This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Sriksk21 (talk | contribs) at 12:19, 5 June 2006 (Removed Manusmriti related info from 2nd para as it is a duplicate of the last paragraph.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 12:19, 5 June 2006 by Sriksk21 (talk | contribs) (Removed Manusmriti related info from 2nd para as it is a duplicate of the last paragraph.)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)In Hindu mythology, Manu is a title accorded the progenitor of humankind, first king to rule this earth, who saves mankind from the universal flood. He is honest which is why he is called "Satyavrata", or faster on to the truth.
From the Mahabharatha, Book 1:Adi Parva:Sambhava Parva:Section LXXV: "And Manu was endued with great wisdom and devoted to virtue. And he became the progenitor of a line. And in Manu's race have been born all human beings, who have, therefore, been called Manavas. And it is of Manu that all men including Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, and others have been descended, and are, therefore, all called Manavas. Subsequently, O monarch, the Brahmanas became united with the Kshatriyas. And those sons of Manu that were Brahmanas devoted themselves to the study of the Vedas." He was said to have 10 sons:
"The ten sons of Manu are known as Vena, Dhrishnu, Narishyan, Nabhaga, Ikshvaku, Karusha, Saryati, the eighth, a daughter named Ila, Prishadhru the ninth, and Nabhagarishta, the tenth. They all betook themselves to the practices of Kshatriyas. Besides these, Manu had fifty other sons on Earth. But we heard that they all perished, quarrelling with one another."
During an eon called a Manvantara. 14 Manvantaras make up a Kalpa, a period corresponding to a day in the life of Brahma; each Manvantara is headed by a Manu, the 14 of which are:
- Svayambhuva Manu
- Svaracisa Manu
- Uttama Manu
- Tamasa Manu
- Raivata Manu
- Caksusa Manu
- Vaivasvata Manu
- Savarni Manu
- Daksa Savarni Manu
- Brahma Savarni Manu
- Dharma Savarni Manu
- Rudra Savarni Manu
- Deva Savarni Manu
- Indra Savarni Manu
As of 2004, we are in the 7th Manvantara headed by Vaivasvata Manu.
The Matsya avatar of Vishnu is said to have appeared to King Manu, while he washed his hands in a river. The little fish asked the king to save it, and kept growing bigger and bigger. It also informed the King of a huge flood which would occur soon. The King builds a huge boat, which houses the fish and his family and other seeds of animals to repopulate the earth. This story is very similar to other deluge stories in ancient Sumerian mythology which preceded the story of Noah's ark.
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 Manu smriti was a creation of a brahmin called Sumati Bhargava during the reign of a brahmin king Pushya Mitra Sunga who was persecuting buddhists & promoting hinduism. He had set a prize of 100 gold coins on every buddhist monks head. Buddhists were relegated to low caste.
See also
- Metrics of time in Hinduism
- Manu Smriti
- Mannus Germanic sons of Manno
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