Vp3 2

Created by Jijith Nadumuri at 22 Jul 2011 10:41 and updated at 22 Jul 2011 10:41

VISHNU PURANA

BOOK 3.

CHAPTER 2.

Of the seven future Manus and Manwantaras. Story of Sanjna and Chhaya, wives of the sun. Savarni, son of Chhaya, 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.

Parasara. Sanjna, the daughter of Viswakarman, was the wife of the sun, and bore him three children, the Manu Vaivaswata(), Yama, and the goddess Yami (or the Yamuna river). Unable to endure the fervours of her lord, Sanjna gave him Chhaya 1 as his handmaid, and repaired to the forests to practise devout exercises. The sun, supposing Chhaya to be his wife Sanjna, begot by her three other children, sanaischara Saturn(), another Manu Savarni(), and a daughter Tapati (the Tapti river). Chhaya, upon one occasion, being offended with Yama 2, the son of Sanjna, denounced an imprecation upon him, and thereby revealed to Yama and to the sun that she was not in truth Sanjna, the mother of the former. Being further informed by Chhaya 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 aswins and Revanta, and

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then brought Sanjna back to his own dwelling. To diminish his intensity, Viswakarman 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 Viswakarman, fell blazing down upon the earth, and the artist constructed of them the discus of Vishnu, the trident of siva, the weapon 4 of the god of wealth, the lance of Kartikeya, and the weapons of the other gods: all these Viswakarman fabricated from the superfluous rays of the sun 5.

The son of Chhaya, who was called also a Manu, was denominated Savarni 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 Savarni shall be the Manu, the classes of the gods will be Sutapas, Amitabhas, and Mukhyas; twenty one of each. The seven Rishis will be Diptimat, Galava, Rama, Kripa, Drauni; my son Vyasa 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 Patala. The royal progeny of Savarni will be Virajas, Arvarivas, Nirmoha, and others.

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The ninth Manu will be Daksha savarni 8. The Paras, Marichigarbhas, 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, Jyotishman, and Satya will be the seven Rishis. Dhritaketu, Driptiketu, Panchahasta, Mahamaya, Prithusrava, and others, will be the sons of the Manu.

In the tenth Manwantara the Manu will be Brahma savarni: the gods will be the Sudhamas, Viruddhas, and satasankhyas: the Indra will be the mighty santi: the Rishis will be Havishman, Sukriti, Satya, Apammurtti, Nabhaga, 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 savarni: the principal classes of gods will be the Vihangamas, Kamagamas, and Nirmanaratis, each thirty in number 9; of whom Vrisha will be the Indra: the Rishis will be Nischara, Agnitejas, Vapushman, Vishnu, aruni, Havishman, and Anagha: the kings of the earth, and sons of the Manu, will be Savarga, Sarvadharma, Devanika, and others.

In the twelfth Manwantara the son of Rudra, Savarni, will be the Manu: Ritudhama 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] Tapaswi, Sutapas, Tapomurtti, Taporati, Tapodhriti, Tapodyuti, and Tapodhana will be the Rishis: and Devavan, Upadeva, Devasreshta, 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 Sudhamans, Sudharmans, and Sukarmans; their Indra will be Divaspati: the Rishis will be Nirmoha, Tatwadersin, 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 Chakshushas, the Pavitras, Kanishthas, Bhrajiras, and Vavriddhas: the seven Rishis will be Agnibahu, suchi, sukra, Magadha, Gridhra, Yukta, and Ajita: and the sons of the Manu will be Uru, Gabhira, 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 Brahma, Janarddana, 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 sesha, 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 Dwapara age, in the person of Veda vyasa, 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?

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