Manu Dictionary

Vach-sata-rupa vac-sata-rupa (Sanskrit) The goddess in a hundred forms, or Vach as the immanent feminine aspect of divinity in the innumerable phases and forms of nature. Vach as Sata-rupa is the divine creative activity unfolded into the ten planes and their many subplanes of the universe. Each of these has its own keynotes and subordinate keynote. The union of Svayambhuva-Manu with Vach-sata-rupa, his own daughter (here representing the first manifestation of prakriti), is explained cosmically as the symbol of the root-life, the germ from which spring all the solar systems, worlds, and gods, because here Svaymbhuva-Manu is the cosmic manu; on the smaller scale, he with his consort plays the same role in the planetary chains of the solar system, and on a still smaller scale on any globe thereof.

In another early Hindu myth, Sata-rupa was at once the other half and the daughter of Brahma, and from their association, bipolar in character, sprang the first manu called Svayambhuva.

(See also: Vach-sata-rupa, vac-sata-rupa , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

Vriddha-manu.

See VRIDDHA-MANU

(See also: Vriddha-manu , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

Manu: Vedic original man, founder of human culture

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

Manu-Svayambhuva (Sanskrit) The self-producing manu, manu the self-become; a name of Brahma as son of Svayambhuva, the self-producer or Brahman. Identical with 'Adam Qadmon and the cosmic androgyne man of other philosophical systems, the Third Logos, and on a much lower scale the androgyne human referred to in Genesis. As 'Adam Qadmon is the synthesis of the Sephiroth, so is Manu-Svayambhuva the synthesis of the prajapatis (lords of progeny), ancestors or parents of all beings.

(See also: Manu-Svayambhuva , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Manu-smrithi:

Manu-smrithi. Laws of Manu.

(See also: Manu-smrithi , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Manu-dharma:

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

(See also: Manu-dharma , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

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

(See also: Manu-samhita , Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Manu Dharma Sastra:

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

(See also: Manu Dharma Sastra , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

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,)

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.

See also: Manvantara , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul

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)

Seed-manu.

See ROOT-MANU

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

Manvantara (Sanskrit) [from manu + antara between]

Between two manus; a period of activity or manifestation. Manu is the entities collectively aggregated into a unity which appear first at the beginning of manifestation and from which, like a cosmic tree, everything is derived or born. A manvantara, therefore, 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.

One has to gather from context what the meaning of the manvantara referred to is, remembering that what is applicable to a lesser period applied also to a greater, and conversely. When speaking of a manvantara of our planet, a period of one round of the planetary chain is usually meant. There is also the manvantara of any globe of the planetary chain. Seven rounds of the planetary chain make a mahamanvantara of a planet, a Day of Brahma. A solar manvantara is a period of seven Days of Brahma. The Life of Brahma is a mahamanvantara or mahakalpa of the solar system. A minor or globe manvantara is the duration of the seven root-races on any particular globe of the planetary chain. Even a root-race is sometimes called a manvantara because there is a root-manu and seed-manu to each race. The period of a human life is sometimes called a paurusha manvantara; the period of a planet's life, a bhaumika manvantara; the life period of the solar system, a saurya manvantara, the life period of the universe, a prakritika manvantara, which last can become synonymous with the saurya manvantara.

When the time arrives for the re-opening of a planetary manvantara, the planet

"descends again into manifestation through the inner divine planetary thirst for active life and is directed to the same solar system, and to the same spot, relatively speaking, that its predecessor (its former self) had, attracted thither by magnetic and other forces on the lower planes. It forms, in the beginning of its course or journey downwards, a planetary nebula; after many aeons it becomes a comet, following ultimately an elliptical orbit around the sun of our solar system, thus being 'captured,' as our scientists wrongly say, by the sun; and finally condenses into a planet in its earliest physical condition. The comets of short periodic time are on their way to rebecoming planets in our solar system, provided they successfully elude the many dangers that beset such ethereal bodies before condensation and hardening of their matter shield them from destruction" (Fund 63).

In a similar manner at the re-opening of a solar manvantara, a cosmic nebula is gradually formed of the principles of the former cosmos with its sun and planets, etc. Then

"this cosmic nebula drifts from the place where it first was evolved, the guiding impulse of karma directing here and directing there, this luminous nebulosity moving circularly, and contracting, passing through other phases of nebular evolution, such as the spiral stage and the annular, until it becomes spherical, or rather a nebular series of concentric spheres. The nebula in space, as just said, takes often a spiral form, and from the core, the center, there stream forth branches, spiral branches, and they look like whirling wheels within wheels, and they whirl during many ages. When the time has come -- when the whirling has developed pari passu with the indwelling lives and intelligences within the cosmic nebula -- then the annular form appears, a form like a ring or concentric rings, with a heart in the center, and after long aeons, the central heart becomes the sun or central body of the new solar system, and the rings the planets. These rings condense into other bodies, and these other bodies are the planets circulating around their elder brother, the sun; elder, because he was the first to condense into a sphere" (Fund 61-2).

In the first half of a manvantara (planetary as well as human) there is the descent of spirit into matter, and in the second half an ascent of spirit at the expense of matter. A manvantara or period of material manifestation is a temporary spiritual death, whereas the dawn of the succeeding pralaya is spiritual birth.

(See also: Manvantara , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Manusmriti (Manusmrti).

See MANU, LAWS OF

(See also: Manusmriti , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

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.

(See also: Apava , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

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.

(See also: Abhutarajas , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Raivata-manvantara (Sanskrit) The manvantaric life cycle inaugurated and presided over by Raivata-manu, the fifth of the 14 manus. Another word for manus is dhyani-chohans. As there are seven root-manus and seven seed-manus for the seven rounds of our earth-chain, Raivata-manu inaugurated and presided over the third round as its root-manu.

(See also: Raivata-manvantara , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Agnishtoma agnistoma (Sanskrit) (from agni fire + stoma praise, a hymn from the verbal root stu to praise, eulogize)

Praise of Agni, fire; an ancient Vedic ceremony or sacrifice performed by a Brahmin desirous of obtaining svarga (heaven), who himself maintained the sacred fire. The offering to Indra and other deities was the soma. The ceremonies continued for five days, with 16 priests officiating. Although in later times it may have become merely a matter of form, originally the agnishtoma was connected with the initiation rites of the soma Mysteries.

In the Puranas, Agnishtoma is given as the seventh son of Manu Chakshusa, the sixth manu descended from the first manu, Svayambhuva (cf VP 1:177).

(See also: Agnishtoma, agnistoma , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

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.

(See also: Mahayuga , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Akuti:

Akuti: one of Svayambhuva Manu's three daughters and the wife of Ruci.

(See also: Akuti , Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Viraj (Sanskrit) [from the verbal root viraj to be illustrious, shine forth]

Sovereign, splendid; in Hindu mythology, the son of Brahma who on analogical lines becomes Manu. In the Laws of Manu Brahma divides his body into male and female parts and in the female part (Vach) creates Viraj, who is also Brahma, the type of all male beings, as Vach is the type of female beings. "Manu declares himself created by Viraj, or Vaiswanara, (the Spirit of Humanity), which means that his Monad emanates from the never resting Principle in the beginning of every new Cosmic activity: that Logos or Universal Monad (collective Elohim) that radiates from within himself all those Cosmic Monads that become the centres of activity -- progenitors of the numberless Solar systems as well as of the yet undifferentiated human monads of planetary chains as well as of every being thereon" (SD 2:311). A verse in the Rig-Veda (10:205) has Viraj spring from Purusha, and Purusha spring from Viraj.

Viraj is comparable in some aspects to the Egyptian Horus and equivalent to the Third Logos.

(See also: Viraj , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)