Canto 8 - Chapter 1: The Manvantaras described

Śrīmad Bhāgavata Mahāpurāṇa

Book Eight

Discourse I
The Manvantaras described

The king (Parikṣit) submitted: I have heard at length in this context, O preceptor, (an account) of the line (daughters' children) of Swāyambhuva Manu (just narrated by you), in which figured the posterity (sons and grandsons) of Marici and others (the creators of the universe). (Pray,) speak to us (now) about the other Manus (as well). (1)
Tell us who are listening (with rapt attention), O holy one, (an account especially) of those Manvantaras with which the learned associate any (particular) descent and exploits of Śrī Hari, the greatest of the great. (2)
Relate to us, O holy Brāhmaṇa, what the Lord, (who is) the Protector of the universe, actually did in which past Manvantara, what He is doing now or what He is going to accomplish in which future Manvantara.(3)

The sage (Śukadeva) replied: In the current Kalpa (cycle or Brahmā's day) six Manus (Manvantaras), Swāyambhuva and others, have (already) passed. Of these, an account of the first (viz., that presided over by Swāyambhuva Manu) has been narrated to you as well as the story of the creation of gods and other (orders of) creatures such as demons and human beings.(4)
(I have told you how) the Lord actually assumed the role of a son to (the blessed) Ākūti and Devahūti, daughters of the aforesaid (Swāyambhuva) Manu, in order to teach (the former) piety (in the person of Yajña) and (to the latter spiritual) wisdom (in the person of the sage Kapila) respectively. (5)
(Of these) I have already related* (to you) the achievement of Kapila (in the shape of instruction in Devotion and spiritual wisdom imparted to Devahūti, which led her to renounce everything and, fixing her thought exclusively on the Lord, attain final beatitude). I shall (now) recount, O chief of the Kurus what Lord Yajña did.(6)

Fed up with the enjoyment of sense-objects and having relinquished his kingship, Emperor Swāyambhuva Manu (the spouse of Śatarūpā) withdrew to the forest for (practising) austerities along with his consort. (7)
Practising rigid asceticism on the bank of the (river) Sunandā for a hundred years and touching the ground with(only) one foot, he repeated the following (prayer), O scion of Bharata !(8)

Manu prayed: Oh, how strange (that) the individual soul does not know Him—although He knows the individual soul—because of whom (whose presence) the world (of matter, viz., the body, senses, mind and so on) is endowed with consciousness but to whom the world does not lend consciousness (He being conscious by His very nature), and who keeps awake(as the witness) while the world is asleep.(9)
Whatever animate( or inanimate) creation there exists in the world, all that is pervaded by the (cosmic) Spirit (who not only sustains it but also enlivens it). (Therefore,) live upon what has been assigned (to you) by Him (or what has been consecrated to Him); do not covet the wealth of anyone (else).(10)
Flee (for protection) to that self-effulgent Lord, the abode (Inner Controller) of (all) created beings, (and who has been figuratively depicted in the Upanisads as) a bird with beautiful wings( dwelling on the tree of this body as an unconcerned witness along with the Jiva, represented as its companion attached to the tree), whom, as the Perceiver (of all), the world (or the sense of sight) cannot perceive(because He is above sense-perception and because the knower cannot be known by the means of knowledge) and whose perception (knowledge) never fails (inasmuch as it constitutes His very being, unlike the consciousness of the finite Jiva, which disappears with the disappearance of its object). (11)
The all-pervading Brahma (alone) is that (supreme) Reality to which neither beginning nor end nor middle can be attributed, nay, in whose eye there is neither friend nor foe. ( It being the Self of all), neither inside nor outside (because of its pervading all), to which (all) these stages (viz., the beginning, middle and end) of the universe are attributable and which is (manifested in the form of) the universe. (12)
The aforesaid Lord has the universe for His body and bears innumerable names; He (alone) is true, self-effulgent, unborn and (most) ancient. By His own (creative) Energy (called Māyā, which is unborn like Himself; because Śakti and Śaktimān are identical in essence). He undertakes the creation etc., (namely, maintenance and dissolution as well) of this universe and, having set aside the said Māyā by His (other) Energy (in the shape of consciousness) He remains actionless (in His primary state of Brahmahood). (13)
(Because the Lord Himself first undertakes and then withdraws from action in the form of creation etc., of the universe,) therefore, the sages (too likewise) undertake actions (consecrated to the Lord) in the first instance for the sake of actionlessness (Liberation). For a man performing (his) duties (as an offering to the Lord) generally attains liberation (which exonerates one from all duties). (14)
The almighty Lord does engage in action, but does not get attached to it inasmuch as He has all His objects accomplished through the realization of His own (blissful) character. (Hence) they who follow in His footsteps never suffer (bondage). (15)
I (therefore) take refuge in that Lord, who, though engaging in action is yet (altogether) free from egotism, being all-wise, perfect (in Himself) and (therefore) above (all) cravings and is (absolutely) independent (lit., not impelled by others), (nay,) who teaches humanity (by His own example), (Himself remaining) steadfast to the course of conduct prescribed by Himself because of His being the protector and upholder of righteousness. (16)

Śrī Śuka continued: Finding him repeating (as though in a dream in spite of himself) the aforesaid mystical prayer consisting of sacred texts* (based on the Īśāvāsyopaniṣad, forming part of Yajurveda-Sarhhitā), (though) absorbed in profound and abstract meditation, (and therefore oblivious of himself), demons and ogres, impelled by hunger, assailed him on all sides with intent to devour him. (17)
Seeing them thus resolved, the all-pervading Śrī Hari, in the form of Lord Yajña (the deity presiding over sacrifices and born of Dharma and Ākūti†), surrounded by (His sons) the gods known as the Yāmas, (appeared there and) slew them and ruled in heaven (as Indra‡, the Lord of paradise). (18)

• The Upaniṣads, referred to as the crown of the Vedas, have been classified under two heads, viz., (1)
  Mantropaniṣads (those forming part of the Sarhhitā portion, consisting of hymns) and (2)
  Brāhmaṇopaniṣads or those forming part of the Brāhmaṇas or exegetic texts giving rules for the employment of the hymns at particular sacrifices and so on. The Īśāvāsya, the Śvetāśwatara and the Muṇḍaka, Upaniṣads forming part of the Śukla and Kṛṣṇa Yajurveda and Atharvaveda respectively, are thus classed as Mantropaniṣads; while all the rest fall under the category of Brāhmaṇopaniṣads.
  † Vide verses 4 and 5 above.
  ‡ We find it mentioned in Book XII, vii. 15 that every Manvantara is presided over by a body of divine administrators consisting of a Manu as its head, a group of gods, the Manu's sons, an Indra ruling over the three worlds, the seven Rṣis(seers) and a part manifestation of God Himself. In the first Manvantara of the present Kalpa, known as the Swāyambhuva Manvantara after the name of the Manu presiding over it, the Manu was known as Swāyambhuva (born of Brahmā the creator himself); Priyavrata and Uttānapāda (whose accounts are given in Books V and IV respectively) were his two sons; the gods were known by the name of Yamas; Lord Yajña (a part manifestation of the Lord) Himself held the office of Indra; while Marīcī, Atī, Aṅgirā, Pulaha, Kratu, Pulastya, and Vasiṣṭha were the seven seers—vide Book IV.

Now Swārocīṣa was (the name of) the second Manu, (who was) a son of Agni (the god of fire); while Dyumān, Suṣeṇa, and Rocīṣmān were the chief among his sons. (19)
In that (Swārocīṣa) Manvantara, of course, the Indra was known by the name of Rocana; while Tusita and others (viz., Toṣa, Pratoṣa, Santoṣa Bhadra, Sānti, Iḍaspati, Idhma, Kavi, Vibhu, Swahna and Sudeva) were the gods. Ūrja (son of Vasiṣṭha) Stambha (son of Kaśyapa, a lord of created beings) and others (namely, Prāṇa, Bṛhaspati, Atri, Datta, also known as Dattātreya, son of Atri, and Cyavana) were the seven seers, (all) expositors of the Vedas. (20)
Again, the wife of the sage Vedaśrā was named Tuṣitā. Through her from (the loins of) that sage appeared the Lord Himself, known all over by the name of Vibhu. (21)
Eighty-eight thousand sages, who had (all) undertaken a vow of austerity, followed the example of the aforesaid Lord, who had remained a bachelor since His (very) boyhood. (22)

The third Manu, son of (the celebrated Emperor) Priyavrata, was known as Uttama. Pavana, Sṛñjaya, Yajñahotra and others were his sons, O Parikṣit! (23)
Pramada and others, sons of Vasiṣṭha, were the seven seers. The Satyas, the Vedaśrutas and the Bhadras were the (names of the three groups of) gods; while the Indra was (known by the name of) Satyajit. (24)
Again, from (the loins of) Dharma (the god of piety) through (his wife) Sūṇṭā appeared along with (the class of gods known as) the Satyavratas, the Supreme Person (Himself) celebrated by the name of Lord Satyasena. (25)
And with Satyajit (the then Indra) as His helpmate. He killed the wicked Yakṣas and Rākṣasas, who were vowed to mendacity and given to evil ways, as well as hosts of evil spirits who were enemies of created beings. (26)

The fourth Manu, Tāmasa by name, was a brother of Uttama. Pṛthu, Khyāti, Nara, Ketu and others were his ten sons. (27)
The Satyakas, the Haris and the Viras were (the three groups of) the gods; Triśikha was (the name of) their ruler (Indra); while Jyotirdhāma and others (viz., Pṛthu, Kāvya or Śukrācrāya, Caitra, Agni, Dhanada and Pivara) were the seven seers in that Manvantara, which went by the name of Tāmasa. (28)
The (other) gods (in that Manvantara), Vaidhṛtis by name, were the sons of Vidhṛti, by whom the Vedas, that had been lost (forgotten) in course of time, were preserved (retained in their memory) by their own intellectual calibre, O king! (29)
In that Manvantara the Lord too was born through Hariṇī from (the loins of) the sage Harimedhā (her husband) and was named Śrī Hari, by whom the (celebrated) leader of (a herd of) elephants was extricated from (the grip of) an alligator. (30)

The king (Parikṣit) submitted : O son of Bādarāyaṇa (the sage Vedavyāsa, so-called because he had his abode in a thicket of jujube trees), we long to hear from you the story as to how Śrī Hari delivered the (said) king of elephants, seized by an alligator. (31)
That (alone) of (all) stories is highly sacred, praiseworthy, conducive to blessedness and auspicious, in which Lord Śrī Hari of excellent renown is celebrated. (32)

Sūta went on : Thus urged by Parikṣit, who sat determined to die (of starvation to make amends for the indignity offered by him to a holy sage absorbed in meditation by throwing a dead serpent on his person), to continue his discourses (on the pastimes of the Lord), the sage Śukadeva (son of Bādarāyaṇa,) O Brāhmaṇas, congratulated the emperor and joyously spoke (as follows) in that assembly of sages who were (all) listening (with rapt attention). (33)

Thus ends the first discourse, forming part of the story of the (various) Manvantaras, in Book Eight of the great and glorious Bhāgavata-Purāṇa, otherwise known as the Paramahārīsa-Sarhhitā.