Shraddhadeva Manu

Shraddhadeva Manu

In Hindu Mythology Manu is the progenitor of humanity and he is also considered the very first king who ruled the earth ,who saved the mankind from great flood ,forewarned about this by the Matsya avatara of Lord Vishnu who advised him to built a boat . Carried there family and also Saptrishi to safety . He is also “Satyavrata” (always truthful)

According to the Purans , the geneology of Shraddhadeva is as follows

1. Brahma.

2. Marichi ,one of the Prajapati ,created by Brahma.

3. Kashyapa ,son of Marichi and his wife ,kala , kashyapa  is regarded as the father of humanity.

4. Vivasvan or Suraya , son of Kashyapa and Aditi

5.  Vaivasvata Manu , because he is the son of  Vaivasan and Sharanyu (Samjna).He is also known as Satyavrata and Shraddhadeva.

Manu was Married to Satarupa and had ten children including Ila and Ikshuvaku , the progenitors of the Lunar and Solar  dynasty respectively .

Shraddhadev Manu

Shraddhadeva Manu was the king of Dravida kingdom . According  to Matsya  Puran when the Matsya Avatara of Vishnu is appeared as a Shaphari (a small carp) to Shraddhadeva while he washed his hands in a river flowing down the Malaya Mountains.

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 . 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. The king built a huge boat which housed his family , Saptrishi , nine types of seeds , and  animals to repopulate the earth , after the deluge would end and the ocean 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 .The boat was perched after the deluge on the top of the Malaya  Mountains .After the deluge , Manu ‘s family and the seven sages repopulated the earth . According to Purana , Manu’s story occur before 28 chataryuga  in the Present Manavantara which is 7^th Manvantara . This  amounts to 120 million years ago.