In the
present Vaivasvata Manvantara, Viṣṇu has incarnated in
aditi as Vāmana, the
son of Kaśyapa. That
great Vāmana
conquered all the
three worlds and
presented them to Devendra. ---
46--- .
besides the
fourteen manus mentioned above,
certain other manus are also referred to in the Purāṇas.
some details about them are given below:--
(1)
it is
seen from
[Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa, 14th Sarga, verse 11] , that Kaśyapa had a
wife named manu.
(2)
there is a
reference to a Rājarṣi (
saintly king)
named manu in
[Ṛgveda, first Maṇḍala, 16th Anuvāka, 112th Sūkta] .
(3) A
son named manu was
born to the
agni Tapa or Pāñcajanya.
this manu has
another name Bhānu.
he had
three wives
named Suprajā, Bṛhadbhāsā and Niśā.
six sons were
born to
him by the
first two wives. By
his third wife he had
one daughter and
seven sons.
[M.B. Vana Parva, Chapter 221, Verse 4] .
(4) In
[Mahābhārata, Śānti Parva, Chapter 57, verse 43] ,
we find a
reference to
another manu named Pracetas.