AMARENDRA NATH ROY: update section to improve readability and corrected details

2026-02-14T07:15:05Z

update section to improve readability and corrected details

->RA0808: Reverted edits by 43.225.3.94 (talk): disruptive edits (HG) (3.4.10)

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Reverted edits by 43.225.3.94 (talk): disruptive edits (HG) (3.4.10)

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{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2016}}
{{Short description|Current Manu of Hinduism}}
{{about|Surya's son and current Manu|overall concept of Manu|Manu (Hinduism)}}
{{Infobox deity
| image = The fish avatara of Vishnu saves Manu during the great deluge.jpg
| type = hindu
| alt = Manu
| caption = Matsya helping Vaivasvata Manu and the [[Saptarishi|seven sages]] escape from the time of Deluge
| spouse = Shraddha
| father = [[Surya|Vivasvana]]
| mother = [[Saranyu]]
| children = [[Ikshvaku]], Dhrishta, [[Narishyanta]], Dishta, Nriga, Karusha, Saryati, Nabhaga, Pranshu, Prisadhra and [[Ila (Hinduism)|Ila]]
| predecessor = Chaksusa Manu
| successor = [[Savarni Manu]]
}}
In [[Hindu mythology]], '''Vaivasvata Manu''', also referred to as '''Shraddhadeva''' and '''Satyavrata''', is the current [[Manu (Hinduism)|manu]]—the progenitor of humans. He is the seventh of the 14 manus of the current [[kalpa (aeon)]] of [[Hindu cosmology]].

Forewarned about the flood by the [[matsya]] [[avatara]] of [[Vishnu]], he saved mankind by building a boat that carried his family and the [[saptarishi]] to safety. He is the son of [[Vivasvan|Vivasvana]].<ref>[http://www.harekrsna.com/philosophy/incarnations/manus/manvantara.htm The Hare Krsnas – The Manus – Manus of the Present Universe]</ref>

== Ancestry ==
According to the Puranas, the genealogy of Shraddhadeva is as follows:<ref>{{cite book|author=Francis Hamilton|title=Geneaolgies of the Hindus: extracted from their sacred writings; with an introduction and alphabetical index|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-igwAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA89|year=1819|work=Printed for the author|page=89 }}</ref>

# [[Brahma]]
# [[Marichi]], one of the 10 [[Prajapati]]s created by Brahma.
# [[Kashyapa]], son of Marichi and his thirteen wives, among which Aditi, Diti, and Kala are prominent. Kashyapa is regarded as one of the progenitors of humanity.
# [[Vivasvan]] or [[Surya]], son of [[Kashyapa]] and [[Aditi]].
# [[Vaivasvata]] Manu, because he is the son of Vivasvan and [[Saranyu]] (Saṃjñā). He is also known as Satyavrata and Shraddhadeva.

==The Great Deluge==
Shraddhadeva was the king of the [[Dravida Kingdom]] during the epoch of the ''[[Matsya Purana]]''.<ref name="Daniélou2003">{{cite book |author=Alain Daniélou |title=A Brief History of India |url=https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofin00dani |url-access=registration |date=11 February 2003 |publisher=Inner Traditions / Bear & Co |isbn=978-1-59477-794-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofin00dani/page/19 19] }}</ref> According to the ''Matsya Purana'', [[Matsya]], the [[avatar]] of [[Vishnu]], first appeared as a ''shaphari'' (a small [[carp]]) to Shraddhadeva while he washed his hands in a river flowing down the [[Malaya Mountains]].<ref name="David2014">{{cite book |author=David Dean Shulman |title=Tamil Temple Myths: Sacrifice and Divine Marriage in the South Indian Saiva Tradition |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d97_AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA55 |year=1980 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-5692-3}}</ref>

The little fish asked the king to save him, and out of compassion, he put it in a water jar. It kept growing bigger and bigger, until the king first put it in a bigger pitcher, and then deposited it in a well. When the well also proved insufficient for the ever-growing fish, the King placed it in a tank (reservoir), that was two yojanas (16 miles) in height above the surface and on land, as much in length, and a yojana (8 miles) in breadth.<ref>DRISCOLL, Ian Driscoll; KURTZ, Matthew [https://books.google.com/books?id=M8cJgVGd6PIC&pg=PA139&lpg=PA139#v=onepage&q&f=false ''Atlantis: Egyptian Genesis''], 2009.</ref><ref>Sacred Texts. [http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m03/m03186.htm Section CLXXXVI]</ref> As it grew further, the king had to put the fish in a river, and when even the river proved insufficient, he placed it in the ocean, after which it nearly filled the vast expanse of the great ocean.

It was then that Vishnu, revealing himself, informed the king of an all-destructive deluge which would be coming very soon.<ref name="Bhagavata Purana 8.24.12">''S'rîmad Bhâgavatam'' (''Bhâgavata Purâ''na)[http://www.srimadbhagavatam.org/canto8/chapter24.html Canto 8 Chapter 24 Text 12]</ref><ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IQwXAAAAYAAJ&dq=Malaya+Manu+Matsya&pg=PA341|title=The story of Vedic India as embodied ... – Google Books|date=2008-03-14|access-date=2010-12-08|last1=Ragozin|first1=Zénaïde Alexeïevna}}</ref><ref>[[Matsya Purana]], Ch.I, 10–33</ref> The king built a huge boat which housed his family, saptarishi, nine types of seeds, and animals to repopulate the earth, after the deluge would end and the oceans and seas would recede. At the time of deluge, Vishnu appeared as a horned fish and [[Shesha]] appeared as a rope, with which the king fastened the boat to the horn of the fish.<ref>Matsya Purana, Ch.II, 1–19</ref>

The boat was perched after the deluge on the top of the highest peak of Himavat called Naubandhana.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45040117|title=The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa|date=2000|publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers|others=Kisari Mohan Ganguli|isbn=81-215-0594-1|location=New Delhi|oclc=45040117}}</ref><ref name="MATSYA">[http://www.vedicyagyacenter.com/vedic-scriptures-files/epic-pdf/MATSYA%20PURANA.pdf ''The Matsya Purana''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326133426/http://www.vedicyagyacenter.com/vedic-scriptures-files/epic-pdf/MATSYA%20PURANA.pdf |date=26 March 2014 }}</ref> After the deluge, Manu's family and the seven sages repopulated the earth. According to Purana, Manu's story occur before 28 chaturyuga in the present Manvantara which is the 7th Manvantara. This amounts to 120 million years ago.<ref>{{cite web |title=G. P. Bhatt (ed.), The vayu purana, part-II, 1st ed., 784—789, tr. G. V. Tagare. In vol.38 of Ancient Indian Tradition and Mythology, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1988.|url=https://www.mlbd.com/BookDecription.aspx?id=1728|access-date=10 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=J. L. Shastri (ed.), The kurma-purana, part-I, 1st ed., 47—52, tr. G. V. Tagare. In vol.20 of A.I.T.&M., Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1981.|url=https://www.mlbd.com/BookDecription.aspx?id=1728|access-date=10 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=J. L. Shastri (ed.), The Narada purana, part-II, 1st ed., p. 699, tr. G. V. Tagare. In vol.16 of A.I.T.&M., Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1981.|url=https://www.mlbd.com/BookDecription.aspx?id=1728|access-date=10 April 2016}}</ref>

This narrative is similar to other [[list of flood myths|flood myths]] like the [[Gilgamesh flood myth]] and the [[Genesis flood narrative]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Klaus K. Klostermaier |title=A Survey of Hinduism: Third Edition |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E_6-JbUiHB4C&pg=PA97 |date=5 July 2007 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-7082-4 |page=97 }}</ref>

== Descendants ==
Shraddhadeva married Shraddha and had ten children including [[Ila (Hinduism)|Ila]] and [[Ikshvaku]], the progenitors of the [[Lunar dynasty|Lunar]] and [[Suryavansha|Solar]] dynasties, respectively.{{sfn|Thapar|2013|p=308-309}}

The ''[[Mahabharata]]'' states:<ref>[http://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/Mahabharata-VOL-1.pdf ''Mahabharata'' Book 1:Adi Parva:Sambhava Parva:Section LXXV], p. 183.</ref><ref name="Laws">[http://oaks.nvg.org/pv6bk4.html The Laws of Manu] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130417155321/http://oaks.nvg.org/pv6bk4.html |date=17 April 2013 }}, translated by George Bühler.</ref>
{{quote|And Manu was endowed 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, Vaishyas, Sudras, and others have been descended, and are therefore all called Manavas. Subsequently, the Brahmanas became united with the Kshatriyas. And those sons of Manu that were Brahmanas devoted themselves to the study of the Vedas. And Manu begot ten other children named [[Ikshvaku]], Dhrishta, Narishyanta, Dishta, Nriga, Karusha, Saryati, Nabhaga, Pranshu, Prisadhra and a daughter [[Ila (Hinduism)|Ila]]. They all betook themselves to the practices of Kshatriyas (warriors). Besides these, Manu had fifty other sons on Earth. But we heard that they all perished, quarrelling with one another.<ref>{{cite book|author=Swami Parmeshwaranand|title=Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Puranas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SLcv-Ow6Ux4C&pg=PA637|date=1 January 2001|publisher=Sarup & Sons|isbn=978-81-7625-226-3}}, p. 638.</ref>}}

==Theosophy==
{{Main|Manu (Theosophy)}}
[[File:Conversation between Manu and Brihaspati.jpg|thumb|Conversation between Manu and [[Bṛhaspati]]]]
In [[Theosophy (Blavatskian)|Theosophy]], the "Vaivasvata Manu" is one of the most important beings at the highest level of [[Initiation (Theosophy)|Initiation]] of the ancient Vedic sages, along with [[Maitreya (Theosophy)|Maitreya]], and the Maha Chohan. According to Theosophy, each [[root race]] has its own Manu who physically [[Reincarnation|incarnates]] in an advanced body of an individual of the old root race and physically progenerates with a suitable female partner the first individuals of the new root race.

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
* {{citation |last=Thapar |first=Romila |author-link=Romila Thapar |title=The Past Before Us|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aei9AAAAQBAJ |year=2013 |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |isbn=978-0-674-72651-2 }}

[[Category:Characters in Hindu mythology]]
[[Category:Legendary progenitors]]

Vaivasvata Manu - Revision history

AMARENDRA NATH ROY: update section to improve readability and corrected details

->RA0808: Reverted edits by 43.225.3.94 (talk): disruptive edits (HG) (3.4.10)