Manu

“ Like Manu first of kings, he reigned,
And worthily his state maintained.
For firm and just and ever true
Love, duty, gain he kept in view,
And ruled his city rich and free,
Like Indra's Amarávatí.
And worthy of so fair a place
There dwelt a just and happy race
With troops of children blest.
Each man contented sought no more,
Nor longed with envy for the store
By richer friends possessed.
For poverty was there unknown,
And each man counted as his own
Kine, steeds, and gold, and grain. ”

“ From subtlest ether Brahmá rose:
No end, no loss, no change he knows.
A son had he, Maríchi styled,
And Kaśyap was Maríchi's child.
From him Vivasvat sprang: from him
Manu, whose fame shall ne'er be dim.
Manu, who life to mortals gave,
Begot Ikshváku good and brave:
First of Ayodhyá's kings was he,
Pride of her famous dynasty. ”

“ Manu will create (again) all beings—gods, Asuras and men, and all those divisions of creation which have the power of locomotion and which have it not. By practising severe austerities he will acquire this power, and, with my blessing, illusion will have no power over him.” Manu, of course, underwent the necessary austerities, and recreated “all beings in proper and exact order.” ”

“ From the sun sprang Manu whose sons were Ikshawaku, Nriga, Dwrishta, Saryati, Narishyanta, Pransu, Nabhaga, Nedishta, Karusha, and Prishadhra. Being desirous of having offspring formerly Manu celebrated a sacrifice in honour of Mitra and Varuna; but the ceremony being unsuccessful on account of some irregularity from the presiding priest a daughter Ilā was born. But by the mercy of the two deities however, her sex was changed and she became a man under the name of Sudyumna. And he again became a woman under an imprecation (from Siva) near the hermitage of Buddha, the son of the moon. ”

“ It may be added, that Kâlidâsa in his Raghu XV, 67, cites Manu as an authority for the proposition that a king must protect all castes and all orders or âsramas. Manu, therefore, must have lived considerably earlier than Kâlidâsa, and the Gîtâ, as we have already argued, must be considerably earlier, not only than Manu, but also than his predecessor Âpastamba. ”

“ It is hardly an exaggeration to say that Manu could not have outlived his law, for what is that class that can submit to be degraded to the status of brutes by the pen of a man, and suffer him to raise another class to the pinnacle? ”

“ Thus, in the ancient collection of laws called the Manu (viii. 92) occurs the following passage, “Within thine heart dwells the god Jama, the son of Vivasvat: when thou hast no variance with him, thou hast no need to repair to the Gangâ, nor the Kuruxêtra;” meaning clearly, “If thou hast nothing on thy conscience, thou hast no object in making a pilgrimage.” Muni, “who keepeth watch over virtue and over sin,” however, more properly represents conscience. ”

“ I may seem hard on Manu, but I am sure my force is not strong enough to kill his ghost. He lives like a disembodied spirit and is appealed to, and I am afraid will yet live long. One thing I want to impress upon you is that Manu did not give the law of Caste and that he could not do so. Caste existed long before Manu. ”

“ In every Manvantarâ, there are one Manu, sons of Manu, Devas, Indra or king of the Devas, seven Rishis and one Avatâra of Vishnu. The Avatâras of Purusha propel Manu and others to their work. At the end of every cycle of 4 Yugas, the Rishis by their Tapas find out the lost Srutis and revive the old Dharma. The Manus propound the Dharma. The sons of Manu including their descendants and others preserve the Dharma, in their respective times, to the end of the Manvantara. The Devas help them in their work. ”

“ Gradually, as the waters fell, Manu descended the mountain; he then sacrificed and prayed. In a year’s time his prayer was granted. A woman appeared, who called herself his daughter Idā (goddess of fertility) . It is neither stated, nor even hinted, that sin was the cause of the flood.
Another version occurs in the great epic, the Mahābhārata. The lacunae of the earlier story are here supplied. Manu, for instance, embarks with the seven “rishis” or wise men, and takes with him all kinds of seed. The fish announces himself as the God Brahman, and enables Manu to create both gods and men. ”

“ Among the numerous ancient priests and heroes of the Rigveda the most important is Manu, the first sacrificer and the ancestor of the human race. The poets refer to him as “our father,” and speak of sacrificers as “the people of Manu.” The Çatapatha Brāhmaṇa makes Manu play the part of a Noah in the history of human descent.
A group of ancient priests are the Angirases, who are closely associated with Indra in the myth of the capture of the cows. ”

“ It is left to the Manu Himself how He shall proceed with His work. He takes the responsibility of the method He chooses. When the time comes to plan out the new Race, then the coming Manu begins to take up His office, and always in connection with another great Brother of His own rank, who is called the Bodhisattva. ”

“ Before the Manu of a chain or of a round commences the task appointed for Him, He examines the part of that mighty thought-form which refers to His work, and brings it down to some level within easy reach for constant reference. The same thing is done at a somewhat lower level by the Manu of each world and of each root-race. Each Manu at His own level has before Him the model towards which He has to build, and He endeavours to make His race or His world, as the case may be, as nearly as possible an exact copy of what the LOGOS intended it to be. ”

“ Said the great Hindu sage, Manu, He who in his own soul perceives the Supreme Soul in all beings, and acquires equanimity toward them all, attains the highest bliss. It was Athanasius who said, Even we may become Gods walking about in the flesh. ”

“ His various quotations from Manu are derived, not from the later famous law-book, but evidently from a legal Sūtra related to our Manu. On the other hand, the extant text of Manu contains a quotation from Vasishṭha which actually occurs in the published edition of the latter. Hence Vasishṭha's work must be later than that of Gautama, and earlier than that of Manu. It is further probable that the original part of the Sūtra of a school connected with the Rigveda and belonging to the North dates from a period some centuries before our era. ”

“ Equal unto Indra in wealth and Kuvera in hoarding, he is the protector of the worlds like unto Manu himself of mighty prowess. Endued with great might, he is even such. Kind unto all creatures he is no other than the bull of the Kuru race, king Yudhishthira the just. The achievements of this king resemble the sun himself of blazing effulgence. And his fame hath travelled in all directions like the rays of that luminary. And like the rays following the risen sun of blazing effulgence, ten thousand swift elephants followed him, O king, when he dwelt among the Kurus. ”

“ There are also Manus whose duty it is to act in a similar way for each Root Race on each Planet of the Round, the Seed Manu planning the improvement in type which each successive Root Race inaugurates [20] and the Root Manu actually incarnating amongst the new Race as a leader and teacher to direct the development and ensure the improvement. ”

“ And then the adorable Manu, the conqueror of hostile cities, took it out of that vessel and carried it to a large tank and placed it there. And there again the fish grew for many a long year. And although the tank was two yojanas [Pg 375] in length and one yojana in width, even there, O lotus-eyed son of Kunti and ruler of men, was no room for the fish to play about! And beholding Manu it said again, "O pious and adorable father, take me to the Ganga, the favourite spouse of the Ocean so that I may live there; or do as thou listest. ”

“ In Manu, II—140-41, he is called an Acharya who taught all the Vedas, without any remuneration. He, on the other hand, who taught a particular Veda for a living, was called an Upadhyaya. The first line of verse 19 corresponds with Manu, II—148. The sense is that that birth which one derives from one's parents is subject to death; while the birth derived from the preceptor is true regeneration, unfading and immortal. It is a question whether any other nation paid such respect to persons employed in teaching. ”

“ Manu, as will be seen in the account of the Creation, being regarded by some of the Purānas as the first parent of mankind. This legend, with considerable variation, is found in most of the Purānas; Soma, Indra, Yama, and others taking the place of Manu as the calf whilst Prithu's place as the milker is taken by the Rishis, Mitra, etc. In the same note Professor Wilson says, “These are all probably subsequent modifications of the original simple allegory, which typified the earth as a cow, who yielded to every class of beings the milk that they desired, or the object of their wishes.” ”

“ The native historical name is undoubtedly “Ârjâvata,” the district of the Ârja—“the venerable men”—or more literally, “worthy to be sought after,” keepers of the sacred laws, the people of honourable ancestry; calling themselves so in contradistinction to the Mlêk’ha, barbarous despisers of the sacred laws (Manu, [ix] i. 22; x. 45) , also Ârja-bhûmi, land of the Ârja. The Manu defines rigidly the original boundaries of this sacred country; it lies between the Himâlaja and Vindhja mountains, and stretches from the eastern to the western seas. ”

“ Also Kenrick (“Essay on Primæval History,” p. 59) , “Thus the Hindus attribute the origin of their institutions and race to Manu, whose name is equivalent to man. The Germans made Tuisto (Teutsch) and his son Mannus to be the origin and founder of their nation.” Also Sir W. Jones’ “Asiat. Res.” i. 230; Rawlinson’s “Bamp. Lect.” lect. ii. 67:—“From Manu the earth was re-peopled, and from him mankind received their name Manudsha.” ”

“ As every Manu establishes the same Manava Dharma again and again, and as the Manus are higher than Buddha and other founders of religions, I should call upon you to pay all possible attention to this subject. Manu is higher, because he overshadows a Buddha. ”

“ Is immortality...."
—down to Manu, "the first and the seventh man," the Vedas, the Upanishads, and all the later systems of philosophy teem with allusions to this number. Who was Manu, the son of Swayambhuva? The secret doctrine tells us that this Manu was no man, but the representation of the first human races evolved with the help of the Dhyan-Chohans (Devas) at the beginning of the first Round. ”

“ The part played by the divine fish with regard to Manu in the Indian legend, is attributed both by the Epic of Uruk and by Berosus to the god Êa, who is also designated Schalman, "the Saviour." Now this god, whose type of representation we now know certainly from Assyrian and Babylonian monuments, is essentially the ichthyomorphic god, and his image almost invariably combines the forms of fish and man. ”

“ Possessed of a thorough acquaintance with all the scriptures, and every kind of affluence, He is worshipped by all beings. Conversant with all duties, He is a great benefactor of even enemies when they seek His protection. Conversant with policy and endued with policy, He is an utterer of Brahma and has all His senses under perfect control. For doing good to the deities, Govinda will take birth in the race of the high-souled Manu. Verily, endued with high intelligence, He will take birth in the auspicious and righteous race of that Prajapati. Manu will have a son of the name of Anga. ”

“ And as to Smriti we have the following statement in Manu, 'This universe existed in the shape of darkness, &c.—He desiring to produce beings of many kinds from his own body, first with a thought created the waters and placed his seed in them. ”

“ Manu is considered a law giver in the Hindu tradition. Manu Smriti is one of the 18 Smritis. It is important to note that laws given by Manu, in Manu Smriti although followed in some form even today, are not considered divine, and may be modified by the society to keep up with the times. Indeed, it has been speculated that in its current form, Manu Smriti represents laws that have been added or modified throughout the history. ”

“ We do not purpose to give an account of the other sacrificial rites; what we have already said will convey a general idea as to how sacrifices were performed. We will now turn to some of the legends of the Brahmanas, which are curious and interesting. A most remarkable legend is told of Manu, who in the Vedic hymns is mentioned as the ancient progenitor of man, and who introduced cultivation and worship by fire. The legend of Manu in the Satapatha Brahmana gives the Hindu version of the story of the Flood. ”

“ Brahmâ took up the creation, which was two-fold — direct or Mânasa and indirect or through Prajâpatis and Manu. The creation or bringing into manifestation of those that had been preserved at Pralaya is direct or Mânasa. The mind born sons of Brahmâ took up positions in the universe of duty and responsibility and in this Kalpa they have not to look to themselves, but to others. Their own evolution is not a matter of their concern. The innumerable Monads were created through Manu and the real history of the Kalpa is the history of their evolution. ”

“ There are the strongest possible arguments in favor of the great antiquity of the Books of Manu, and without going to the trouble of quoting the opinions of various scholars, no two of whom agree, we will bring forward our own, at least as regards this most unwarranted assertion of the Cyclopædia.
If, as Jacolliot proves, text in hand, the Code of Justinian was copied from the Laws of Manu, we have first of all to ascertain the age of the [Pg 588] former; not as a written and perfect code, but its origin. To answer, is not difficult we believe. ”