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Revision as of 09:22, 8 June 2006 by Anirudh777 (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)In Hindu mythology, Vaivasvata Manu (also Manu Vaivasvate) is one of the 14 Manus. He is considered the progenitor of the current Manvantara, which is the 7th of the 14 that make up the current Kalpa, each Kalpa making of a day of Brahma.
Manu is also the name of the author of the famous Manusmriti. It is considered by some Hindus to be the law laid down for Hindus. But as it is a smriti, whenever there is a conflict between what is mentioned in it and that mentioned in shruti (Vedas and Upanishads) the latter is considered to be correct. It is also suspected that the myth of Manu and his writings i.e. Manu smriti (slavery system) was a creation of a brahmin called Sumati Bhargava during the reign of a brahmin king Pushya Mitra Sunga (around 170 BCE) who was persecuting buddhists & promoting hinduism. He had set a prize of 100 gold coins on every buddhist and jain monks head and hence caused their slaughter. Buddhists were relegated to low caste and were called sramanas. The ultimate aim of creating the myth of manu ( & manusmriti) was to justify the slavery system as of divine origin so as to make it palatable to masses practising hinduism with the motive to make the upper caste (brahmins) rich & influential as it promised heaven to those who helped and gave donations to brahmins.
He was born to Saranya and Vivasvat. Vaivasvata Manu once caught a talking fish who begged him to rescue it. The fish claimed a Great Flood was coming and it would wash away all living things. Manu put the fish in a pot, and then, as it grew larger, into a tank, a lake and then the ocean. While in the ocean, the fish told Manu to build a boat. He did so and when the flood arrived, the fish (actually Matsya) towed the ship by a cable to attached to his horn.He also had a son named Priyabrata.
See also: Manusmriti