Manu-smrithi:

Manu-smrithi. Laws of Manu.

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Manu-samhita - a religious sastra spoken by the forefather of mankind Manu, delineating the codes of behavior for all human beings.

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Laws of Manu. See MANU, LAWS OF

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Manu-dharma:

Manu-dharma. Code of virtuous conduct presented in the Dharma sastras by Manu.

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Svayambhuva Manu

the original father of the human race.

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Manu Dharma Sastra:

Manu Dharma Sastra (Shaasthra). Codes of righteous conduct written by Manu.

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Manu Swayambhuva (Sanskrit). The heavenly man. Adam-Kadmon, the synthesis of the fourteen Manus.

(See also: Manu Swayambhuva , Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,)

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Code of Manu:

A book on Hindu law by Manu.

(See also: Code of Manu , Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V X Y Z

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Vriddha-manu.

See VRIDDHA-MANU

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Seed-manu.

See ROOT-MANU

(See also: Seed-manu , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

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A Theosophical definition of Manvantara :

Manvantara

(Sanskrit) This word is a compound, and means nothing more than "between two manus"; more literally, "manu-within or -between." A manu, as said, is the entities collectively which appear first at the beginning of manifestation; the spiritual tree of life of any planetary chain of manifested being. The second verbal element of "manvantara," or antara, is a prepositional suffix signifying "within" or "between"; hence the compound paraphrased means "within a manu," or "between manus." A manvantara is the period of activity between any two manus, on any plane, since in any such period there is a root-manu at the beginning of evolution, and a seed-manu at its close, preceding a pralaya.

There are many kinds of manvantaras: prakritika manvantara  - universal manvantara; saurya manvantara  - the manvantara of the solar system; bhaumika manvantara  - the terrestrial manvantara, or manvantara of earth; paurusha manvantara  - the manvantara, or period of activity, of man.

A round-manvantara is the time required for one round: that is, the cycle from globe A to the last globe of the seven, and starting from the root-manu or collective "humanity" of globe A and ending with the seed-manu or collective "humanity" of Globe G.

A planetary manvantara  - also called a maha-manvantara or a kalpa  - is the period of the lifetime of a planet during its seven rounds. It is also called a Day of Brahma, and its length is 4,320,000,000 years.

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Law of Manu (Manava Dharmasastra): Most famous of the Hindu codes of law (Dharmasastras), written about 200 BCE.

 (See also: Law of Manu , Eastern Philosophy, Body Mind and Soul)

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Manusmriti (Manusmrti).

See MANU, LAWS OF

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Ida or Ila (Sanskrit) Refreshment, flow; the goddess of sacred speech, similar to Vach; in the Rig-Veda called the instructress of Manu, instituting the rules for the performing of sacrifices. The Satapatha-Brahmana represents Ida as arising from a sacrifice which Manu had performed for the purpose of obtaining offspring.

Although claimed by the gods Mitra and Varuna, she became the wife of Manu, giving birth to the race of manus. In the Puranas, she is daughter of Vaivasvata-Manu, wife of Budha (wisdom), and mother of Pururavas. In some accounts she is born a woman, becomes a man named Sudyumna, then rebecomes a woman before finally becoming a man again. This refers to the androgynous third root-race, as well as to the later part of the second root-race.

"In their most mystical meaning, the union of Swayambhuva Manu with Vach-Sata-Rupa, his own daughter (this being the first 'euhemerization' of the dual principle of which Vaivasvata Manu and Ila are a secondary and a third form), stands in Cosmic symbolism as the Root-life, the germ from which spring all the Solar Systems, the worlds, angels and the gods" (SD 2:148).

See also ILA

(See also: Ida, Ila , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

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Laws of Manu, Laws of Manava-dharma-sastra Also called the Manu-samhita; The Code of Manu (or Institutes of Manu).

Well-known archaic Hindu codes or institutes comprising maxims of various kinds, attributed to the first manu, known as Svayambhuva, who according to archaic records lived nearly 30 million years ago during the satya yuga of the race during which he appeared. One of the most important Smriti (unwritten traditional teachings).

The Laws of Manu is one of the main pillars of ancient Hindu law, and is held in the highest reverence. Tradition says that Manu wrote down the laws of Brahma in 100,000 slokas, which formed 24 books and a thousand chapters. He gave the work to Narada, one of the archaic sages, who abridged it for the use of mankind to 12,000 verses. Narada in his turn gave the Code to Sumati, a son of Bhrigu who for greater convenience reduced it to 4,000 verses.

The Laws of Manu is recognized as approaching the Vedas in age. It is not merely a law book in the European sense of being a mere code of legal enactments; the chief topics of its twelve extant books are

1)    cosmogony;

2)    the sources of the law, sacraments, initiation, discipleship;

3)    marriage and the duties of a householder or the second social order;

4)    means of subsistence, and private study and morals;

5)    diet, purification, and the duties of women;

6)    the duties of a recluse and ascetic, or the third and fourth social orders;

7)    government, and the duties of a king and the military caste;

8)    judicature and law, civil and criminal;

9)    duties of husband and wife, miscellaneous regulations concerning conduct and the duties of a king;

10) duties and occupations of the castes and mixed castes;

11) penances and expiations; and

12) metempsychosis and final liberation.

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Apava (Sanskrit) (from Ap water)

Water-mover; associated with Narayana, "he who moves in or on the waters of space," and hence with Vishnu and Brahma. In the Harivamsa, Apava performed the office of Brahma: dividing himself into male and female he produced Vishnu, who produced Viraj, who in turn brought the first manu, Manu Svayambhuva, into being. This manu then brought forth the ten prajapatis, the progenitors of the manifested world (cf VP 1:7). In the Mahabharata, a name of the prajapati Vasishtha.

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Vaivaswatha Manu:

Vaivaswatha Manu (Vaivasvatha Manu). Head (Indra) of the present age of Manu (Manvanthara); Prajaprathi. Son of Manu and father of Ikshvaku.

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Abhutarajas (Sanskrit) (from a not + the verbal root bhu to be born, produced + rajas passion)

Those not produced by or born with the quality of passion; a class of 14 gods or divinities belonging to the "fifth manvantara," the fifth Manu of which was Raivata (cf VP 3:1). The abhutarajasas are a hierarchy of divine beings, similar to the kumaras and manasaputras, who have passed through the material worlds in previous evolutionary periods. Having risen above all passional attractions to the lower spheres, these three classes of deities are reckoned as exempt from passion -- in the sense of suffering passively, one of passion's original connotations. These divinities are masters of themselves, not passive subjects.

In the theosophical scheme of rounds and races, the fifth manvantara of the Puranas refers to the first half or descending arc of the third round of our present planetary chain, and the fifth manu, Raivata, to the root-manu of this third round; further, the passage of the life-waves through each round of all the globes of the planetary chain -- i.e. from globe A to globe G -- consists of two "manvantaras," and thus it is that the first half or descending arc of the third round is the fifth of these manvantaras.

Moreover, just as in the third root-race on this globe in our present fourth round the manasaputras incarnated in the then relatively intellectually senseless humanity to awaken its self-conscious mind, so in their own way and on their own planes did the abhutarajasas act. In the descending arc of the third round they played the same part, albeit in a more diffuse and less active way, that they later did in the early part of the third root-race of the fourth round on this globe, when the human vehicles were evolutionally ready for a more intensive incarnation.

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cosmic cycle: One of the infinitely recurring periods of the universe, comprising its creation, preservation and dissolution. These cycles are measured in periods of progressive ages, called yugas. Satya (or Krita), Treta, Dvapara and Kali are the names of these four divisions, and they repeat themselves in that order, with the Satya Yuga being the longest and the Kali Yuga the shortest. The comparison is often made of these ages with the cycles of the day: Satya Yuga being morning until noon, the period of greatest light or enlightenment, Treta Yuga afternoon, Dvapara evening, and Kali Yuga the darkest part of the night. Four yugas equal one mahayuga.

Theories vary, but by traditional astronomical calculation, a mahayuga equals 4,320,000 solar years (or 12,000 "divine years;" one divine year is 360 solar years) -  with the

• Satya Yuga lasting 1,728,000 years,
• Treta Yuga 1,296,000 years,
• Dvapara Yuga 864,000 years, and
• Kali Yuga 432,000 years.

Mankind is now experiencing the Kali Yuga, which began at midnight, February 18, 3102 bce (year one on the Hindu calendar [see Hindu Timeline]) and will end in approximately 427,000 years. (By another reckoning, one mahayuga equals approximately two million solar years.) A dissolution called laya occurs at the end of each mahayuga, when the physical world is destroyed by flood and fire. Each destructive period is followed by the succession of creation (srishti), evolution or preservation (sthiti) and dissolution (laya).

A summary of the periods in the cosmic cycles:

• 1 mahayuga = 4,320,000 years (four yugas)
• 71 mahayugas = 1 manvantara or manu (we are in the 28th mahayuga)
• 14 manvantaras = 1 kalpa or day of Brahma (we are in the 7th manvantara)
• 2 kalpas = 1 ahoratra or day and night of Brahma 360 ahoratras = 1 year of Brahma
• 100 Brahma years = 309,173,760,000,000 years (one "lifetime" of Brahma, or the universe).

We are in Brahma Year 51 of the current cycle. At the end of every kalpa or day of Brahma a greater dissolution, called pralaya (or kalpanta, "end of an eon"), occurs when both the physical and subtle worlds are absorbed into the causal world, where souls rest until the next kalpa begins. This state of withdrawal or "night of Brahma," continues for the length of an entire kalpa until creation again issues forth.

After 36,000 of these dissolutions and creations there is a total, universal annihilation, mahapralaya, when all three worlds, all time, form and space, are withdrawn into God Siva. After a period of total withdrawal a new universe or lifespan of Brahma begins. This entire cycle repeats infinitely. This view of cosmic time is recorded in the Puranas and the Dharma Shastras.

See: mahapralaya.

(See also: Cosmic cycle , Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

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Humanity. Occultly and Kabbalistically, the whole of mankind is symbolised, by Manu in India; by Vajrasattva or Dorjesempa, the head of the Seven Dhyani, in Northern Buddhism; and by Adam Kadmon in the Kabbala.

All these represent the totality of mankind whose beginning is in this androgynic protoplast, and whose end is in the Absolute, beyond all these symbols and myths of human origin.

Humanity is a great Brotherhood by virtue of the sameness of the material from which it is formed physically and morally. Unless, however, it becomes a Brotherhood also intellectually, it is no better than a superior genus of animals.

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Mahayuga (Sanskrit) [from maha great + yuga age, period of time]

Great age; in Hindu works, the 1000th part of a kalpa or Day of Brahma. The aggregate of the series of four yugas -- satya or krita yuga, treta yuga, dvapara yuga, and kali yuga -- constitute a mahayuga or an age whose duration is 4,320,000 terrestrial years. Seventy-one mahayugas form the reign of one manu, or 306,720,000 years. Taking the reign of one manu, or of a manvantara, and multiplying it by 14 (which represents the 14 manus who exist in one kalpa) gives 4,294,080,000 years. To this figure should be added the sandhyas (dawn) and sandhyansas (twilight) -- 25,920,000 (there being a dawn and twilight between each manu), and the result is 4,320,000,000 years, or a Day of Brahma, which is one kalpa or 1000 mahayugas.

As used in theosophy, the progress of the life-wave through the globes of a planetary chain, from its first globe to its last, the life-wave passing through a series of seven smaller yugas or root-races upon each of the seven manifest globes of the planetary chain. The period comprises 4,320,000,000 years. Mahayuga frequently refers also to time periods less than that of the great cycle or chain-round above alluded to. For instance, the period of the seven root-races which form the passage of the life-wave through any one of the globes, is often called a mahayuga.

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