Monday, April 30, 2012

Manu - The First Man


Early man, tell me if you can,
When did you come to Earth,
Opened your eyes, And took your first steps,
What era was that, Unknown, Unnamed,
When the rising sun, Kissed your forehead,
When you were ignited, And you were born..


In these verses, Kalpana Singh Chitnis beautifully conveys the enigma that the First Human-Beings are. WHO indeed was the first man? HOW did he appear? WHERE did he come from? WHAT gave birth to him and WHEN was he born?

Peering out the window, looking at Versova beach, I can still see people mulling around even at this late hour.. after all it's Mumbai, the city that never sleeps. There is a sea of Humanity wherever you turn to and sometimes it feels as if the city is literally bursting at its seams!

I started wondering how so many people came to be and my thoughts turned towards the legend of the First Man on this planet. Hindu Scriptures call this Man - Manu and make him the Indian counterpart of western Adam, the First Human-being created by God.

The Brahma Puraan declares :

"To continue with Creation, Brahma gave form to a Man and a Woman. The man was Swayambhu Manu and the Woman was named Shatrupa. Humans are descended from Manu, that is the reason they are known as Manavs."

Indeed MANU is the root-word for both the Sanskrit 'Manushya' and the English 'Man' that derives origin from the Germanic Mannus which stems from the same root as Manu.


The First Man - Manu



As explained in the third post (Creation by Brahma), after creating the Devas, Asurs, Pitras etc. Lord Brahma was completely exhausted and decided to take a break. He sat ruminating about the direction his work had taken till now, when suddenly, from his body, emerged a creature who looked a lot like him.

This was the First Man, Swayambhu Manu (Born-on-his-Own) who was born with the Kaya of his father Brahma (Ka-Brahma, ya-form). Interestingly, the same incident is noted in Bible as - 'Man was created in the Image of His Maker!'


Son and Father - Adam and God - Manu and Brahma


Alongwith Manu, there appears the feminine principle in the form of Shatrupa, the counterpart to Biblical Eve. Norse Mythology uses the terms Ask and Embla for Manu and Shatrupa, while the Zoroastrians called them Mashya and Mashyana.

However, there are certain fundamental differences between the Western and Hindu concepts of the Creation of Man.

  • While in the former, God deliberately created Adam, in the Latter, Manu emerged ON HIS OWN from the body of Lord Brahma.
  • In the Western concept, woman was created from the rib of Man(u) but in Hindu tradition, both emerged on their own from the body of Brahma thus, there is an Equality of Sexes.
  • Again, unlike the Biblical and Islamic accounts, there is no mention of the First Couple being thrown out of the Garden-of-Eden and NO concept of the ORIGINAL SIN.
  • Neither is there a mention of the DEVIL disguised as a serpent who asked Eve to partake of the forbidden fruit which she passes on to Adam resulting in their expulsion.

Instead, Lord Brahma, quite willingly, asks Manu and Shatrupa to establish their dominion on the Planet Earth. Here, the Biblical record matches with the Puranic story wherein Manu/Adam is made the Lord of all beings on Earth.


Manu and Shatrupa asked to establish their dominion on Earth



In Western Theology, the belief that Adam and Eve were created fully grown, has led to the depiction of the first human couple WITHOUT navels and is propounded in the Omphalos theory.

The idea is that they did not develop in a womb, therefore could not have been connected to an Umbilical Cord like other Humans. This again matches with the Hindu conception of Manu and Shatrupa emerging full-grown from the body of Brahma without any BIOLOGICAL parents.

Interestingly, Hindu scriptures do not stop at one Manu but mention MORE than ten different Manus! To clear the confusion, I should mention that Manu is NOT the name of a person but a TITLE, and refers to different people in different spans of Time just like Indra!!




So How many Manus are there?

To understand this, we shall first have to go through the basic calculation of time for Lord Brahma. As mentioned in various other posts, just like our own division of time, each day of Brahma (known as a Kalpa) is divided into 14 Manvantars (~ our 12 Hours) and each Manvantar is composed of 72 Chatur Yugas ( ~ our 60 Minutes).  




As you can observe from the chart above, the Chatur-yuga and Manvantar periods run into huge time spans. For the smooth functioning of such long intervals of time, each of these has a different set of Gods and Guardians.

For example, the post of Indra passes to the most deserving of the Devas every Manvantar and alongwith him, the groups of Devas, Saptarishis etc. also change posts and so does the Manu.

Thus, there are a total of 14 Manus in EACH day of Brahma and it is in deference to Manu that the division of time is called a Manvantar!

Right now, we are nearing the Noon of the 1st year of the 51st day of our Brahma's life. This implies there have already been a total of {14x360x50 = 252000 Manus for previous Years + 7 for this day} = 252007 Manus till now! Mercifully, our scriptures do not give us the details of the previous years of Brahma's life and only talk about the CURRENT day known as the Varah Kalpa :o)



The Current Day of Brahma

At the end of the 50th Year of Brahma, there was the usual flooding and destruction. Brahma rested for the night and at the break of the First Dawn of his 51st Year, started the process once again {For details check the post - Creation by Brahma}.

Shrimad Bhagvatam gives the names of all the past, present and future Manus for the current day of Brahma.


Fourteen Manus and corresponding Indras



Now, our Swayambhu Manu and Shatrupa were all set to take their place in the scheme of things and populate the Earth with their progeny. But, when they tried to locate their future home, the planet Earth was not to be found anywhere!

This is what had happened - While Brahma was busy with the creative process, a demon called Hiranyaksh (the Golden-Eyed), had abducted the Earth-goddess Bhumi from her central position in Bhu-loka and imprisoned her in the Lower planetary system of Rasaatal. Consequently, Manu and Shatrupa did not have a planet of their own anymore.

I used to be quite confused as a kid as to what ocean could be so huge that an entire planet can drown and get submerged in it! Shrimad Bhagavatam clarifies that this ISN'T an earthly water-body we are talking about, but the Cosmic Ocean known as Garbhodak that forms the base of our Universe. {For details check the previous post - Lokas or Alien Planets?}.



Earth trapped at the bottom of the Garbhodak Ocean



Brahma was dismayed and started praying to Lord Vishnu for help. The benevolent Lord then adopted the form of a huge boar (Varaha) to perform the dual task of releasing Bhumi-devi from imprisonment and vanquishing the demon Hiranyaksh.

One may wonder why Lord Vishnu took this particular form at that time. The reason for it is pretty simple and is related to  what I call the 'Boon of Conditional Immortality'. What I am referring to is the practice where an Asura would perform great penance directed towards Brahma in order to obtain Immortality and Brahma would grant him the boon BUT with an inherent condition.



An Asura praying to Brahma for Immortality 
Image courtsey India Authentic Comics
{Issue - Uma}



We saw in the Post {Devi - God as a Female}, the Minotaur Mahish, who had conquered the Three Worlds, had to be killed by a Female warrior because he had the Boon of Conditional Immortality against Males of any species. Hence Devi Durga had to be created from the combined energy of all Gods.

Similarly, Hiranyaksh asked for a boon of invincibility against ALL known species of Men, Animals, Birds and Divine Beings (male as well as female), but FORGOT to enumerate the Wild-Boar or Varah. Hence, Lord Vishnu had to incarnate in this particular form to put an end to the demon's life.

The gigantic Varah entered the cosmic waters and began to search for the captive planet. He found the submerged Earth and raised it on His tusks up to the top of the Garbhodak Ocean, after which He proceeded to kill the evil demon Hiranyaksh. Since this Kalpa started with the appearance of Lord Vishnu, it is known as the Varah Kalpa and because of the First Man - Manu, the First Manvantar is known as the  Swayambhu Manvantar.



Lord Varah heralding the present 51st Day of Brahma



Thus Varah-avatar was the FIRST Avatar of Lord Vishnu in the present day of Brahma and this incident took place 6 Manvantars = 1.8 Billion Solar Years ago!! 

After the Earth was restored to its proper position, Manu and Shatrupa took charge of its affairs. They had two sons Priyavrat and Uttanpad and two daughters Devahuti and Akuti. The two sons were married to daughters of the rishis while the two daughters of Manu were married to the Manas-Putras

The sons of Priyavrat were the ones who established dominion over the Mortal Realm. Priyavrat and his wife Kamya had 2 daughters and 10 sons, 7 of whom became the rulers of the Seven Mortal Realms. We have touched upon these realms in the previous post {Lokas, the Planets of Advanced Aliens} and I am sharing with you the names of the seven sons of Agnidhra who established their kingdoms in these planets.


7 rulers of 7 Mortal Dvipas
Saval
Pushkardvipa
Bhavya
Shakadvipa
Dyutimat Kraunchdvipa
Vapushmat Shalmalidvipa
Jyotishmat Kushadvipa
Medhatithi Plakshdvipa
Agnidhra
Jambudvipa


Emperor Agnidhra became the monarch of our own planet Earth (Jambudvipa) and when the time was opportune, he divided his kingdom into 9 different continents for his 9 sons. The details of this division can be obtained from my earlier post {Jambudweep - The Global Island}.

Manu's other son, Uttanpad also begot extremely virtuous sons and three of them viz, Uttam, Raivat and Tamas became the Manus for 3rd, 4th and the 5th Manvantar respectively. The fourth son Dhruva, because of his undying devotion to Lord Vishnu, became the guardian of the ONLY Spiritual Abode in this Material Universe, the Dhruva Loka.

There is also an interesting story that mentions Swayambhu Manu to have performed austerities at Naimish Aranya for acquiring the privilege of having Lord Vishnu as his son in three lifetimes. Consequently, the Lord fulfilled his wishes when Manu was reborn as Dashrath, then as Vasudev and finally as Vishnuyash who would sire the next avatar Kalki.



Other Past Manvantars of the VARAH KALPA

(2). Swarochish Manvantar - Swarochi was the Manu for the second Manvantar and the son of fire-god Agni. He had sons named Dyumana, Sushen and Rochisman.

During that Manvantar, Indra’s post was occuppied by Rochan and instead of the present Adityas, Tushitas were the gods.

These Tushitas are better detailed in Buddhist Cosmology where they are described as superior Devas dwelling in the Tushita Heaven led by their ruler Santushita. This is where all Bodhisattvas destined to reach full enlightenment in their next life dwell before descending to Earth.



Tushita gods bidding Buddha adieu on his descent from Heaven



Another noteworthy detail mentioned for this Manvantar, is the story of a virtuous king Surath, who had worshiped Goddess Durga and obtained the boon of having an unbroken empire on earth. Consequently, this king would be born as the son of Sun-god Surya and would become the eighth Manu!


Ma Bhagvati blesses King Surath to attain Manu-hood
{Image courtesy Vimanika Comics}



(3). Uttam Manvantar - The third Manu Uttam was the younger son of Priyavrat and hence the grandson of Swayambhu Manu. In this Manvantar, seven sons of Vasishth were the Saptarishis. Indra’s name was Satyajit and Satya, Vedshrut and Bhadra were the main courtiers.


(4). Tamas Manvantar - Tamas, the fourth Manu was the younger brother of Uttam.

Trishikh/Shibi was Indra then, and Satyak, Hari, Veer etc. were his main courtiers. There were four categories of demigods namely Supar, Hari, Satya and Sudhi, each of them with 27 members each.

During this Manvantar, Lord Vishnu had saved the King of elephants Gajendra from the jaws of a cursed Gandharva who had turned into a Makar. By slaying the crocodile with His Sudarshan Chakra, Lord Vishnu liberated him from his curse and also saved the King of the Jungle.


Gajendra praying to Lord Vishnu for rescue




(5). Raiwat Manvantar - Raiwat was the fifth Manu and the brother of Uttam and Tamas, the previous two Manus.

Vibhu was the name of Indra and there were four categories of demigods namely Amitabh, Bhootrath, Vaikunth and Sumedha with 14 deities each. Lord Vishnu had then appeared in the incarnation of Vaikunth, the son of RIshi Shubh and his wife Vikuntha.

(6). Chakshush Manvantar - The sixth Manu was Chakshush and during his Manvantar,  Mantradruma was the Indra.

Apya, Prasoot, Bhavya, Prithuk and Lekh were the categories of gods each with 8 demigods. During this Manvantar, Lord had appeared in the partial incarnation as Ajit, the son of Vanraj and his wife Sambhuti.

In His complete incarnation, Lord Vishnu supported mount Mandrachal on his back as the Kurma when the Samudra-Manthan took place. Thus, the Cosmic Churning of the Ocean occurred  in the 6th Manvantar when the leader of the Gods was MANTRADRUMA and that of the Demons was Maharaj BALI, the grandson of Prahlad Maharaj.

This was the time when Devas obtained the Nectar of Immortality - Amrit from the ocean alongwith riches like the wish-fulfilling Kamdhenu cow; Parijaat tree; Airavat, the white elephant and Uchhaishrava, the flying horse.


Kamdhenu emerging from the Samudra Manthan
Airavat, the King of Elephants
 Ajit expansion of the Lord on top of Mandar Parvat



At the end of this Manvantar, when the Great Deluge was to occur, another one of Lord's incarnations took place and for a very specific purpose.

Lord Surya's son Satyavrat ruled the Dravid-desha in that period. When it was time for him to retire to the forest, he handed over the kingdom to his eldest son Ikshvaku (who gave rise to the Solar Dynasty). He then went to the foothills of Mount Malaya and started to perform meditation.

After a long time, Brahma appeared to him and granted him a boon. Satuyavrat knew the time was nigh for the end of the Chatur-Yuga, hence he asked the boon that he be allowed to carry on the role of Manu in the NEXT Manvantar and Brahma readily granted this boon.

One mornin, Satyavrat was performing ablutions in a pond and immersed his hands in the water so that he might offer some water to his ancestors. When he raised his cupped hands, he was amazed to find a tiny minnow (shafari) in his hands and that too, a talking one!



Satyavrat finds a tiny talking fish in his hands
Image courtsey Vimanika Comics
{Dashavatar Volume 1}


The tiny fish requested for shelter and Satyavrat obliged the creature. But, during the night, the fish grew too large for the small pot it was in, so in the morning, the King had to transfer it to a small pond and then move it to a still bigger one.


King gets the fish moved from one pond to another

Image courtsey Vimanika Comics
{Dashavatar Volume 1}



However, the tiny fish continued to grow over the next day while Satyavrat took the fish from one pond to another and finally to the ocean, but soon it grew as large as the ocean itself! It was then, that the significance of what had happened struck the King, and he realized that the fish was none other that the Supreme Lord Vishnu Himself and immediately bowed down to pay his respects.


Satyavrat realizes the magical creature is Lord Vishnu Himself!
Image courtsey Vimanika Comics
{Dashavatar Volume 1}



The Lord, pleased with his humility, told him that he was to be the Manu for the next Manvantar. The responsibility of saving all species of life for their continuation in the next eon also lay with him. The Lord told him that exactly seven days after that day, Pralaya or the Great Deluge will come and everything will be swallowed by the mighty ocean waves.

Lord Vishnu told Satyavrat that the demigods themselves would construct a ship and he was to take with him the Saptarishis and a pair each of all species of living beings worth saving, and wait at the same spot for the Lord to come there.


All species of Life collected for the next Yuga




The appointed day came, and clouds completely filled the sky. The torrential rains caused by Seven classes of clouds, known as Samvarta, Bhimananda, Drona, Chanda, Valahaka, Vidyutapataka and Kona began and entire land mass was flooded.

However, as instructed by Vishnu, Manu, along with his consort Shradha, the Saptarishis, chosen animals and plants was safe aboard the ship being buffeted by waves as large as mountains. As promised, at the predicted time, Lord Matsya appeared. His body had a golden effulgence and now He had a horn on His head.



Matsya Avatar of Lord Vishnu



The boat was tied by means of Nag-raj Vasuki, to the horn on the head of Matsya and thus, the virtuous devotees of Lord were saved to take life ahead to the next Eon. During the period of Deluge, Vaivasvat Manu asked Lord Vishnu several questions and this conversation is recorded in the form of the Matsya Puraan.


Matsya Avatar saving Manu and Life for the Present Manvantar




At last the rain stopped, the water took some more time to subside, and the land peeped out from under its watery prison. As promised, Satyavrat Vaivasvat Manu and his associates had been saved, and began the task of settling in the new world.




The PRESENT Manvantar


(7). Vaivasvat Manvantar - As mentioned above, in the present era, the seventh Manu, Shardhdev or Vaivasvat is the son of Surya. The Mahabharat declares:

"Manu was imbued with great wisdom and became the progenitor of a line. And in Manu's race have been born all human beings, who have, therefore, been called Manavs."

This implies that the Earth was repopulated by the progeny of Manu and all the Human-beings existing today are descendants of Manu.

Comparing with the western mythologies, Vaivasvat Manu is the counterpart of Noah, whom the Hebrew Bible, declares to be the tenth and last of the ante-diluvian Patriarchs.

The Qur'an contains 43 references to Noah and declares that he received a revelation to build an Ark, after his people refused to believe in his message and hear the warning.



Noah's Ark from a Biblical description
 
The Ark's occupants from a Koranic depiction



There are so many myths in different World Mythologies regarding the DELUGE that it certainly seems to have been a historical phenomenon of Global proportions!

In Greek Mythology, Deucalion is forewarned of the flood and he builds an ark and staffs it with creatures. Similar legends exist in Norse Mythology, African legends and the foundational myths of the Quiché and Mayas, and the story of Utnapishtim in the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh.

It is MORE than likely that all the above myths refer to the same phenomenon, one which we scientifically KNOW to have taken place - that of the Ice Age!!

The Ark carrying Manu/Noah/Utnapishtim/Deucalion and other survivors would have been guided by the global currents generated by the melting waters. The Quran claims that this Ark rested atop Mount Judi. However, Hindu records identify the site with Manali in the Himalays, which was obviously the highest land available on the planet. In fact, on my visit to Himachal Pradesh, I discovered that the ONLY temple to Manu in the entire World is located at Manali, and the name of the place itself commemorates Manu's landing!!



Temple of Manu at Manali



The last glacial period ended about 10,000 years ago and this would have been the time-period of our current Manu. Manu and his wife Shradha  are believed to have ushered in the New Age through their 10 sons- Ikshvaku, Drisht, Sharyati, Narishyanta, Nabhag, Disht, Karush, Prishadhra, Vasumana and Sudyumna/Ila.

As mentioned earlier, the eldest one IKSHVAKU gave rise to the illustrious Suryavansh in which was born Lord Rama, while from ILA, came the Chandravansh, in which Lord Krishna took birth. For details of these two genealogies, please check the following links: {Suryavansh - The Solar Dynasty and Chandravansh - The Lunar Dynasty}.

Genetically speaking, our Manu would probably have been brown-skinned in order to cover all color variations from fair to the dark! Also, medically, the Blood-groups for Manu and Shradha would probably have been A-ve  for Manu and B+ve for Shradha in order to to cover all the groups from the ABO series!! Would be interesting to find some archaeological evidence for this hypothesis.



All different races of Mankind are derived from Manu and Shradha



In Theosophy, Vaivasvat Manu is one of the most important beings at the highest levels of Initiation of the 'Masters of Ancient Wisdom', along with Sanat Kumar, Gautam Buddha and others. These beings act as the 'ROOT' for the Human race in the New Eon.

Coming to the divinities, our present Indra is Shakra, also known as Purandar and his courtiers are the Adityas, Vasus, Rudras, Vishvadevas, Marudgana, and the Ashwini Kumars. Kashyapa, Atri, Vashishtha, Vishvamitra, Gautam, Yamdagni and Bhardwaj are the Saptarishis. During this Manvantar, Lord Vishnu has incarnated as Vaman, the son of Kashyap and Aditi.


Vaman Avatar of Lord Vishnu



It is interesting to note, that while the Indra had changed from one Manvantar to the other, the ruler of the Asurs was STILL Maharaj Bali. Maharaj Bali was a benevolent king but he was ambitious and urged by his rakshas subjects, attacked and wrested control of the Heavens from Indra. The Devas were thus rendered homeless and to help them regain control of their planet, Lord Vishnu incarnated as the dwarf Vaman.

The Lord thus took back the THREE WORLDS from Bali and sent him to rule the Underworld. We saw in the previous post{Lokas, the Abodes of Advanced Aliens}, that Bali Maharaj right now resides in the lower planetary system of Sutal.

However, there's more to this story and we shall see what happens to Bali Maharaj ahead. Till now, we have discussed the Six Eons which have passed and the one that is going on. You would be surprised to know, that the Puranic descriptions do not stop at this!

The SEVEN Manvantars of the FUTURE are equally well detailed in the Bhagavaatm complete with the list of the Indras, Manus, Saptarishis, other gods, their sons and the incarnations of Lord Vishnu!!



The FUTURE Manvantars of Varah Kalpa


(8). Savarni Manvantar - King Surath, whom we encountered in the Second Manvantar, would be born as the son of Surya and Chhaya and because of Goddess Durga's blessings, would become the eighth Manu - Savarni.

We saw in the previous Manvantar that Lord Vaman had wrested control of the Three-Worlds from Bali Maharaj. However, because of his goodness of heart and spiritual nature, the Lord blessed him to become the Indra in the next Manvanatar!

Hence, Vairochan Bali, the pious Asura who was the King of Demons for two Manvantars, would become the King of Gods in the next Manvantar!!



Bali arrives in Amravati to claim his right from Purandar
Image courtsey Grant Morrison's 18 Days
{Artist - Mukesh Singh}



This shows that even if you are born a demon, with the Lord in your heart, you can even obtain the highest position in the Swarga-Loka, that of Indra himself! However, it seems our present Indra would not be too willing to let go of his throne (quite similar to our modern politicians eh!) and Bali will need help from the next incarnation of Lord Vishnu  -  Sarvabhaum, (the son of Devguhya and Saraswati) to obtain the title of Indra.

In this incarnation, Lord Vishnu would snatch the kingdom of Swarga-loka from Purandar and give the crown to King Bali. Sutap, Amitabh and Mukhya will be the categories of demigods with 20 deities each and Galav, Diptiman, Parashuram, Ashwatthama, Kripacharya, Rishyashring and Vyas would be the Saptarishis.


(9). Ninth Manvantar - Daksha-savarni, the son of Varun, the Lord of the Ocean would be the ninth Manu. Adbhut would be the Indra and during that Manvantar, Para, Marichgarva and Sudharma will be the three categories of gods with 12 deities each.


(10). Tenth Manvantar - Upashloka’s son Brahma-savarni would be the tenth Manu. He would be very pious in nature and have sons like Bhurishen etc. Shambhu would be the Indra, with Suvasana, Viruddh etc. as his main courtiers.

Lord Vishnu would appear in the incarnation of Vishwasen as the son of Vishwasrij and his wife Vishuchi and would be a friend of Indra. Sudhama and Vishuddh will be the two categories of gods with 100 deities each.


(11). Eleventh Manvantar - In the eleventh hour of Brahma's Kalpa, Dharma-savarni would be the eleventh Manu and would have ten sons. Vaidhrit would be the Indra with Vihangam, Kamagam, etc. as main courtiers.


(12). Twelfth Manvantar - Rudra-savarni would be the twelfth Manu whose sons would be led by Devavan. The demigods would be called Haritas, Indra would be Ritadhama, and the seven sages would be led by Tapomurti. The incarnation of Lord Vishnu in this manvantara is Svadhama, born to Satyasaha and Sunrita.


(13) Thirteenth Manvantar - In the period of the thirteenth Manu, the Manvantar would be led by Deva-savarni. Among his sons the famous one would be Chitrasena, the demigods would be called Sukarmas, Indra would be Divaspati, and Nirmoka would lead the Sapta-rishis. Lord Vishnu's manvantar-avatar is Yogeshvar, who would be born of Devahotra and Brihati.


(14) FINAL Manvantar - In the final period of this Kalpa, the Manu would be Indra-savarni and among his sons would be Uru and Gambhira. The demigods would be known as Pavitras, Indra's name would be Shuchi, and among the sages would be Agni and Bahu. The incarnation for this manvantar would be Brihadbhanu, born of Shatrayana from the womb of Vitana.


Exhausting as it has been, I have shared with you a summary of all 14 Manvantars of the Present Kalpa of Brahma. We have read about the Avataras, Indras, Sapta-rishis, Devatas, and of course the various Manus of the  Present Kalpa of Brahma.

If you have noted Lord Vishnu's incarnations, you would have observed one startling fact - The ten incarnations or Dashavatar are not in the order generally mentioned. For example, the 1st incarnation Matsya, took place just BEFORE the onset of present Manvantar while the 3rd one, that of Varah, occurred LONG AGO at the beginning of the Kalpa!!

As stated in an earlier post {Evolution in Dashavatar}, the artifical order of the Ten Incarnations actually represents the development of Life on this planet and gives support to the Organic Evolution Theory as propunded by Charles Darwin.

What is more amazing to me is that since EACH Manvantar is ~307 Million Years long, all these predictions cover a period of 4.32 Billion Years between them! Nostradamus and his elk could not even make proper predictions for the 2nd Millenium and here we have predictions lasting the entire lifespan of our Earth!!

Yet, even with the mind-boggling numbers, this period is just ONE DAY in the Life of Brahma; One day of Brahma is just 1/720th of his YEAR; One Year of Brahma is just 1/100th of his LIFETIME; and the lifetime of One Brahma and his Universe is just a SINGLE BREATH of Lord Maha-Vishnu.



 Lifetime of Our Universe is just a single Breath of Shri Maha Vishnu!



We keep fighting over petty issues all our life yet, this life, is not even a fraction of a second of Lord Maha-Vishnu's Breath. What is important, is to understand the ephemeral nature of all existence and strive to get out of this Material Creation.

Even with mankind descending from such an illustrious ancestor and making remarkable progress with each decade, we have somewhere lost our purpose of Life. We owe it to our ancestor Manu, to try and follow the path of the most ancient Dharma - Sanatan Dharma.

To conclude, I'll leave you with some verses inspired by the Shatapatha Brahmana's account of events that transpired at the Twilight of the Present Manavantar.


One morning Manu went to the river,
To offer oblations along the sands,
But when he took a palmful of water,
He found a fish between his hands!

"Save me O King and I'll save Thee!"
"Save me?" asked Manu, "How can that be?"
"A great flood will destroy all you know;
But I can save you and help you go."

Manu asked, "What must I do?"
Save me from the monsters it said,
"Its the Jungle Law - Fish eat Fish,
So keep me safe and let me grow."

"When I grow too big in size,
Dig a pond and keep me in;
When I get too big for that,
Take me down to sea for a swim."

When the fish reached the Ocean,
It told the King, "The flood is coming;
I know the time when it is due.
So listen to me and start planning."

When Deluge comes I'll send a ship,
This shall happen in Seven days,
Keep all species and Saptarishis with you,
And I will save you from drowning waves."

The flood came, but Manu was safe,
They tied the ship to Matsya's horn,
For an endless night, the waters poured,
Till there appeared the rainbow of Morn.

Matsya said: "Now you're saved.
Mind the water going down,
Come out slowly, as the level drops,
And let free your ship's entire town".

Manu did all that he was told,
And became the Lord of present Manvantar,
The flood destroyed every living thing,
But the pious were saved from going under.

This is the way Kaalchakra works,
For each Morn there is a Twilight,
Only the ones with faith in the Lord,
Can look out the tunnel and see the Light.


.
Aum Shanti: Shanti: Shanti:
.

234 comments:

  1. some hindus even dont know who was the first human being in the world.........thank you for spreading the knowledge !

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  2. Replies
    1. nice work but consider the fact that the holy hindu books point to various dimensions and different worlds.. story of finding a suitable bride for revati being one

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    2. Hey...then who was the author of the controversial manusmriti...plz answer my query
      Thanks & regards.

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    3. very difficult to say! Actually there is not one sin gle rendition of what is called the Manu Smriti and there are more than 50 different versions of it available! Also scholars consider it to have been composed by many authors over a long period of time.

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  3. I feel in the long run these stories will be diluted and adulterated through such narrations. Preservation of the tradition is of utmost importance.

    Other than that I have no complaints. You have the writing skill and ability to portray things well, I would simply focus more now on the validity of content if I were you :)

    Also on your post detailing the 7 lokas, the surya loka is not the center of the universe. The universe has no center as such. Think about it, it is expanding evenly from all possible directions... there is no actual center, yes the big bang took place 13.7 billion years ago as per current scientific estimates, but contnuously, in a metaphorical way, there are "tiny" bangs happening in every point of space in the universe from which new space is growing. The center is nowhere and everywhere.

    That said, a lot of these facts when interspersed with spirituality are not in keeping with tradition either..

    vishNu bhagwAn forming the base of the universe represents the jagat aDhisthAnam principle. There are many such things really :)

    All the best

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  4. hanx Prashant Parikh for ur inputs.. All the data presented in my poist is based on scriptural references.. if u find smthng not matching wid ur thoughts abt it may be bcoz the scriptures themselves give varying details at diff points..

    Anyhow the purpose is to bring all the info on one platform n mk it accessible for people who r interested in learning abt it frm a scientific point of view.. thr r enuff websites catering to the translations n purports of the sacred texts so i dont wanna repeat the same thing again.. still thanks for ur suggestions :)

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    1. I agree with you and the stated purpose. Good presentation of information unknown to majority of Hindus.

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    2. Thanx a lot for the vote of confidence :)

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  5. Lokesh H. UkraniMay 2, 2012 at 9:58 AM

    thanx, for this post

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  6. The pleasure is all mine Lokesh :) thanx for d appreciation

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  7. शुभ संध्या.. बेहतरिन लाजवाब, कोई शब्द नहीं, इस आपकी पोस्ट के लिए, जय श्री कृष्णा.. राधे राधे.. जय माता दी.. हर हर महादेव.. जय श्री ओम गणेश.. ओम श्री साई नाथ..

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  8. Shashanka Shekhar PandaMay 2, 2012 at 10:09 AM

    Wow! I read the blog page, and it's a worthy effort - quite a few of the things here were known but a few revelations too!

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  9. It seems the original work was done by SANATANIs and others just got glimpses of our work and wrote. what they understood from our work.That's why we have exhaustive details while there's are in fragmants
    with missing links.

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  10. I have posted your article on our page too good one champ!

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  11. Thanx @Karan for sharing the page and the Images :)

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  12. nice blogs vineet certainly enlightening 2 read n continue the good work

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  13. I checked your blog. I like what you are doing,
    What you are doing you will see, in every corner of the world will begin, doing research in scriptures not only that one is born but others too. As you found Man derived from Manu, and deluge mentioned in our scriptures and semitic scriptures and other avtaars.

    All the conflicts are because of ignorance, this ignorance can be eliminated by understanding for that understanding proper intelligence is needed, which was lacking in the world hence there is history of wars from satyug till day, but they will cease as our intelligence shines. The newer the generation greater the intelligence and more conscious will be their choice, the love will become the prime need. The importance of love, devotion and sacrifice of the self will be recognized. This is because the Budh Nishkalank Avtaar granted his knowledge, leela of love of the Supreme and consciousness into the cosmic mind.Complete understanding of various scriptures and the leela of Supreme will soon be revealed to all.

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  14. The soul is spiritual being (Aatam) and the body is physical being(Jeev). The soul is experiencing the human pain/pleasures, joys/sorrows which are the fruits of actions.
    Bhagavat geeta explains it as two birds jeeva one eating the fruits and other atama just watching, I can provide you with shloka if you want.
    Now in Hinduism it is strictly forbidden to eat the fruit of action, it must be totally surrendered to the Supreme God Head Krishna or Brahm. The jeev eats the fruit of action which is forbidden and also gives to the Aatam which partly enjoys it but does not swallow it fully it also witnesses the actions and reactions of Jeev. The Jeev is tempted to follow the Mann(desire) and brings itself misery. The mind of Vishnu (mann) is Narad which is cursed by Prajapati to keep the jeev away from the Supreme ie.providing Brahmgyaan later he just gives knowledge about Vishnu and not beyond and he cannot stay in one place for long!
    The jeev following the desires(Mann) falls to lower realms of existence of misery and suffering (rebirth,hell). The jeev gets another birth but if one could not understand to surrender to God in Now in this human birth, tomorrow never comes! The soul undergoes 84 lakh birth in different species and comes back to human!

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    1. i will differ on one point that soul is experiencing the human pains/pleasures etc... as the soul although being the one reason for us to have live body, its the untouched and uneffected one that's why its immortal and a part of paramatma but if u see its our ignorance which keep our body, heart and mind in pain and all because of "mann" which can be healed by our "vivek".. and in the end its our atma which still in its truest form provides shelter.. when u connect with it.. it leads to peace only. and in hinduism fruit of action is not forbidden but they are to be performed as duty with balanced approach without any worldy attachment but still knowing that we all are one , part of one.

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  15. The forbidden fruit is fruit of action. The Eve eats the fruit tempted by the Satan (a fallen angel) and offered it to Adam who ate too but became aware after getting warning with the God. The Satan Lucifer the fallen angel tempts human beings away from the God towards the hell. In Christianity the hell is for eternity (If one misses this opportunity, the other opportunity is almost never)

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  16. ‎Ranjana Oli thanx.. i like the last part where u compared the story of adam n eve with aatma n jeev.. abt Lord Vishnu n Narayan i know wht ur saying.. plz check the post titled Creation by Brahma in which i hv discussed the diff Vishnu forms :)

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  17. Lovely blog, vineet...

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  18. Thanx Pritee Mehta :) hope ur bday was great!
    Thanx Avijit :)

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  19. Jitesh Jitu MondalMay 6, 2012 at 12:47 PM

    Long article ... Like it .... Appreciated

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  20. Nice Research Bro... keep it up.

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  21. awsm !!!! feeling like m in another world after reading this article..i thought i knew it all... but their was alooot more to know..!! nice wrk!!

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  22. ‎Jitesh Jitu Mondal yeah its long coz i had to cover all the fourteen manvantars!! Thanx for d appreciation :)

    @Manish bhai thanx a ton :)

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  23. ‎Amrita Kainth thanks dear... Thrs so much to learn that we can spend a lifetime of research and still not know everything :)

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  24. Amazing..!!! Its a wonderful article.. Good work bro :)

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  25. Thanks Paras Sharma! gud to knw ur stil reading the blog :)

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  26. Wow it was indeed great read in the morning with my cup of coffee.. " beautifully explained " my best part of the read was The Current Day of Brahma - keep at it :-)))

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  27. I remember watching some Hindu mythological serial on tv quite sometime back & was surprised like anything when I found a striking similarity of a particular episode with the Islamic account of Prophet Nooh (Noah)!!

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  28. Thanks for the encouragement Asha Malhotra :D

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  29. ‎Shoaib Abrar there r more than one similarities bro :) sadly people just focus on the differences n not the commonalities!

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  30. m sooo glad u cleared my notion ( i alwaz blivd it) of dat 1st sin n xpulsion of 1st male n female on acount of it...lol......jokes apart.......mm feelin .....trust me dt hav words.......its n amazin text...hats off......

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  31. Nice Link...Good information..!!!!

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  32. m sooo glad u cleared my notion ( i alwaz blivd it) of dat 1st sin n xpulsion of 1st male n female on acount of it...lol......jokes apart.......mm feelin .....trust me dt hav words.......its n amazin text...hats off......

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  33. Thanx a lot @Karthick :)

    @Prairna yeah Hindu texts do not agree to the notion of the the 'Original Sin' and the so called serpent and apple theory.. Manu n Shatrupa (Adam and Eve) were sent to Earth for the precise purpose of expanding Creation!! Thanx a lot for ur appreciation :)

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  34. Hats off docsab... amazing work like always...extremely well researched...very informative ...n beautifully written...It's high time u write a book!! I am eagerly waiting for it!! The last part where u explained the life cycle of universe...literally blew my mind away!!... Terrific!!

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  35. Thanks a lot Harsh Chopra :)
    I try my best to simplify things coz I know the topics r a lil unusual.. Its really kind of you to appreciate it to this extent!! thanx a lot :D

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  36. If fools in the world can stick to their so called history of Bible and Koran, We too can research in our line and verify it with scientific data.... After all its our History and more ancient than all the religion and world mythology combined!!...and this no one can deny...

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  37. Thanx @Manish for the appreciation :)

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  38. great content...great work....keep it up...God bless.

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  39. Thanx a ton @susheel Verma!! its always gud to hear frm like minded people :)

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  40. Thanks dear!rather than reading many books,ur one article is enough,when u get so much time2read?

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  41. Ahhh Satyashila its a passion so i keep doing it even when i dont hv time ;) thanx again for d kind words!

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  42. Hi Vineet,

    This is Pavan from Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. Am a Software Professional in Syntel LTD - Airoli, Navimumbai.
    From my childhood i used to read all religious books and am very fond of it. One day when i was browsing for something I got your blog address in serach results.
    Your Posts really amazing and most of the people who will call themselves as Mighties doesn't know the depth of knowledge you have provided. My heartfelt appreciations to you.
    No words with me to congratulate you for your efforts in this busy life. I myself read out all your posts and i even suggested all my friends to read your blog.
    Although am younger than you but still am treating you as my friend. Since am not having blogs am just dropping this comments to let you know that one more follower of your blog is Me:)
    Keep posting and God Bless You!!

    Regards,
    Pavankumar Ramakrishna,
    Mobile : 9970725677, 9833664118,
    email : pavankumarramakrishna@gmail.com, pavankumar_meka@syntelinc.com.

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  43. Thanx a lot Pavan! I take ur appreciation with all humility.. its good to know there are others like me want to know more about their traditions and history.. it is indeed difficult to find time with work n all eating up most of ur life but still m hoping to finish the alphabet by mid next year :)

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    1. "Man on A Mission", I deeply appreciate your efforts to bring this kind of knowledge to the forefront which otherwise would be lost or be within the realms of selected few who wouldn't put this much efforts to share. Though an Engineer by profession I would like to pursue studies in this very field and I am curious to know what your sources of researches are. Please let me know.

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    2. I remember my grandpa chanting a shloka "Aadya Brahmanaha Dvitiya Parardesweta Varahakalpe Vaivaswata Manvantre Kaliyuge Pradhamapade Jambu Dweepe Bharata Varshe Bharata Khande...." so on. Now I know what he meant by this. Thank you :)But also I am curious to know if Vaivaswata Manvanthara ends will there be amends to this shloka?

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    3. @Raksha thanx a ton for ur appreciation! I have been researching on these topics since abt 7 years now.. thr are various sources I use including original library collection of scriptures, online translations of sacred texts, books written by historians and linguists etc.. u can also start with the same.. As regards the shloka u mentioned, yes it would change once the Manvantar changes :)

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  44. Namaste, Just out of curiosity...Manu has started the life on this mrityuloka or earth and he will remain live till the end of manvantara. Manu is considered as the first man means he is not from other lokas like swarga or any other higher lokas..am I right? If this is right then where is manu and his descendants are staying right now? OR is their any loka like Manuloka like other lokas such as Goloka, Suryaloka etc. where Manu and his descendants are staying. As I told earlier, just out of curiosity I am asking this. Please try to satisfy my query at your level best. God bless you.

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    1. Thats a very good question and honestly speaking I dont have an exact answer to it.. there is no reference to where he might be living now as his age is not the average human life-span.. but Manu is not a mere human and is born of Brahma Himself.. he is a spiritually advanced person and so are his sons hence I would assume that they have advanced to the level of one of the higher Lokas and currently reside there but as I said earlier, it is at best an educated guess and not a certainty at all.

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  45. Amazing. But I have always had this question, why Lord Vishnu Supported Purandhar, the current Indra against demons, when he himself did some sins? Why didn't Lord Vishnu straight away give the thrown to Bali?

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    1. Well i believe there's a time and place for everything.. maybe the time was right for Purandar coz of his previous Karma and Bali will get his chance soon enough coz of the merit he has collected for his good Karma :) After all, its the highest post in the Heaven and there has to be a certain amount of seniority to be taken into account as well..

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  46. awesome!!!!!!!!! this shows ur hardwrk behind this article n its really a masterpiece!!

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  47. confusing but get some interesting knowledge about mankind.

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    1. :) well i know the topic is a little extensive but I hv tried to simplify it as much as possible yet retain all the relevant details :)

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  48. Just few word for appreciation...
    "God bless you Doc"

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  49. Ultimate output of the mankind history.

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  50. who called first the word "hindu" and why

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    1. Please check the post called 'India and Bharat' for your answer. You can access it from the LABELS section on the right side panel. Thanx

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  51. I am lost in time, age, universe, lokas after reading. So vast. Just few lines need to describe billion billion years. Time is so fast. I just want to quote a small story from Gospel of Shri Ramakrishna. Nandi was sitting in front of Mahadeva. Suddenly a sound of blast heard. Nandi anxiously asked about it. Shivji replied that birth of Ravan took place. Then after sometime another sound heard. Nandi again inquired and Shivji replied now death of Ravan happened.

    As you said, we are so tiny even smaller than virus considering all these time frame. Till we have such mountain ego.

    Need some clarity, may be stupid:

    1. So, sudden emerging of Manu and Shatrupa from Brahman. It is not supporting evolution theory. How to explain this fact scientifically? Though in some opinion DNA arrived with meteors.

    2. As they are first human on Earth, but to whom their children married? It is mentioned that daughter of Rishis? Who are those Rishis?

    3. Why Varah Avatar is not worshiped around India?

    I think all these events given in scriptures about subtle world. Events of gross world follow subtle world. These are all forms of subtle energy.

    Whatever,last thing i would like to say that someday you will be a fabulous grandfather. Children will glue to your words. However, through these stories or truth, character, integrity, honesty, ethics were formulated in tender minds of children till arrival of Cartoon Network, Playstation, Xbox.

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    1. Hahaha i appreciate the grandpa comment :P

      1. The sudden appearance of Manu and Shatrupa does not contradict evolution if you remember that they came AFTER plant/animals and other lower life forms.. please read the post titled ' Creation by Brahma' for more clarity on this.

      2. The puranas mention their entire lineage so you can check the following link to check how their bloodline extended - http://www.srimadbhagavatam.org/canto4/c4-contents.html

      3. Btw there is no particular reason for a particular avatar not being very popular.. I have seen temples that have all the ten incarnations shown together so its not that no one is worshiping them though Shri Raam and Shri Krishna definitely being more charismatic and relatable take the cake

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  52. Hello Vineet,

    Extremely Nice one I must say. But I have a doubt : what happens after the 14th Manvantara ? Does it simply continue like this till the end of Brahma's lifetime ? Also what after that? As you have said that Brahma's lifetime is SrimanNarayana's breath intake. Is SrimanNarayana immortal? No end for questions I guess :) We just need to keep questioning!!

    With regards,
    Avinash

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    1. Totally.. the questions shud never end :)

      As far as I understand, the end of the 14 manvantars means the end of the CURRENT day of Brahma.. after that is his night which lasts for an equal duration and then again his day starts with 14 new Manvantars and so on and so forth till he reaches the end of his lifetime which is 100 Brahma Years.

      As for Shri Karanodakshayi Vishnu, yes He is Immortal for He forms the foundation of the Material Creation. The Garbhodakshayi and Kshirodakshayi Vishnu forms are individual for each Universe, and presumably, when the Universes are assimilated back into the body of Shri Karanodakshayi Vishnu, they also get assimilated into Him but Lord Narayan remains as He is.

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    2. What is the role of lord shiva in this cycle?

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    3. Lord Shiva's biggest role is the destruction of all creation when Brahma's day comes to an end.. please check the post titled The Dance of Shiva on this blog for further elaboration :)

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  53. As the Supreme Lord said in the Bhagavat Geeta, there are three paths to attain salvation - Gyan yoga, Karma yoga and Bhakti yoga.. we shudnt compare the merits of which one are higher.. as long as one follows the path he/she is on, they shall attain Krishna.. Hari Bol

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  54. this is just amazing blog........everything true.


    scientific minded person will never understand.

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    1. That is the attempt.. to make scientific minded people understand religion and the religious ones understand science :)

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  55. Good stuff Vineet! what are your sources and references for this text. Its very well put and i would like to study further

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    1. Thanx Pankaj.. I have used couple of puraans to formulate the entire post the principal of which is Shrimad Bhagvat Puraan. Thanx for visiting and commenting :)

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  56. Vineet, Great job, what you are doing is right, just believe in yourself, never loose hope from the negative comments which I know you are getting, You are doing a very great job,just accomplish your mission and your aim, as you writing on this topics GOD already blessed you. Note:- remind this one thing if your blog will become hit and someone will pay you in dollars.... at least think at what price you are selling your and our believes. after all Satya hi shiv hai...... never ever

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    1. Haha don't worry.. if I had wanted to make money out of this information I would have monetized it long ago :)Thanx for your kind words and encouragement!

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  57. Vineet, your mission is working, God Bless You

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  58. You really have got the skill, and excellent research. I will request you more on the topic of connections among various ancient civilizations through their myths (which may not be myth but a little cryptic). Like connections with Atlanteans and Egyptians. This "root races" concpet is quite interesting and intriguing and after going through your posts, I am pretty much confident you are such a person who can investigate this thing... just a request. Excelent work Doc.


    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_race

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    1. Thanx a lot Atanu.. I am familiar with the concept though whatever research I have done gives mystical data not scientific one.. However, as stated in the post on North Pole, there definitely were antediluvian civilizations present and the concept certainly matches with what our scriptures say about the Human race evolving and devolving with each successive Yuga.

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  59. Beautifully presented. A Lot of insight into Hinduism. Truly great work. Please keep it coming.

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    1. Thanx a ton Sudha.. I intend to! Thanx for the encouragement :)

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  60. what a hard work what an extensive research/ you are brilliant my child .god bless you with more power,to complet this blog. this is an exellent work you are doing.keep it up my betu

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  61. What was the language spoken by MANU ..???

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    1. Haha well since there have been 7 Manus till now it is hard to say which one spoke which language!! I am assuming you asked this question from a perspective of knowing which is the oldest language but it is hard to say based on the scriptural data which language they used though since most of them are written in Sanskrit, it would be a fair guess to assume it as the official language of communication.

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  62. Wonderful amazing no words of appreciation. Thanks a lot Mr. writer all Hindus must read and learn our history. today what ever we have and we get from from our so called sant mahatmas its all twisted and diluted details Hindus must know all this Thanks aonce again

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    1. Pleasure and Thank you for commenting.. I believe in today's age we need to read the scriptures ourselves instead of relying on others for their interpretations!

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  63. I found one person in andhra pradesh who claims himself as incarnation of Lord vishnu. His name is Raja which is alternates to "Saarvabhouma" . His mother name is Saraswathi ,and Father name is Thirupati which means "Devaguhya"(as mentioned in your description). Can you say by his birth details one can assume him as God viShnu avatar. ?

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  64. There may be multiple such people with claims on Godhood.. doesnt make them an avatar my friend :)

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  65. Good !
    From ages Indian Real past been given the Word "Mythology" so that the new upcoming generation may only read it as a Drama and not a reality .The natural truth always evolves since it is absolutely truth .Science is always about the reality and truth and it always prevails and so the vedic knowledge .The only thing you need to add is to make it simple, based on the scientific facts
    & supported by our great vedas and to be make understood to all common Indians so that they may feel good about their rich well developed great golden past and not see the face of west .The So called myths of Indua valley ,Ramayana ,Mahabharat ,etc and real meaning of all past epics and relation need to reveled now lets tha world see the great and rich vedic knowledge .Come up with this publishing in Hindi and all available languages so that this may be commonly read and understood by all and even the west also.
    It is not religion but the science that vedic dharma sustain and hence called sanatan .

    Anurag Laghate
    MBA (Finance)
    Profession:Banking service

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    1. Thanx for the appreciation Anurag.. working towards that goal.

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  66. I have been very querious about these kind of facts just want to ask a question or you can sy i want to know about this topic aswell. i woould really appreciate if you can tell me about the King Ravana aswell as we all know Ravana was not only a Asur as we all know he has much more qualities then we all are aware about please if you can spare some time and tell us something about him aswell. As i know you are a great researcher
    you will definatly come up with some intresting facts.

    Thanks & Regards,
    Vikrant Baliyan

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    1. Well Ravan was the son of a great rishi called Vishrav and his Asur wife. Being the son of a rishi he was groomed in the Vedas and had deep knowledge of all scriptures. Still, even with all this knowledge he let his Asuric nature take hold of him. He first usurped the kingdom of his step-brother Kuber and drove him out of Lanka after taking away his riches and the Pushpak Viman. Later he even attacked the Heavens and subjugated Indra becoming the master of the Three Lokas. All his education and Vedic knowledge came to nought when he even challanged the great Lord Shiva and tried to uproot Kailash to bring him to Lanka. And the desire to obtain what belongs to others never left him and ultimately led to his death by none other than Lord Vishnu Himself.

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  67. Very interesting hope to read more .

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  68. Awesome work.Many of my doubts have been clarified.I was also wondering for long about the lord incarnating as Varaha Avartar and saving Boomatha from Hiranyatchakan.That Ocean part was puzzling me.Now only I started lectures on Srimad Bhagavata though I am an vaishnavaite brahmin and I chanced upon your site while searching for Manu's lineage.Thanks a lot.

    Srividya

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    1. My pleasure :) m glad my post could clear some of your doubts

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  69. दोस्तों। मेरी आप से request हैं की pleaes and again please do not confuse Manu-Shatrupa with Adem-Eve. ये दोनों ही अलग अलग couples हैं जो अलग अलग समय मे पेदा हुए हैं। इन दोनों का वास्तव मे, आपस मे, कोई संबंध नहीं हैं।

    ये बात सच है के माहाराज मनु ओर माता शतरुपा दोन ही भगवान ब्रह्मा के मानस पुत्र हैं ओर सारी मनुष्य जाती इन्हीं से उत्पन्न हुई हैं ना की किसी बंदर से। लेकिन इन दोनों की उत्पत्ति तब हुई थी जब ब्रह्मा जी ने पहली बार श्रीष्टि रची थी।
    ओर दूसरी तरफ, बाइबल मे नाम है "Adem ओर Eve" कुरान मे नाम है "आदम ओर हव्वा" लेकिन हिन्दू वेदों मे इनका नाम है "आदम ओर हव्यावती"। इनका जन्म आज से लगभग 8000 (द्वापर युग) वर्ष पहले ही हुआ समझो। ओर भगवान कृष्ण जी को (माहाभारत काल मे) इस धारा धाम को छोड़ कर गए हुए 5000 वर्ष हुए समझो हैं।

    अब दोनों मे अंतर समझिए की कहां संपूरण श्रीष्टि का आरंभ ओर कहां द्वापर युग का अंत।

    वेदों के मुताबिक:-

    एक बार कलयुग ने घोर तपस्या की ओर भगवान विष्णु को प्रसन्न किया ओर वर मांगा के प्रभु सतयुग का राज़्य आया, त्रेयायुग का राज्य आया ओर द्वापर युग का राज़्य चल ही राहा है। नाथ!! मेरा राज़्य काब आयेगा प्रभु मुझे वरदान दीजिये की मेरा भी राज़्य अब चारों ओर फेले । तो श्री हरी ने प्रसन्न हो कर काहा
    "यहाँ से उत्तर की तरफ एक प्रदान क्षेत्र है वहाँ पर दो दामपती आदम ओर हव्यावती, मेरी आज्ञा से, ज्ञान अवस्था मे विचरते हैं। वहाँ जाकर तुम उन्हे माया रूपी वृक्ष का मायावी फल खिला दो तो तुम्हारा राज़्य आरंभ हो जाएगा। "

    माहाराज मनु ओर भगवती शत्रुपा का जन्म करोड़ों अरबों कल्पों पहल श्रीष्टि के आरंभ मे हुआ था ओर आदाम-हव्यावती का जन्म केवल 8000 वर्ष पहले द्वापर युग मे हुआ था। दोनों मे भेद है।

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    1. Thanx Yogeshwar for ur inputs :) ye jo aapne story share ki hai uska koi source bata sakte hain?

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    2. Story seems matching, but if the source is known, it can be authenticated

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  70. Really its a Great work Thanks a lot........ wish you all success for your future works

    Keep going .............

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  71. silly question, when you get time to gather all these infos. just unbelievable what you are doing, no words, GOD BLESS KEEP IT UP.

    ASHISH

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    1. Haha well Ashish whatever free time I get I like to spend it reading stories from different scriptures :) Thanx a lot for ur good wishes!!

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  72. hey Vineet what do you think about indian Gotra system and its scientific importance related to genetic systems, here is a link I refered earlier:-

    http://www.hitxp.com/articles/veda/science-genetics-vedic-hindu-gotra-y-chromosome-male-lineage-extinction/

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    1. It is indeed very relevant my friend.. it prevents in-breeding and genetic abnormalities when a boy and a girl from the same lineage marry.. I read the article and it seems quite logical

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  73. thanx vineet, as always this was again very informative n concise form of evolution of human on earth acc. to Hinduism ( worlds oldest n mother (or may b father) of all religion).

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  74. r u still working on this?????? i want to read more from u.

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    1. Yup but the blog is on a hold for couple of months.. working on something else right now :)

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  75. awesome stuff. wow

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  76. Have to ask how much time did it took you to compile it? This is awesome, answers all of my questions. God Bless.

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    1. well its an ongoing process my friend.. one can never know enough!
      Thanx a ton for your kind words :)

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  77. Very informative. Thank you and may you continue to be inspired.

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  78. Great read. This and your other awesome articles kept me awake the whole night.

    You've taken every detail into account and also clarified many details in the comments. If you could include the QA in comments into the articles where relevant and add a FAQ section below the article, it would be really awesome.

    Please also include a share and like on G+, Twitter and FB for individual article, that would improve advertising and sharing these heavenly knowledge with maximum people.

    Your articles are such that the deluded ones could come in the right path of knowledge and devotion to the Lord.

    THANKS.

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    1. Thanks for the suggestions buddy.. the sharing option is already available below each article but yes the FAQs are a good idea.. :)

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  79. Thank you for publishing such an extensive and informative blog...it brings many texts together and making an cohesive dialogue....I came upon your blog while trying to find good source material in English for Hindu Mythology....and boy I got a lot of comparisons of different pantheons; again, thank you, for making the effort to write your knowledge and thoughts for us. It makes understanding the vast treasure of texts a little bit easier....I read some different tests with different authors who gave different interpretations of the original text, and to add a distinct voice of yourself it makes a very good reading material....its like the same song sung by different singers...Appreciate your fantastic efforts very much

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    1. Well the pleasure is all mine brother (or sister if that's the case!!).. when i started research i found the material on Hindu mythology severely lacking in its cohesiveness hence this blog! Am glad it is serving its purpose :)

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  80. Thanx alot for sharing information

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  81. It is said that at the end of a Kalpa, the world is annihilated.
    Then what happens after 100 years of Brahma's lifespan?
    What's the different in the two endings?

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    1. Destruction happens in four ways - first at the end of each chatur-yuga, second at the end of a manvantar, third at the end of a kalpa and fourth at the end of Brahma's lifespan. While at the end of a Kalpa, everything dissolves into its constituent elements and only Brahma remains in the Universe (except of course Shri Garbhodakshayi Vishnu), at the time of the latter, even Brahma along with everything else in the Universe gets assimilated back into the body of Shri Maha Vishnu.. plz check the post on Pralaya for more clarity :)

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  82. Devas and Asuras (Daityas and Danavas) are half brothers.

    Devas = Children of Kashyapa and Aditi (first daughter of Daksha)

    Daityas = Children of Kashyapa and Diti (second daughter of Daksha)

    Danavas = Children of Kashyapa and Danu (third daughter of Daksha).

    Daityas and Danvas were sent to earth and they were all giants at Satya yuga and gradually declined in size.

    Daityas ruled subcontinent India. The Germans, greeks, celts all considered themselves children of Danu the river goddess, Tauthe De Danaan. Mahabali was Daitya and lead the Danavas against the Devas.

    Shiva slayed the giant Asura race with the sword Asi. Shiva punished Daksha (son of Brahma). Daksha is like Satan and Shiva is like the angry god in the old testament lol

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    1. Hmmm all else is fine but Daksh is not similar to Satan mate.. he's a Prajapati who made it possible to help the Manas purses and even Shiva give forth progeny in the world since his daughters were married to them :)

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    2. Related to the given story, how is gotra system made. Who is married to rishi kashyap for the manushya gotra?

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    3. For the current Manvantar, as mentioned above, it is Surya's son Manu who gave rise to the Manushyas hence we are all children of Kashyap and Aditi

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  83. Hi - your article is extremely good and very informative. I am researching for a book and have found the information provided by you on the current Kalpa's Manu interesting and usable. Are you okay with me using the information?

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    1. Sure thing. it would be good if you can give credit for the information you use though :)

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  84. Dear Dr. Aggarwal,
    Great work. pl. continue to contributing
    Dr Pradeep Kumar Keshari (sripadbaba.blogspot.com)

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  85. Great Article. The Ask & Embala that you have mentioned has any connection with the Ida & Pingala of Hinduism?

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    1. Hi Anand, not really.. they are more like Adam and Eve or Manu and Shatrupa while Ida and Pingala are more abstract concepts related to the Nadis in our body.. In a way of course they perform the same function for both Ida and Pingala as well as the First Man and Woman are but two halves of a whole :)

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  86. Yep Vineet,

    Thats why it ushered me to ask you.

    Thank you.

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  87. Nice, very interestingly written.

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  88. Important question: So First Man Swayambhu arrived at the 50th year of Brahma and we have no idea what kind of beings was there for the previous 50 years of Brahma ?

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    1. Yup very true :)
      But i dont think they would be very different from the categories that exist today since Brahma would have perfected at least a few of his designs by the 50th year ;)

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  89. I have heard that Hanuman will be the next Brahma, so is Brahma a title as well? Also, does Savarni mean anything?

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    1. Brahma is not a title but the being called Brahma is mortal too with a life-span of 100 Brahma Years which amount to roughly 300 Trillion Human years.. After he dies another Brahma takes his place and thus Hanuman Ji shall become the next Brahma after about 150 Trillion years from now.

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  90. Vishwamitra tells Rama that Bali was the greatest king world ever knew.

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  91. Commendable n inspiring
    All the very best Sir :)

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  92. Do you know which Manavantara Ravana was born. Is it the present one ? His grandfather Sumali was Mahabali's commander.

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    1. Well it seems most likely that Ravan was born in the present Manvantar itself since he was contemporary to the Vanars, Kartavirya Arjun and of course the human kings like Dashrath.. His uncle and mother might have existed before in other Manvantars though

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  93. It is said that Bali was Ravana's teacher. No wonder why Ravana was a good ruler to his people. It is said that Ravana's arrogance was too much even for Bali. Bali himself was an extremely proud character.

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    1. Indeed.. but i dont remember Bali teaching Ravan mentioned in the Ramayan.. where did you find that info?

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  94. I think I heard that from my friends or something, probably from south indian literature. Ramayana only has the stories of the last stages of Ravana's life. Most of Ravana's life happened before Ravana. They are probably etched in the south indian literature and folklore. :-)

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  95. Is there mention of any incident from previous Kali Yuga's ?

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  96. The crow Kaka Bhusundi is said to be alive for the past 27 Kalpas and he is said to have witnessed the Rama-Ravana and Mahabharata battle many times with different outcomes. He is said to have lost interest in the battles after some time and eventually stopped keeping track of it. His story is mentioned in Yoga Vasishta and Chaitra Manasa.

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  97. Thanks for this very informative blog. I have just one question for you? The idea of the Great Deluge, existing in many ancient cultures, and its relation to the Ice Ages, is that your own original idea or did you read about it somewhere? If you did, please refer me to that author or authors? I would like to learn more about this.

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  98. Thank you for this research this shows the true facts of our culture and reality of Hinduism,
    Lots of people condemn our Religion even our own Hindus, that is why the changes religion because of the fact they don't take a little time to study our scriptures and understand the truth. Keep posting for the world can see what is Truth

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    1. I shall keep trying my best Jeet.. thank you for your kind words :)

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  99. Nice article!! From where did u get all these informations?even am very much interested in knowing more about mythology.

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    1. Well its all given in the various Puranas one just needs to explore the treasure trove of scriptures :)

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  100. Bali is probably Baldr of Norse Myth. Baldr is the greatest god king of Aeisir. Bali is the greatest Asura king. Baldr is believed to become the next god of heaven after Ragnarok. Bali will become next Indra. The whole world did indeed weep for the generous son of Odin, Baldr. We all know Bali is probably the most generous king of all time. Bali ruled the whole earth as Emperor. Bali was Daitya division of Asura. Other divisions are Danava, Kalakeya, Pauloma, Rakshasa, Nivatakavacha etc. Odin can raise the dead. Shukra too can rasie the dead. The Norse believe their gods were imprisoned and they are awaiting the crowning of Baldr. :-)

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  101. A few years back, I read the story of Tipura and how it was torched down by Shiva. Mayasura was the only one escaped the destruction. After some time, my cousin posted a song named Titans Dream-Two Steps from Hell Sky World. While listening to that song about 1:57 or middle part of the music I heard a sound alike Mayasura's name being sung in the song. Actually it was "I am strong." I heard it Mayasura lol. You get the coincidence, Tripura was a skyworld, Mayasura was an Asura, a Titan, Mayasura built dream worlds :-)

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    1. Yeah have mentioned this story in my upcoming second book :)

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  102. Bali was bound by Garuda using ropes of Varuna. Titan Prometheus !

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    1. Well Bali didnt really do anything groundbreaking for humans like Prometheus did!

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  103. Thank you very much for your article. Learned a quite few things

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  104. Amazing Doc. As myself believing in pure consciousness. What are your views about that as it has been mentioned in our scriptures and how can we obtain it and what happens after that.? Great work BTW.

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    1. Well one has to work towards attaining it through meditation and focusing of our mind on the Supreme Consciousness or Parmatma.. its a slow process and needs constant endeavor but if we do it diligently we gradually become more attuned to our spirit than the gross material body leading to salvation

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  105. Hi, I am Sana. i have a similar mission like you. nice to see you :)
    I have a question. I have read this story of Swayambhu Manu and Shatrupa from different sources of hindu scripture. All of them say that all the humans are kids of Swayambhu Manu and Shatrupa because from them all came. However, there is an account of marriages of the kids of Swayambhu Manu and Shatrupa. By whose kids were they married, because they were the fisrt humans? makes no logic to me!! Will you pls explain.

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    1. Haha I know that can be confusing if we don't know what was created before humans by Brahma.. Manu's kids married te Manas Putras and their kids.. Check the post on Creation for more info on who were the Manas Putras

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    2. I do know :) It is really complex though. I still have a confusion. Rig Veda 1-45-1 says: " All human beings are children of Manu". According to what you just told me, the kids of Manu's kids are not from Manu's progeny then! It, therefore, conflicts with what is mentioned in Vedas. Because then all human beings did not come from Manu and Shatrupa alone!

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    3. There are many such conflicts between Vedas and later texts but what you need to realize is that there is not one Manu.. we dont know which particular Manu that particular verse is talking about hence the apparent conflict.. In fact you will find many different verses to Indra where things are mentioned that you cant find in the Puraans and vice versa.. that doesnt mean either is false it just implies they talk about different people with the same title! Manu just like Indra is also a title :)

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  106. I know Manu is just a title and I assumed him to be Swayambhu Manu bcz if i consider current day of Brahmna then according to religious scriptures he was the ONLY Manu and human born without parents, directly from Brahma's body. So he cant logically be the children of any other Manu that came after him (6 those who have already come and 7 who are yet to come). So, if Rig Veda is to make sense, then it cant refer here to any other Manu but Swayambhu.

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    1. I think u r getting confused for no reason.. Hindu concept of Manu and Shatarupas kids does not imply incest! Their sons did not marry their own sisters its a taboo in Hinduism so all children in the first Manvantar may have been of mixed descent.. However each time cycle has a different Manu and humanity descends from him but after each Manvantar pralaya wipes out all those people and the next Manu and his progeny take over.. So it would be impossible for the verse u claim to refer to the original children of the 1st Manu to be applicable to humans today!

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  107. Hello Vineet Sir,

    Thank you for this story and great effort.
    Many of us know this story of Varah Avataar and am glad that i finally got the answer to the question, "which ocean Earth was submerged into :) "
    i have one query which came after reading this blog:
    Hiranyaksh took the earth and submerged in the ocean, does that means he was much bigger in size compared to earth and same fits to Varah avataar as well ? Also what happened to the natural habitat and other living beings that were already present on earth ?

    - Himanshu

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    1. My pleasure completely :)
      I dont believe the demon or the incarnation transported the entire planet rather they must have captured and rescued respectively the goddess ethe planet Earth - Bhumi Devi as is evident from the conversation they have in the form of the Varah Purana

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  108. Hi Vinit
    I Like your post very much. No words for that. I wonder how you acquired so much knowledge about all this. I want to know more. Can you suggest me any book in which I can found in detail all that you have written. My mail id is rvndrsngh007@gmail.com. waiting for your reply.
    One more thing do you think that a technological advanced civilization existed on earth in past comparable to ours, if yes what is the proof and why it is vanished.

    Thanks Rvaindra singh

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  109. Very nice ,i m too fond of our vedic n puranic rich cotents ,all those stories...,actualy to reason for variation in these stories is just becoz in the beginning these were memorised by sages n passed on to next genrations.still in many stories have clear cut scintific background and for others reaserch is going on to explore them,,they indeed have deep spiritual signifacnce n meaning .

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  110. There is a primodial Buddha Vairocana. Does the name Vairocana sound familiar ? In Yoga Vasishtha, Vasishta tells Rama that Emperor Bali was enlightened in Nirvikalpa Samadhi ha ha. Vairocana Mahabali. Read it, he is standing on top of his palace disgusted at the material world ... Let your next novel be about the legendary Vairocana.:-)

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    1. Pretty interesting :)
      Thanks for sharing will check it out

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  111. fab inforamtion...i was searching for this history on youtube...but couldnt find...finally found ur blog which was very helpful...compared to Islam n Chritianity many Hindus dont knw who was the 1st persons on earth.

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  112. Great analysis and writeup Dr Aggarwal; many thanks and much appreciated.

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  113. Thank you for your research.
    Throughout Vedic scripture, the 10 incarnations of Vishnu are immortalized through sacred Bhajans and Yagyas throughout Hindu Temples across the world and specifically for this present age-Kali Yuga. When you say:
    'If you have noted Lord Vishnu's incarnations, you would have observed one startling fact - The ten incarnations or Dashavatar are not in the order generally mentioned. For example, the 1st incarnation Matsya, took place just BEFORE the onset of present Manvantar while the 3rd one, that of Varah, occurred LONG AGO at the beginning of the Kalpa!!

    As stated in an earlier post {Evolution in Dashavatar}, the artifical order of the Ten Incarnations actually represents the development of Life on this planet and gives support to the Organic Evolution Theory as propunded by Charles Darwin'.

    My question is in regard to the order of Dashavatar in that the order and number ( 10 vs 14 )does not seem too separate from each other to create a revised list. What is the point of not giving the complete picture or is there something very special ( spiritual )inherent in the order of Dashavatar. I'm asking, why call it 'artificial' in your presentation. Maybe there is a 'Divine Reason' rather than a practical move that fits 'scientifically' for example. As an important reference, VedaVyasa specifically cited the lives and deeds of 10 Avatars in the Vishnu Puranas.
    If I may ask additionally, so little discussion ( including comments ) on the Kalki incarnation ( being the 10th ) for this present age. It seems to be an important subject in regard to the history you present so eloquently. There are many parallels to the Book of Revelations that are unmistakable as a small example to the importance of this Incarnation described throughout Vedic Literature and the many Puranas. I should add the the question of the 10th Avatar is like the 'capstone' to all scriptural knowledge known in this so called 'modern era' of Time. It is when our human knowledge all comes together so there would be less misunderstanding and misinterpretation. All would be understood in its proper context with all the levels of knowledge through the light of the Supreme Lord - like Arjuna needing specific knowledge from Lord Krishna, we presumably could ask for any specific insight we wanted to satisfy our questions. Maybe that is the True definition of the Godhead of Enlightenment.
    Thank you for all your devotion and time. Thomas

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    1. Hi Thomas.. thanks for writing in and sharing your thoughts. The Varah and Matsya are not the only ones that are out of order even the Kurma Avatar is out of place since it happened at the time of Samudra Manthan in the 6th Manvantar. To me the only logical explanation for selecting this particular order of TEN Avataras out of the 24 seems to point to Evolution. It is an artificial order since it is not chronological.

      Regarding Kalki I am soon gonna do a post on him so will discuss more when that is posted :)

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  114. You should definitely write a book on Mahabali, an interesting and complex character. A good man despite leading the "demons", a man who was cursed by his grandfather and guru due to arrogance, a man who was resurrected, a man who fell from the top of the world and was tied up by Garuda. A demon who sought enlightenment.

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  115. Thank you. I will look forward to your post on Lord Kalki since all my research involves this incarnation. I have all the needed references and a definite understanding of the necessary Vedic confirmations not limited to but otherwise important regarding astrological positions of the planets VedaVyasa used to identify the start of Dharm yuga in Canto 12 along with the important puranas describing the planetary positions referencing the birth of Lord Kalki....You may be surprised to know that with the advent of technology
    (software), advancements in Math, deep understanding of Jyotish and a strong spiritual understanding of scripture (East and West) the important dates have been identified by the grace of God. Since there can be no variation but only precision, one has to be exact in identifying the specific Jyotish references found in Vedic Scripture. As you may be thinking, these dates are now upon us and so your decision to research Lord Kalki is timely. Please communicate your insights directly at twwright7@gmail.. This way I will be sure not to miss you. Also, the above considerations are not in reference to me but contacts that I have known over 40 years. I am not wanting you to think I am promoting myself or anyone else.
    Thank you so very much
    Yours in the Lord
    Thomas

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    1. Thanks for sharing your views again Thomas.. would love to hear from you what your research has thrown up.

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