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Book Iii. Chapter Ii

*
"The Vishnu Purana", translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840],

p. 266

Chap. Ii.

Of the seven future Manus and Manwantaras. Story of Sanjn and Chhy, wives of the sun. Svarni, son of Chhy, the eighth Manu. His successors, with the divinities, &c. of their respective periods. Appearance of Vishnu in each of the four Yugas.

Maitreya.-
-You have recapitulated to me, most excellent Brahman, the particulars of the past Manwantaras; now give me some account of those which are to come.

Parara.-
-Sanjn, the daughter of Viwakarman, was the wife of the sun, and bore him three children, the Manu (Vaivaswata), Yama, and the goddess Yam (or the Yamun river). Unable to endure the fervours of her lord, Sanjn gave him Chhy 1 as his handmaid, and repaired to the forests to practise devout exercises. The sun, supposing Chhy to be his wife Sanjn, begot by her three other children, anaichara (Saturn), another Manu (Svarni), and a daughter Tapat (the Tapti river). Chhy, upon one occasion, being offended with Yama 2, the son of Sanjn, denounced an imprecation upon him, and thereby revealed to Yama and to the sun that she was not in truth Sanjn, the mother of the former. Being further informed by Chhy that his wife had gone to the wilderness, the sun beheld her by the eye of meditation engaged in austerities, in the figure of a mare (in the region of Uttara Kuru). Metamorphosing himself into a horse, he rejoined his wife, and begot three other children, the two swins and Revanta, and

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then brought Sanjn back to his own dwelling. To diminish his intensity, Viwakarman placed the luminary on his lathe, to grind off some of his effulgence; and in this manner reduced it an eighth, for more than that was inseparable 3. The parts of the divine Vaishnava splendour, residing in the sun, that were filed off by Viwakarman, fell blazing down upon the earth, and the artist constructed of them the discus of Vishnu, the trident of iva, the weapon 4 of the god of wealth, the lance of Krtikeya, and the weapons of the other gods: all these Viwakarman fabricated from the superfluous rays of the sun 5.

The son of Chhy, who was called also a Manu, was denominated Svarni 6, from being of the same caste (Savarna) as his elder brother, the Manu Vaivaswata. He presides over the ensuing or eighth Manwantara; the particulars of which, and the following, I will now relate. In the period in which Svarni shall be the Manu, the classes of the gods will be Sutapas, Amitbhas, and Mukhyas; twenty-one of each. The seven Rishis will be Dptimat, Glava, Rma, Kripa, Drauni; my son Vysa will be the sixth, and the seventh will be Rishyasringa 7. The Indra will be Bali, the sinless son of Virochana, who through the favour of Vishnu is actually sovereign of part of Ptla. The royal progeny of Svarni will be Virajas, Arvarvas, Nirmoha, and others.

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The ninth Manu will be Daksha-svarni 8. The Pras, Marchigarbhas, and Sudharmas will be the three classes of divinities, each consisting of twelve; their powerful chief will be the Indra Adbhuta. Savana, Dyutimat, Bhavya, Vasu, Medhatithi, Jyotishmn, and Satya will be the seven Rishis. Dhritaketu, Driptiketu, Panchahasta, Mahmy, Prithurava, and others, will be the sons of the Manu.

In the tenth Manwantara the Manu will be Brahm-svarni: the gods will be the Sudhmas, Viruddhas, and atasankhyas: the Indra will be the mighty nti: the Rishis will be Havishmn, Sukriti, Satya, Apmmrtti, Nbhga, Apratimaujas, and Satyaketu: and the ten sons of the Manu will be Sukshetra, Uttarnaujas, Harishena, and others.

In the eleventh Manwantara the Manu will be Dharma-svarni: the principal classes of gods will be the Vihangamas, Kmagamas, and Nirmnaratis, each thirty in number 9; of whom Vrisha will be the Indra: the Rishis will be Nichara, Agnitejas, Vapushmn, Vishnu, runi, Havishmn, and Anagha: the kings of the earth, and sons of the Manu, will be Savarga, Sarvadharma, Devnka, and others.

In the twelfth Manwantara the son of Rudra, Svarni, will be the Manu: Ritudhm will be the Indra: and the Haritas, Lohitas, Sumanasas, and Sukarmas will be the classes of gods, each comprising fifteen.

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[paragraph continues] Tapasw, Sutapas, Tapomrtti, Taporati, Tapodhriti, Tapodyuti, and Tapodhana will be the Rishis: and Devavn, Upadeva, Devareshta, and others, will be the Manu's sons, and mighty monarchs on the earth.

In the thirteenth Manwantara the Manu will be Rauchya 10: the classes of gods, thirty-three in each, will be the Sudhmans, Sudharmans, and Sukarmans; their Indra will be Divaspati: the Rishis will be Nirmoha, Tatwadersn, Nishprakampa, Nirutsuka, Dhritimat, Avyaya, and Sutapas: and Chitrasena, Vichitra, and others, will be the kings.

In the fourteenth Manwantara, Bhautya will be the Manu 11; Suchi, the Indra: the five classes of gods will be the Chkshushas, the Pavitras, Kanishthas, Bhrjiras, and Vvriddhas: the seven Rishis will be Agnibhu, uchi, ukra, Magadh, Gridhra, Yukta, and Ajita: and the sons of the Manu will be Uru, Gabhra, Bradhna, and others, who will be kings, and will rule over the earth 12.

At the end of every four ages there is a disappearance of the Vedas, and it is the province of the seven Rishis to come down upon earth from heaven to give them currency again. In every Krita age the Manu (of the period) is the legislator or author of the body of law, the Smriti: the

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deities of the different classes receive the sacrifices during the Manwantaras to which they severally belong: and the sons of the Manu them. selves, and their descendants, are the sovereigns of the earth for the whole of the same term. The Manu, the seven Rishis, the gods, the sons of the Manu, who are the kings, and Indra, are the beings who preside over the world during each Manwantara.

An entire Kalpa, oh Brahman, is said to comprise a thousand ages, or fourteen Manwantaras 13; and it is succeeded by a night of similar duration; during which, he who wears the form of Brahm, Janrddana, the substance of all things, the lord of all, and creator of all, involved in his own illusions, and having swallowed up the three spheres, sleeps upon the serpent esha, amidst the ocean 14. Being after that awake, he, who is the universal soul, again creates all things as they were before, in combination with the property of foulness (or activity): and in a portion of his essence, associated with the property of goodness, he, as the Manus, the kings, the gods, and their Indras, as well as the seven Rishis, is the preserver of the world. In what manner Vishnu, who is characterised by the attribute of providence during the four ages, effected their preservation, I will next, Maitreya, explain.

In the Krita age, Vishnu, in the form of Kapila and other inspired teachers, assiduous for the benefit of all creatures, imparts to them true wisdom. In the Treta age he restrains the wicked, in the form of a universal monarch, and protects the three worlds 15. In the Dwpara age, in the person of Veda-vysa, he divides the one Veda into four, and

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distributes it into innumerable branches: and at the end of the Kali or fourth age he appears as Kalki, and reestablishes the iniquitous in the paths of rectitude. In this manner the universal spirit preserves, creates, and at last destroys, all the world.

Thus, Brahman, I have described to you the true nature of that great being who is all things, and besides whom there is no other existent thing, nor has there been, nor will there be, either here or elsewhere. I have also enumerated to you the Manwantaras, and those who preside over them. What else do you wish to hear?

Footnotes

266:1
That is, her shadow or image. It also means 'shade.' The Bhgavata, however, makes both Sanjn and Chhy daughters of Viwakarman. According to the Matsya, Vivaswat, the son of Kayapa and Adit, had three wives, Rjn, the daughter of Raivata, by whom he had Revanta; Prabh, by whom he had Prabhata; and by Sanjn, the daughter of Twashtri, the Manu and Yama and Yamun. The story then proceeds much as in the text.

266:2
Yama, provoked at her partiality for her own children, abused Chhy, and lifted up his foot to kick her. She cursed him to have his leg affected with sores and worms; but his father bestowed upon him a cock, to eat the worms, and remove the discharge; and Yama, afterwards propitiating Mahdeva, obtained the rank of Lokapla, and sovereign of Tartarus.

267:3
The Matsya says he trimmed the sun every where except in the feet, the extent of which he could not discern. Consequently in pictures or images the feet of the sun must never be delineated, under pain of leprosy, &c.

267:4
The term is ivik, which properly means 'a litter,' The commentator calls it Astra, 'a weapon.'

267:5
This legend is told, with some variations of no great importance, in the Matsya, Mrkandeya, and Padma P. (Swarga Khanda), in the Bhgavata, and Hari Vana, &c.

267:6
The Mrkandeya, whilst it admits Svarni to be the son of the sun, has a legend of his former birth, in the Swrochisha Manwantara, as Suratha Rj, who became a Manu by having then propitiated Dev. It was to him that the Durg Mhtmya or Chand, the popular narrative of Durga's triumphs over various demons, was narrated.

267:7
The Vyu has Jmadagnya or Paraurma, of the Kuika race; Glava, of that of Bhrigu; Dwaipyana (or Vysa), of the family of Vaishtha; Kripa, the son of aradwat; Dptimat, descended from Atri; Rishyasringa, from Kayapa; and Aswatthman, the son of Drona, of the Bhradwja family. The Matsya and Padma have Satnanda in place of Diptimat.

268:8
The four following Svarnis are described in the Vyu as the mind-engendered sons of a daughter of Daksha, named either Suvrat (Vyu) or Priy (Brhma) by himself and the three gods, Brahm, Dharma, and Rudra, to whom he presented her on mount Meru; whence they are called also Meru-svarnis. They are termed Svarnis from their being of one family or caste. According to the same authority, followed by the Hari Vana, it appears that this Manu is also called Rohita. Most of the details of this and the following Manwantaras are omitted in the Matsya, Brahm, Padma, and Mrkandeya Purnas. The Bhgavata and Krma give the same as our text; and the Vyu, which agrees very nearly with it, is followed in most respects by the Hari Vana. The Matsya and Padma are peculiar in their series and nomenclature of the Manus themselves, calling the 9th Rauchya, 10th Bhautya, 11th Merusavrni, son of Brahm, 12th Ritu, 13th Ritadhman, and 14th Viswaksena. The Bhgavata calls the two last Manus, Deva-svarni and Indra-svarni.

268:9
Hence the Vyu identifies the first with days, the second with nights, and the third with hours.

269:10
The son of the Prajpati Ruchi (Vyu, &c.), by the nymph Mnin, the daughter of the Apsaras Pramloch (Mrkandeya).

269:11
Son of Ravi, by the goddess Bht, according to the Vyu; but the Mrkandeya makes Bht the son of Angiras, whose pupil nti, having suffered the holy fire to go out in his master's absence, prayed to Agni, and so propitiated him, that he not only relighted the flame, but desired nti to demand a further boon. nti accordingly solicited a son for his Guru; which son was Bhti, the father of the Manu Bhautya.

269:12
Although the Purnas which give an account of the Manwantaras agree in some of the principal details, yet in the minor ones they offer many varieties, some of which have been noticed. These chiefly regard the first six and the eighth. Except in a few individual peculiarities, the authorities seem to arrange themselves in two classes; one comprehending the Vishnu, Vyu, Krma, Bhgavata, and Mrkandeya; and the other the Matsya, Padma, Brhma, and Hari Vana. The Mrkandeya, although it agrees precisely with the Vishnu in its nomenclature, differs from it, and from all, in devoting a considerable number of its pages to legends of the origin of the Manus, all of which are evidently of comparatively recent invention, and several of which have been no doubt suggested by the etymology of the names of the Manus.

270:13 A
thousand ages of the gods and fourteen Manwantaras are not precisely the same thing, as has been already explained. (See p. 24. n. 6.)

270:14
The order of the text would imply, that as Brahm he sleeps upon esha; but if this be intended, it is at variance with the usual legend, that it is as Vishnu or Nryana that the deity sleeps in the intervals of dissolution. The commentator accordingly qualifies the phrase Brahmarpadhara by the term Div: 'Vishnu wears the form of Brahm by day; by night he sleeps on esha, in the person of Nryana.' This however may be suspected to be an innovation upon an older system; for in speaking of the alternations of creation and dissolution, they are always considered as consentaneous with the day and night of Brahm alone.

270:15 As a Chakravarttin.

atharva veda| the atharva veda
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