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Revision as of 09:49, 7 June 2006 by Anirudh777 (talk | contribs)(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.
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 who was persecuting buddhists & promoting hinduism. He had set a prize of 100 gold coins on every buddhist and jain monks head and hence 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.
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.
See also
- Metrics of time in Hinduism
- Manu Smriti
- Mannus Germanic sons of Manno
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