Early man, tell me if you can,
When did you come to Earth,
Opened your eyes, And took your first steps,
What era was that, Unknown, Unnamed,
When the rising sun, Kissed your forehead,
When you were ignited, And you were born..
In these verses, Kalpana Singh Chitnis beautifully conveys the enigma that the First Human-Beings are. WHO indeed was the first man? HOW did he appear? WHERE did he come from? WHAT gave birth to him and WHEN was he born?
Peering out the window, looking at Versova beach, I can still see people mulling around even at this late hour.. after all it's Mumbai, the city that never sleeps. There is a sea of Humanity wherever you turn to and sometimes it feels as if the city is literally bursting at its seams!
I started wondering how so many people came to be and my thoughts turned towards the legend of the First Man on this planet. Hindu Scriptures call this Man - Manu and make him the Indian counterpart of western Adam, the First Human-being created by God.
The Brahma Puraan declares :
Peering out the window, looking at Versova beach, I can still see people mulling around even at this late hour.. after all it's Mumbai, the city that never sleeps. There is a sea of Humanity wherever you turn to and sometimes it feels as if the city is literally bursting at its seams!
I started wondering how so many people came to be and my thoughts turned towards the legend of the First Man on this planet. Hindu Scriptures call this Man - Manu and make him the Indian counterpart of western Adam, the First Human-being created by God.
The Brahma Puraan declares :
"To continue with Creation, Brahma gave form to a Man and a Woman. The man was Swayambhu Manu and the Woman was named Shatrupa. Humans are descended from Manu, that is the reason they are known as Manavs."
Indeed MANU is the root-word for both the Sanskrit 'Manushya' and the English 'Man' that derives origin from the Germanic Mannus which stems from the same root as Manu.
The First Man - Manu
As explained in the third post (Creation by Brahma), after creating the Devas, Asurs, Pitras etc. Lord Brahma was completely exhausted and decided to take a break. He sat ruminating about the direction his work had taken till now, when suddenly, from his body, emerged a creature who looked a lot like him.
This was the First Man, Swayambhu Manu (Born-on-his-Own) who was born with the Kaya of his father Brahma (Ka-Brahma, ya-form). Interestingly, the same incident is noted in Bible as - 'Man was created in the Image of His Maker!'
Son and Father - Adam and God - Manu and Brahma
Alongwith Manu, there appears the feminine principle in the form of Shatrupa, the counterpart to Biblical Eve. Norse Mythology uses the terms Ask and Embla for Manu and Shatrupa, while the Zoroastrians called them Mashya and Mashyana.
However, there are certain fundamental differences between the Western and Hindu concepts of the Creation of Man.
- While in the former, God deliberately created Adam, in the Latter, Manu emerged ON HIS OWN from the body of Lord Brahma.
- In the Western concept, woman was created from the rib of Man(u) but in Hindu tradition, both emerged on their own from the body of Brahma thus, there is an Equality of Sexes.
- Again, unlike the Biblical and Islamic accounts, there is no mention of the First Couple being thrown out of the Garden-of-Eden and NO concept of the ORIGINAL SIN.
- Neither is there a mention of the DEVIL disguised as a serpent who asked Eve to partake of the forbidden fruit which she passes on to Adam resulting in their expulsion.
Instead, Lord Brahma, quite willingly, asks Manu and Shatrupa to establish their dominion on the Planet Earth. Here, the Biblical record matches with the Puranic story wherein Manu/Adam is made the Lord of all beings on Earth.
Manu and Shatrupa asked to establish their dominion on Earth
In Western Theology, the belief that Adam and Eve were created fully grown, has led to the depiction of the first human couple WITHOUT navels and is propounded in the Omphalos theory.
The idea is that they did not develop in a womb, therefore could not have been connected to an Umbilical Cord like other Humans. This again matches with the Hindu conception of Manu and Shatrupa emerging full-grown from the body of Brahma without any BIOLOGICAL parents.
Interestingly, Hindu scriptures do not stop at one Manu but mention MORE than ten different Manus! To clear the confusion, I should mention that Manu is NOT the name of a person but a TITLE, and refers to different people in different spans of Time just like Indra!!
So How many Manus are there?
To understand this, we shall first have to go through the basic calculation of time for Lord Brahma. As mentioned in various other posts, just like our own division of time, each day of Brahma (known as a Kalpa) is divided into 14 Manvantars (~ our 12 Hours) and each Manvantar is composed of 72 Chatur Yugas ( ~ our 60 Minutes).
As you can observe from the chart above, the Chatur-yuga and Manvantar periods run into huge time spans. For the smooth functioning of such long intervals of time, each of these has a different set of Gods and Guardians.
For example, the post of Indra passes to the most deserving of the Devas every Manvantar and alongwith him, the groups of Devas, Saptarishis etc. also change posts and so does the Manu.
Thus, there are a total of 14 Manus in EACH day of Brahma and it is in deference to Manu that the division of time is called a Manvantar!
Right now, we are nearing the Noon of the 1st year of the 51st day of our Brahma's life. This implies there have already been a total of {14x360x50 = 252000 Manus for previous Years + 7 for this day} = 252007 Manus till now! Mercifully, our scriptures do not give us the details of the previous years of Brahma's life and only talk about the CURRENT day known as the Varah Kalpa :o)
The Current Day of Brahma
At the end of the 50th Year of Brahma, there was the usual flooding and destruction. Brahma rested for the night and at the break of the First Dawn of his 51st Year, started the process once again {For details check the post - Creation by Brahma}.
Shrimad Bhagvatam gives the names of all the past, present and future Manus for the current day of Brahma.
Fourteen Manus and corresponding Indras
Now, our Swayambhu Manu and Shatrupa were all set to take their place in the scheme of things and populate the Earth with their progeny. But, when they tried to locate their future home, the planet Earth was not to be found anywhere!
This is what had happened - While Brahma was busy with the creative process, a demon called Hiranyaksh (the Golden-Eyed), had abducted the Earth-goddess Bhumi from her central position in Bhu-loka and imprisoned her in the Lower planetary system of Rasaatal. Consequently, Manu and Shatrupa did not have a planet of their own anymore.
I used to be quite confused as a kid as to what ocean could be so huge that an entire planet can drown and get submerged in it! Shrimad Bhagavatam clarifies that this ISN'T an earthly water-body we are talking about, but the Cosmic Ocean known as Garbhodak that forms the base of our Universe. {For details check the previous post - Lokas or Alien Planets?}.
Earth trapped at the bottom of the Garbhodak Ocean
Brahma was dismayed and started praying to Lord Vishnu for help. The benevolent Lord then adopted the form of a huge boar (Varaha) to perform the dual task of releasing Bhumi-devi from imprisonment and vanquishing the demon Hiranyaksh.
One may wonder why Lord Vishnu took this particular form at that time. The reason for it is pretty simple and is related to what I call the 'Boon of Conditional Immortality'. What I am referring to is the practice where an Asura would perform great penance directed towards Brahma in order to obtain Immortality and Brahma would grant him the boon BUT with an inherent condition.
An Asura praying to Brahma for Immortality
Image courtsey India Authentic Comics
{Issue - Uma}
We saw in the Post {Devi - God as a Female}, the Minotaur Mahish, who had conquered the Three Worlds, had to be killed by a Female warrior because he had the Boon of Conditional Immortality against Males of any species. Hence Devi Durga had to be created from the combined energy of all Gods.
Similarly, Hiranyaksh asked for a boon of invincibility against ALL known species of Men, Animals, Birds and Divine Beings (male as well as female), but FORGOT to enumerate the Wild-Boar or Varah. Hence, Lord Vishnu had to incarnate in this particular form to put an end to the demon's life.
The gigantic Varah entered the cosmic waters and began to search for the captive planet. He found the submerged Earth and raised it on His tusks up to the top of the Garbhodak Ocean, after which He proceeded to kill the evil demon Hiranyaksh. Since this Kalpa started with the appearance of Lord Vishnu, it is known as the Varah Kalpa and because of the First Man - Manu, the First Manvantar is known as the Swayambhu Manvantar.
Lord Varah heralding the present 51st Day of Brahma
After the Earth was restored to its proper position, Manu and Shatrupa took charge of its affairs. They had two sons Priyavrat and Uttanpad and two daughters Devahuti and Akuti. The two sons were married to daughters of the rishis while the two daughters of Manu were married to the Manas-Putras.
The sons of Priyavrat were the ones who established dominion over the Mortal Realm. Priyavrat and his wife Kamya had 2 daughters and 10 sons, 7 of whom became the rulers of the Seven Mortal Realms. We have touched upon these realms in the previous post {Lokas, the Planets of Advanced Aliens} and I am sharing with you the names of the seven sons of Agnidhra who established their kingdoms in these planets.
7 rulers of 7 Mortal Dvipas
Saval
Pushkardvipa |
Bhavya
Shakadvipa |
Dyutimat Kraunchdvipa
|
Vapushmat Shalmalidvipa
|
Jyotishmat Kushadvipa
|
Medhatithi Plakshdvipa
|
Agnidhra
Jambudvipa |
Emperor Agnidhra became the monarch of our own planet Earth (Jambudvipa) and when the time was opportune, he divided his kingdom into 9 different continents for his 9 sons. The details of this division can be obtained from my earlier post {Jambudweep - The Global Island}.
Manu's other son, Uttanpad also begot extremely virtuous sons and three of them viz, Uttam, Raivat and Tamas became the Manus for 3rd, 4th and the 5th Manvantar respectively. The fourth son Dhruva, because of his undying devotion to Lord Vishnu, became the guardian of the ONLY Spiritual Abode in this Material Universe, the Dhruva Loka. Let's know a little more about the Manvantars that have already come to pass in the Present Day of Brahma.
PAST Manvantars of the VARAH KALPA
(2). Swarochish Manvantar - Swarochi was the Manu for the second Manvantar and the son of fire-god Agni. He had sons named Dyumana, Sushen and Rochisman.
During that Manvantar, Indra’s post was occuppied by Rochan and instead of the present Adityas, Tushitas were the gods.
These Tushitas are better detailed in Buddhist Cosmology where they are described as superior Devas dwelling in the Tushita Heaven led by their ruler Santushita. This is where all Bodhisattvas destined to reach full enlightenment in their next life dwell before descending to Earth.
Another noteworthy detail mentioned for this Manvantar, is the story of a virtuous king Surath, who had worshiped Goddess Durga and obtained the boon of having an unbroken empire on earth. Consequently, this king would be born as the son of Sun-god Surya and would become the eighth Manu!
During that Manvantar, Indra’s post was occuppied by Rochan and instead of the present Adityas, Tushitas were the gods.
These Tushitas are better detailed in Buddhist Cosmology where they are described as superior Devas dwelling in the Tushita Heaven led by their ruler Santushita. This is where all Bodhisattvas destined to reach full enlightenment in their next life dwell before descending to Earth.
Tushita gods bidding Buddha adieu on his descent from Heaven
Another noteworthy detail mentioned for this Manvantar, is the story of a virtuous king Surath, who had worshiped Goddess Durga and obtained the boon of having an unbroken empire on earth. Consequently, this king would be born as the son of Sun-god Surya and would become the eighth Manu!
Ma Bhagvati blesses King Surath to attain Manu-hood
{Image courtesy Vimanika Comics}
(3). Uttam Manvantar - The third Manu Uttam was the younger son of Priyavrat and hence the grandson of Swayambhu Manu. In this Manvantar, seven sons of Vasishth were the Saptarishis. Indra’s name was Satyajit and Satya, Vedshrut and Bhadra were the main courtiers.
(4). Tamas Manvantar - Tamas, the fourth Manu was the younger brother of Uttam.
Trishikh/Shibi was Indra then, and Satyak, Hari, Veer etc. were his main courtiers. There were four categories of demigods namely Supar, Hari, Satya and Sudhi, each of them with 27 members each.
During this Manvantar, Lord Vishnu had saved the King of elephants Gajendra from the jaws of a cursed Gandharva who had turned into a Makar. By slaying the crocodile with His Sudarshan Chakra, Lord Vishnu liberated him from his curse and also saved the King of the Jungle.
Trishikh/Shibi was Indra then, and Satyak, Hari, Veer etc. were his main courtiers. There were four categories of demigods namely Supar, Hari, Satya and Sudhi, each of them with 27 members each.
During this Manvantar, Lord Vishnu had saved the King of elephants Gajendra from the jaws of a cursed Gandharva who had turned into a Makar. By slaying the crocodile with His Sudarshan Chakra, Lord Vishnu liberated him from his curse and also saved the King of the Jungle.
Gajendra praying to Lord Vishnu for rescue
(5). Raiwat Manvantar - Raiwat was the fifth Manu and the brother of Uttam and Tamas, the previous two Manus.
Vibhu was the name of Indra and there were four categories of demigods namely Amitabh, Bhootrath, Vaikunth and Sumedha with 14 deities each. Lord Vishnu had then appeared in the incarnation of Vaikunth, the son of RIshi Shubh and his wife Vikuntha.
Vibhu was the name of Indra and there were four categories of demigods namely Amitabh, Bhootrath, Vaikunth and Sumedha with 14 deities each. Lord Vishnu had then appeared in the incarnation of Vaikunth, the son of RIshi Shubh and his wife Vikuntha.
(6). Chakshush Manvantar - The sixth Manu was Chakshush and during his Manvantar, Mantradruma was the Indra.
Apya, Prasoot, Bhavya, Prithuk and Lekh were the categories of gods each with 8 demigods. During this Manvantar, Lord had appeared in the partial incarnation as Ajit, the son of Vanraj and his wife Sambhuti.
In His complete incarnation, Lord Vishnu supported mount Mandrachal on his back as the Kurma when the Samudra-Manthan took place. Thus, the Cosmic Churning of the Ocean occurred in the 6th Manvantar when the leader of the Gods was MANTRADRUMA and that of the Demons was Maharaj BALI, the grandson of Prahlad Maharaj.
This was the time when Devas obtained the Nectar of Immortality - Amrit from the ocean alongwith riches like the wish-fulfilling Kamdhenu cow; Parijaat tree; Airavat, the white elephant and Uchhaishrava, the flying horse.
Apya, Prasoot, Bhavya, Prithuk and Lekh were the categories of gods each with 8 demigods. During this Manvantar, Lord had appeared in the partial incarnation as Ajit, the son of Vanraj and his wife Sambhuti.
In His complete incarnation, Lord Vishnu supported mount Mandrachal on his back as the Kurma when the Samudra-Manthan took place. Thus, the Cosmic Churning of the Ocean occurred in the 6th Manvantar when the leader of the Gods was MANTRADRUMA and that of the Demons was Maharaj BALI, the grandson of Prahlad Maharaj.
This was the time when Devas obtained the Nectar of Immortality - Amrit from the ocean alongwith riches like the wish-fulfilling Kamdhenu cow; Parijaat tree; Airavat, the white elephant and Uchhaishrava, the flying horse.
Kamdhenu emerging from the Samudra Manthan
Airavat, the King of Elephants
Lord Surya's son Satyavrat ruled the Dravid-desha in that period. When it was time for him to retire to the forest, he handed over the kingdom to his eldest son Ikshvaku (who gave rise to the Solar Dynasty). He then went to the foothills of Mount Malaya and started to perform meditation.
After a long time, Brahma appeared to him and granted him a boon. Satuyavrat knew the time was nigh for the end of the Chatur-Yuga, hence he asked the boon that he be allowed to carry on the role of Manu in the NEXT Manvantar and Brahma readily granted this boon.
One mornin, Satyavrat was performing ablutions in a pond and immersed his hands in the water so that he might offer some water to his ancestors. When he raised his cupped hands, he was amazed to find a tiny minnow (shafari) in his hands and that too, a talking one!
Satyavrat finds a tiny talking fish in his hands
The tiny fish requested for shelter and Satyavrat obliged the creature. But, during the night, the fish grew too large for the small pot it was in, so in the morning, the King had to transfer it to a small pond and then move it to a still bigger one.
Image courtsey Vimanika Comics
{Dashavatar Volume 1}
King gets the fish moved from one pond to another
However, the tiny fish continued to grow over the next day while Satyavrat took the fish from one pond to another and finally to the ocean, but soon it grew as large as the ocean itself! It was then, that the significance of what had happened struck the King, and he realized that the fish was none other that the Supreme Lord Vishnu Himself and immediately bowed down to pay his respects. 
Image courtsey Vimanika Comics
{Dashavatar Volume 1}
Satyavrat realizes the magical creature is Lord Vishnu Himself!
Image courtsey Vimanika Comics
{Dashavatar Volume 1}
The Lord, pleased with his humility, told him that he was to be the Manu for the next Manvantar. The responsibility of saving all species of life for their continuation in the next eon also lay with him. The Lord told him that exactly seven days after that day, Pralaya or the Great Deluge will come and everything will be swallowed by the mighty ocean waves.
Lord Vishnu told Satyavrat that the demigods themselves would construct a ship and he was to take with him the Saptarishis and a pair each of all species of living beings worth saving, and wait at the same spot for the Lord to come there.
All species of Life collected for the next Yuga
The appointed day came, and clouds completely filled the sky. The torrential rains caused by Seven classes of clouds, known as Samvarta, Bhimananda, Drona, Chanda, Valahaka, Vidyutapataka and Kona began and entire land mass was flooded.
However, as instructed by Vishnu, Manu, along with his consort Shradha, the Saptarishis, chosen animals and plants was safe aboard the ship being buffeted by waves as large as mountains. As promised, at the predicted time, Lord Matsya appeared. His body had a golden effulgence and now He had a horn on His head.
Matsya Avatar of Lord Vishnu
The boat was tied by means of Nag-raj Vasuki, to the horn on the head of Matsya and thus, the virtuous devotees of Lord were saved to take life ahead to the next Eon. During the period of Deluge, Vaivasvat Manu asked Lord Vishnu several questions and this conversation is recorded in the form of the Matsya Puraan.
Matsya Avatar saving Manu and Life for the Present Manvantar
Matsya Avatar saving Manu and Life for the Present Manvantar
At last the rain stopped, the water took some more time to subside, and the land peeped out from under its watery prison. As promised, Satyavrat Vaivasvat Manu and his associates had been saved, and began the task of settling in the new world.
The PRESENT Manvantar
(7). Vaivasvat Manvantar - As mentioned above, in the present era, the seventh Manu, Shardhdev or Vaivasvat is the son of Surya. The Mahabharat declares:
"Manu was imbued with great wisdom and became the progenitor of a line. And in Manu's race have been born all human beings, who have, therefore, been called Manavs."
This implies that the Earth was repopulated by the progeny of Manu and all the Human-beings existing today are descendants of Manu.
Comparing with the western mythologies, Vaivasvat Manu is the counterpart of Noah, whom the Hebrew Bible, declares to be the tenth and last of the ante-diluvian Patriarchs.
The Qur'an contains 43 references to Noah and declares that he received a revelation to build an Ark, after his people refused to believe in his message and hear the warning.
There are so many myths in different World Mythologies regarding the DELUGE that it certainly seems to have been a historical phenomenon of Global proportions!
In Greek Mythology, Deucalion is forewarned of the flood and he builds an ark and staffs it with creatures. Similar legends exist in Norse Mythology, African legends and the foundational myths of the Quiché and Mayas, and the story of Utnapishtim in the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh.
It is MORE than likely that all the above myths refer to the same phenomenon, one which we scientifically KNOW to have taken place - that of the Ice Age!!
The Ark carrying Manu/Noah/Utnapishtim/Deucalion and other survivors would have been guided by the global currents generated by the melting waters. The Quran claims that this Ark rested atop Mount Judi. However, Hindu records identify the site with Manali in the Himalays, which was obviously the highest land available on the planet. In fact, on my visit to Himachal Pradesh, I discovered that the ONLY temple to Manu in the entire World is located at Manali, and the name of the place itself commemorates Manu's landing!!
The last glacial period ended about 10,000 years ago and this would have been the time-period of our current Manu. Manu and his wife Shradha are believed to have ushered in the New Age through their 10 sons- Ikshvaku, Drisht, Sharyati, Narishyanta, Nabhag, Disht, Karush, Prishadhra, Vasumana and Sudyumna/Ila.
"Manu was imbued with great wisdom and became the progenitor of a line. And in Manu's race have been born all human beings, who have, therefore, been called Manavs."
This implies that the Earth was repopulated by the progeny of Manu and all the Human-beings existing today are descendants of Manu.
Comparing with the western mythologies, Vaivasvat Manu is the counterpart of Noah, whom the Hebrew Bible, declares to be the tenth and last of the ante-diluvian Patriarchs.
The Qur'an contains 43 references to Noah and declares that he received a revelation to build an Ark, after his people refused to believe in his message and hear the warning.
Noah's Ark from a Biblical description
The Ark's occupants from a Koranic depiction
There are so many myths in different World Mythologies regarding the DELUGE that it certainly seems to have been a historical phenomenon of Global proportions!
In Greek Mythology, Deucalion is forewarned of the flood and he builds an ark and staffs it with creatures. Similar legends exist in Norse Mythology, African legends and the foundational myths of the Quiché and Mayas, and the story of Utnapishtim in the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh.
It is MORE than likely that all the above myths refer to the same phenomenon, one which we scientifically KNOW to have taken place - that of the Ice Age!!
The Ark carrying Manu/Noah/Utnapishtim/Deucalion and other survivors would have been guided by the global currents generated by the melting waters. The Quran claims that this Ark rested atop Mount Judi. However, Hindu records identify the site with Manali in the Himalays, which was obviously the highest land available on the planet. In fact, on my visit to Himachal Pradesh, I discovered that the ONLY temple to Manu in the entire World is located at Manali, and the name of the place itself commemorates Manu's landing!!
Temple of Manu at Manali
The last glacial period ended about 10,000 years ago and this would have been the time-period of our current Manu. Manu and his wife Shradha are believed to have ushered in the New Age through their 10 sons- Ikshvaku, Drisht, Sharyati, Narishyanta, Nabhag, Disht, Karush, Prishadhra, Vasumana and Sudyumna/Ila.
As mentioned earlier, the eldest one IKSHVAKU gave rise to the illustrious Suryavansh in which was born Lord Rama, while from ILA, came the Chandravansh, in which Lord Krishna took birth. For details of these two genealogies, please check the following links: {Suryavansh - The Solar Dynasty and Chandravansh - The Lunar Dynasty}.
Genetically speaking, our Manu would probably have been brown-skinned in order to cover all color variations from fair to the dark! Also, medically, the Blood-groups for Manu and Shradha would probably have been A-ve for Manu and B+ve for Shradha in order to to cover all the groups from the ABO series!! Would be interesting to find some archaeological evidence for this hypothesis.
All different races of Mankind are derived from Manu and Shradha
In Theosophy, Vaivasvat Manu is one of the most important beings at the highest levels of Initiation of the 'Masters of Ancient Wisdom', along with Sanat Kumar, Gautam Buddha and others. These beings act as the 'ROOT' for the Human race in the New Eon.
Coming to the divinities, our present Indra is Shakra, also known as Purandar and his courtiers are the Adityas, Vasus, Rudras, Vishvadevas, Marudgana, and the Ashwini Kumars. Kashyapa, Atri, Vashishtha, Vishvamitra, Gautam, Yamdagni and Bhardwaj are the Saptarishis. During this Manvantar, Lord Vishnu has incarnated as Vaman, the son of Kashyap and Aditi.
Coming to the divinities, our present Indra is Shakra, also known as Purandar and his courtiers are the Adityas, Vasus, Rudras, Vishvadevas, Marudgana, and the Ashwini Kumars. Kashyapa, Atri, Vashishtha, Vishvamitra, Gautam, Yamdagni and Bhardwaj are the Saptarishis. During this Manvantar, Lord Vishnu has incarnated as Vaman, the son of Kashyap and Aditi.
Vaman Avatar of Lord Vishnu
It is interesting to note, that while the Indra had changed from one Manvantar to the other, the ruler of the Asurs was STILL Maharaj Bali. Maharaj Bali was a benevolent king but he was ambitious and urged by his rakshas subjects, attacked and wrested control of the Heavens from Indra. The Devas were thus rendered homeless and to help them regain control of their planet, Lord Vishnu incarnated as the dwarf Vaman.
The Lord thus took back the THREE WORLDS from Bali and sent him to rule the Underworld. We saw in the previous post{Lokas, the Abodes of Advanced Aliens}, that Bali Maharaj right now resides in the lower planetary system of Sutal.
However, there's more to this story and we shall see what happens to Bali Maharaj ahead. Till now, we have discussed the Six Eons which have passed and the one that is going on. You would be surprised to know, that the Puranic descriptions do not stop at this!
The Lord thus took back the THREE WORLDS from Bali and sent him to rule the Underworld. We saw in the previous post{Lokas, the Abodes of Advanced Aliens}, that Bali Maharaj right now resides in the lower planetary system of Sutal.
However, there's more to this story and we shall see what happens to Bali Maharaj ahead. Till now, we have discussed the Six Eons which have passed and the one that is going on. You would be surprised to know, that the Puranic descriptions do not stop at this!
The SEVEN Manvantars of the FUTURE are equally well detailed in the Bhagavaatm complete with the list of the Indras, Manus, Saptarishis, other gods, their sons and the incarnations of Lord Vishnu!!
The FUTURE Manvantars of Varah Kalpa
(8). Savarni Manvantar - King Surath, whom we encountered in the Second Manvantar, would be born as the son of Surya and Chhaya and because of Goddess Durga's blessings, would become the eighth Manu - Savarni.
We saw in the previous Manvantar that Lord Vaman had wrested control of the Three-Worlds from Bali Maharaj. However, because of his goodness of heart and spiritual nature, the Lord blessed him to become the Indra in the next Manvanatar!
Hence, Vairochan Bali, the pious Asura who was the King of Demons for two Manvantars, would become the King of Gods in the next Manvantar!!
Bali arrives in Amravati to claim his right from Purandar
Image courtsey Grant Morrison's 18 Days
{Artist - Mukesh Singh}
In this incarnation, Lord Vishnu would snatch the kingdom of Swarga-loka from Purandar and give the crown to King Bali. Sutap, Amitabh and Mukhya will be the categories of demigods with 20 deities each and Galav, Diptiman, Parashuram, Ashwatthama, Kripacharya, Rishyashring and Vyas would be the Saptarishis.
(9). Ninth Manvantar - Daksha-savarni, the son of Varun, the Lord of the Ocean would be the ninth Manu. Adbhut would be the Indra and during that Manvantar, Para, Marichgarva and Sudharma will be the three categories of gods with 12 deities each.
(10). Tenth Manvantar - Upashloka’s son Brahma-savarni would be the tenth Manu. He would be very pious in nature and have sons like Bhurishen etc. Shambhu would be the Indra, with Suvasana, Viruddh etc. as his main courtiers.
Lord Vishnu would appear in the incarnation of Vishwasen as the son of Vishwasrij and his wife Vishuchi and would be a friend of Indra. Sudhama and Vishuddh will be the two categories of gods with 100 deities each.
Lord Vishnu would appear in the incarnation of Vishwasen as the son of Vishwasrij and his wife Vishuchi and would be a friend of Indra. Sudhama and Vishuddh will be the two categories of gods with 100 deities each.
(11). Eleventh Manvantar - In the eleventh hour of Brahma's Kalpa, Dharma-savarni would be the eleventh Manu and would have ten sons. Vaidhrit would be the Indra with Vihangam, Kamagam, etc. as main courtiers.
(12). Twelfth Manvantar - Rudra-savarni would be the twelfth Manu whose sons would be led by Devavan. The demigods would be called Haritas, Indra would be Ritadhama, and the seven sages would be led by Tapomurti. The incarnation of Lord Vishnu in this manvantara is Svadhama, born to Satyasaha and Sunrita.
(13) Thirteenth Manvantar - In the period of the thirteenth Manu, the Manvantar would be led by Deva-savarni. Among his sons the famous one would be Chitrasena, the demigods would be called Sukarmas, Indra would be Divaspati, and Nirmoka would lead the Sapta-rishis. Lord Vishnu's manvantar-avatar is Yogeshvar, who would be born of Devahotra and Brihati.
(14) FINAL Manvantar - In the final period of this Kalpa, the Manu would be Indra-savarni and among his sons would be Uru and Gambhira. The demigods would be known as Pavitras, Indra's name would be Shuchi, and among the sages would be Agni and Bahu. The incarnation for this manvantar would be Brihadbhanu, born of Shatrayana from the womb of Vitana.
Exhausting as it has been, I have shared with you a summary of all 14 Manvantars of the Present Kalpa of Brahma. We have read about the Avataras, Indras, Sapta-rishis, Devatas, and of course the various Manus of the Present Kalpa of Brahma.
If you have noted Lord Vishnu's incarnations, you would have observed one startling fact - The ten incarnations or Dashavatar are not in the order generally mentioned. For example, the 1st incarnation Matsya, took place just BEFORE the onset of present Manvantar while the 3rd one, that of Varah, occurred LONG AGO at the beginning of the Kalpa!!
As stated in an earlier post {Evolution in Dashavatar}, the artifical order of the Ten Incarnations actually represents the development of Life on this planet and gives support to the Organic Evolution Theory as propunded by Charles Darwin.
What is more amazing to me is that since EACH Manvantar is ~307 Million Years long, all these predictions cover a period of 4.32 Billion Years between them! Nostradamus and his elk could not even make proper predictions for the 2nd Millenium and here we have predictions lasting the entire lifespan of our Earth!!
Yet, even with the mind-boggling numbers, this period is just ONE DAY in the Life of Brahma; One day of Brahma is just 1/720th of his YEAR; One Year of Brahma is just 1/100th of his LIFETIME; and the lifetime of One Brahma and his Universe is just a SINGLE BREATH of Lord Maha-Vishnu.
Lifetime of Our Universe is just a single Breath of Shri Maha Vishnu!
We keep fighting over petty issues all our life yet, this life, is not even a fraction of a second of Lord Maha-Vishnu's Breath. What is important, is to understand the ephemeral nature of all existence and strive to get out of this Material Creation.
Even with mankind descending from such an illustrious ancestor and making remarkable progress with each decade, we have somewhere lost our purpose of Life. We owe it to our ancestor Manu, to try and follow the path of the most ancient Dharma - Sanatan Dharma.
To conclude, I'll leave you with some verses inspired by the Shatapatha Brahmana's account of events that transpired at the Twilight of the Present Manavantar.
One morning Manu went to the river,
To offer oblations along the sands,
But when he took a palmful of water,
He found a fish between his hands!
"Save me O King and I'll save Thee!"
"Save me?" asked Manu, "How can that be?"
"A great flood will destroy all you know;
But I can save you and help you go."
Manu asked, "What must I do?"
Save me from the monsters it said,
"Its the Jungle Law - Fish eat Fish,
So keep me safe and let me grow."
"When I grow too big in size,
Dig a pond and keep me in;
When I get too big for that,
Take me down to sea for a swim."
When the fish reached the Ocean,
It told the King, "The flood is coming;
I know the time when it is due.
So listen to me and start planning."
When Deluge comes I'll send a ship,
This shall happen in Seven days,
Keep all species and Saptarishis with you,
And I will save you from drowning waves."
The flood came, but Manu was safe,
They tied the ship to Matsya's horn,
For an endless night, the waters poured,
Till there appeared the rainbow of Morn.
Matsya said: "Now you're saved.
For an endless night, the waters poured,
Till there appeared the rainbow of Morn.
Matsya said: "Now you're saved.
Mind the water going down,
Come out slowly, as the level drops,
And let free your ship's entire town".
Manu did all that he was told,
And became the Lord of present Manvantar,
The flood destroyed every living thing,
But the pious were saved from going under.
This is the way Kaalchakra works,
For each Morn there is a Twilight,
Only the ones with faith in the Lord,
Can look out the tunnel and see the Light.
This is the way Kaalchakra works,
For each Morn there is a Twilight,
Only the ones with faith in the Lord,
Can look out the tunnel and see the Light.
.
Aum Shanti: Shanti: Shanti:
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