Cākṣuṣa Manvantara

The sixth manvantara in the cycle of cosmic ages is known as the Cākṣuṣa Manvantara, presided over by Cākṣuṣa Manu. This account, narrated by the sage Mārkaṇḍeya in Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa Chapter 73, details the extraordinary birth, early life, and spiritual awakening of the one who would become the sixth Manu, along with the devas, ṛṣis, and rulers of his age. Cākṣuṣa Manu was originally born from the eyes of Prajāpati Brahmā in a previous birth, and it is from this origin that he received the name Cākṣuṣa. His journey from infancy to the seat of a Manu is marked by profound wisdom, detachment, and the intervention of Prajāpati Brahmā himself.

The Birth of Cākṣuṣa Manu

The Birth of a Jātismara Child

The sage Mārkaṇḍeya, having already described the first five manvantaras to the assembled dvijas, began the narration of the sixth. He explained that in a former birth, the soul who would become Cākṣuṣa Manu had been born from the eyes of Prajāpati Brahmā. Because of this origin, even when he took birth again in the world of men, the name Cākṣuṣa remained with him.

In this new birth, he appeared as the son of the Rājarṣi Anamitra and his wife Bhadrā. The child was learned from birth, pure in nature, endowed with great qualities, and possessed of extraordinary power. Most remarkably, he was a Jātismara, one who remembered the events of his previous lives. When the mother Bhadrā received her newborn, she placed him lovingly on her lap, fondled him, and embraced him with tears of joy. As she continued to express her affection, the infant, resting on her lap and fully conscious of the world around him, began to laugh.

The Infant Speaks

The mother, seeing laughter on the face of her newborn, was struck with fear and confusion. She asked the child why he was laughing, wondering whether some special Jñāna had already arisen in him at such a tender age, or whether he had seen something auspicious.

Hearing her words, the child laughed again and spoke. He pointed out that there was a cat before him that desired to eat him, and that a Jātahāriṇī, a demoness who steals newborns, was also present in a hidden form nearby. He told his mother that when she had looked at him with maternal love, her eyes brimming with tears of joy, and had embraced him again and again, it was then that laughter had come to him. The reason, he explained, was this: the cat and the Jātahāriṇī were both watching him with self-interest, each intent on their own purpose. And to him, his mother’s affection also appeared to be driven by self-interest, much like theirs. The cat and the Jātahāriṇī wished to seize him in order to consume him, while his mother desired to obtain the fruit of enjoyment from him in due time.

He continued, telling her that she did not truly know who he was. He had done no favor for her, and they had no long acquaintance. They had been together as mother and son for merely five or six days. Yet she showed him such intense affection, embraced him excessively, and with a heart free of deceit called him by endearing names. All of this, he said, was driven by the expectation of something in return.

The Mother’s Departure and the Jātahāriṇī’s Scheme

The mother, deeply hurt by her son’s words, replied that she was not embracing him for any return favor. She told him plainly that if he found no pleasure in her embrace and in her playful attention, she would abandon him. She declared that she had also given up whatever self-interest she might have had through him. Having said this, she left the child, who was like an inanimate object in his outer limbs but possessed of a pure inner consciousness, and departed from the lying-in chamber.

After the mother left, the Jātahāriṇī seized her opportunity and abducted the abandoned child. She carried him to the bed of the wife of a king named Vikrānta and placed him there. In exchange, she took the newborn son of that queen. She then carried the prince to yet another household, left him there, took the child of that house, and finally devoured the third child. This was the Jātahāriṇī’s cruel method. Every day, she would abduct newborn boys, exchange the first two among different families, and eat the third one.

Ānanda in the House of King Vikrānta

The child of Anamitra and Bhadrā, now placed in King Vikrānta’s household, was raised as the king’s own son. Vikrānta, unaware of the exchange, performed all the saṃskāras prescribed for a kṣatriya on this boy. Greatly pleased with the child, the king named him Ānanda according to the proper rites.

When the time came for the upanayana saṃskāra, the Guru instructed young Ānanda to go first to his mother and perform prostration before her. Hearing the Guru’s words, Ānanda laughed and asked a question that stunned everyone present. He asked to which mother he should offer prostration, the one who had given him birth or the one who had raised him.

The Guru’s Bewilderment

The Guru, puzzled, asked whether the queen Haiminī, who was the daughter of Jaruja and the principal consort of King Vikrānta, was not his mother. Ānanda replied that Haiminī was actually the mother of a boy named Caitra, who was now living in Viśāla village in the household of a vipra named Bodha. Only Caitra had been born from Haiminī’s womb. Ānanda himself, he said, had been born elsewhere.

The Guru, now thoroughly confused, pressed him for details. He asked where Ānanda had come from, who this Caitra was, where Ānanda was truly born, how he had arrived in the palace, and where the child originally born here had gone. He declared that the situation was a great saṅkaṭam, an entanglement of the most difficult kind.

Ānanda Reveals the Full Truth

Ānanda calmly explained the entire chain of events. He said that he had been born in the house of the kṣatriya Anamitra, from the womb of his wife Giribhadrā. The Jātahāriṇī had abducted him from there and placed him in King Vikrānta’s palace. She had then taken the real son of Haiminī and carried him to the house of Bodha, the chief among dvija-s, in Viśāla village. After leaving the prince there, she had devoured Bodha’s own offspring. As a result, the son of Haiminī had been consecrated with dvija saṃskāra-s in Viśāla village, while Ānanda had received kṣatriya saṃskāra-s here in the palace.

Having laid out the entire truth, Ānanda turned respectfully to his Guru and asked again to which mother he should perform namaskāra, since the Guru’s command was of the highest importance to him.

Ānanda’s Discourse on Detachment

The Guru admitted that an extremely profound and difficult situation had arisen, and that he himself did not know the answer. He said that due to the power of delusion, his intellect felt as though it were wandering.

Ānanda, young as he was, then spoke words of deep vairāgya and jñāna. He asked the Guru what occasion there was for delusion in a world where such arrangements already existed. He pointed out that no one truly belongs to anyone. From the time of birth, living beings come together and form various relationships, but none of these make one person truly another’s kinsman. Just as groups of related men are separated by death, whatever relationship a person has with kinsmen in the present life also comes to an end after the destruction of the body.

He declared that for those living in saṃsāra, everyone is a kinsman and no one is an eternal friend. He said there was no reason for the Guru’s intellect to be deluded. He himself had obtained two fathers and two mothers in this single birth alone, and for those who take on different bodies across lifetimes, such things should cause no wonder. He then announced his intention to go and perform tapas, and asked the Guru to bring Caitra, the biological son of the king, from Viśāla village.

Ānanda Departs for the Forest

King Vikrānta, along with his wife and all their kinsmen, was struck with wonder upon hearing the full account. They abandoned their attachment to Ānanda and gave their consent for him to depart to the forest. The king then honored the brāhmaṇa who had been raising Caitra in Viśāla village, brought his true son back, and installed him in the kingdom.

Ānanda, with the single desire to destroy all karma-s that stood as obstacles to mokṣa, entered the great forest and began to perform tapas from his very childhood.

The Intervention of Prajāpati Brahmā

While Ānanda was engaged in intense tapas, the deity Prajāpati Brahmā appeared before him and asked the purpose of his austerities. Ānanda replied that he was performing tapas for the sake of self-purification, being fully intent on destroying whatever deeds of his were of the nature of causes for worldly bondage.

Brahmā then explained to him that only those whose accumulated karmic authority has been fully exhausted are worthy of mukti. One who still possesses karma cannot obtain it. Since Ānanda was not yet free of karma and still held authority over sattva, mukti was not immediately available to him. Brahmā told him that he was destined to become the sixth Manu, and that he must go and perform the deeds associated with that role. Only after fulfilling those duties would he obtain mukti. There was no longer any need for him to continue his tapas.

Ānanda accepted the command of Brahmā, saying “Let it be so,” and turned his mind toward the deeds of his destined role, ceasing his tapas. It was at this point that Brahmā addressed him by his primary name, Cākṣuṣa. From that time onward, he became renowned as Cākṣuṣa Manu.

Reign of the Cākṣuṣa Manu

The Lineage and Marriage of Cākṣuṣa Manu

Cākṣuṣa Manu married Vidarbhā, the daughter of a king named Ugra. From her, he produced many sons who became famous for their valor. Among these sons were Uru, Puru, Śatadyumna, and others. These mighty princes became the lords of the earth during the Cākṣuṣa Manvantara.

The Deva Gaṇā-s of the Cākṣuṣa Manvantara

In this manvantara, there were five principal groups of deva-s. The first group was named Āpya, and it consisted of eight deva-s who were performers of famous deeds and enjoyers of the havyam offered in yajña. The second group was called Prasūta, and it too had eight deva-s who were difficult to behold, being situated in the midst of a circle of splendor, and whose strength and valor were widely renowned. The third group, known as Bhavya, also contained eight deva-s. The fourth group was named Yūthaka, and it likewise had eight deva-s. The fifth group became famous by the name Amṛtāśu. There were also other deva-s in this manvantara known as Lekha-s. In this fifth group as well, the deva-s were enjoyers of amṛtam and, like those in the previous groups, were eight in number.

Indra, Saptarṣi-s of the Cākṣuṣa Manvantara

The Indra of this manvantara was Manojava, the enjoyer of yajña shares, who had performed a hundred yajña-s and ruled as the sovereign over all the deva-s. The seven great sages of this age, the saptarṣi-s, were Sumedhā, Viraja, Haviṣmat, Unnata, Madhu, Atināman, and Sahiṣṇu.

Phalasruti

With this, the sage Mārkaṇḍeya concluded the narration of the sixth manvantara, including the birth, history, and remarkable life of the mahātmā Cākṣuṣa Manu. He then invited the assembled dvija-s to hear about the seventh manvantara, that of the presently reigning Vaivasvata Manu. It is said that whatever wise person on earth performs the glorification of this Cākṣuṣa Manvantara or hears it with devotion, they obtain sons, health, happiness, and wealth.

Source: Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, Chapter 73