Matsyopākhyāna

The Matsyopākhyāna is the Mahābhārata’s account of the Matsya form, the fish. It is in the Vana Parva, Chapter 187. It tells how Vaivasvata Manu was doing tapas (austerity) on the bank of the Cīriṇī river when a tiny fish came to him. The fish grew until it filled the ocean. It then guided Manu through the mahā-pralaya (the great dissolution) by drawing his boat to a peak of the Himālaya called Naukābandha. After the pralaya, Manu brought all living beings into being again and began the new cycle.

The ṛshi Mārkaṇḍeya tells this account to Yudhishṭhira and the Pāṇḍavas while the ṛshis are staying at Kāmyakavana.

Setting: Mārkaṇḍeya’s telling

This account belongs to the long Mārkaṇḍeya Samāsyā Parva part of the Vana Parva. The ancient ṛshi Mārkaṇḍeya, who does not die, visits the Pāṇḍavas at their forest home and answers many questions from Yudhishṭhira. Yudhishṭhira asks about the cycles of the world and about the pralaya. In reply, Mārkaṇḍeya tells what he himself has seen across his long life. (Vana Parva, Chapter 187)

Vaivasvata Manu and the tiny fish

Vaivasvata Manu is the father of the present manvantara (age of a Manu). He was doing tapas and tarpaṇa (an offering of water) on the bank of the holy river Cīriṇī. He was holding water in his cupped hands, and a tiny fish appeared in that water. Manu was about to throw the fish back into the river, but it spoke and pleaded with him: “O great Manu, I fear the crocodiles and larger fish of these waters. Protect me. I am small and weak.”

Manu felt pity. He put the fish in his kamaṇḍalu (water pot). The fish grew fast. Soon it was too big for the kamaṇḍalu, and Manu moved it to a well. It outgrew the well. He moved it to a larger tank, and that was not enough either. At last the fish was taken to the Gaṅgā, and then to the ocean itself. Even there it kept growing, until it filled the ocean. (Vana Parva, Chapter 187)

The warning of the mahā-pralaya

When the fish had reached its huge size, it told Manu why it had come. It warned him that the mahā-pralaya was near, the dissolution of all the worlds. All living beings, the three worlds and everything that is shown would soon be drowned in the first waters of dissolution. The fish told Manu to build a great boat. He was to gather on it the seeds of all plants and kinds of beings, and also the saptarshis (the seven ṛshis), so that life could go on after the pralaya and the new cycle could begin. (Vana Parva, Chapter 187)

The boat and the mountain Naukābandha

Manu built the great boat as he was told. When the pralaya began and the waters rose, the fish came to him again. It was now big enough to span the ocean, and a great horn grew from its head. Manu tied the boat to the horn of the fish with a great serpent, Śesha, as the rope. The fish drew the boat through the rising waters of the pralaya and through the dissolution of the world. It brought the boat to a peak of the Himālaya.

This peak is called Naukābandha, which means the place where the boat was tied. It is a tīrtha (holy place) because of that first event. (Vana Parva, Chapter 187)

Who the fish is

The fish then showed who it was. It named itself Bhagavān Brahmā, and the account also says that it was Bhagavān Vishṇu, who took the form of a fish to protect Manu and the seeds of creation. The fish came in this form to guide Manu through the mahā-pralaya and to make sure the next cycle could begin. This is one of the great acts by which Bhagavān Vishṇu protects creation. (Vana Parva, Chapter 187)

Manu brings the world into being again

When the pralaya was over and the waters went down, Manu set about making all living beings again. With the power gained from his tapas and the divine knowledge he had received, he sent all beings forth once more. In this way the Vaivasvata Manvantara began, the present age. All humans of this age come from Vaivasvata Manu, and so the word manushya (human being) itself carries his name. (Vana Parva, Chapter 187)

Other accounts of the Matsya avatāra

The account of the fish is also told in these texts.

  • The Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa (Skandha 8, Chapter 24) places the event at the river Kṛtamālā and names the fish plainly as Bhagavān Vishṇu in his Matsya form.
  • The Matsya Mahā Purāṇa (Chapters 1–2) gives the fullest account of Manu’s talk with the fish and of the passage through the pralaya.
  • The Mahābhārata (Vana Parva, Chapter 187) gives it as Mārkaṇḍeya’s own witness of events he saw.

Sources

  • Mahābhārata, Vana Parva, Chapter 187
  • Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skandha 8, Chapter 24
  • Matsya Mahā Purāṇa, Chapters 1–2