Svāyaṃbhuva Manu
Svāyaṃbhuva Manu is the first of the fourteen Manus and the father of the human race. The Śiva Purāṇa tells in its Rudra Saṃhitā how Brahmā divided his own body into two halves. This happened when Bhagavān Śaṅkara urged him from within. The right half became Svāyaṃbhuva Manu and the left half became the first woman, Śatarūpā. Manu married Śatarūpā. Through their children, and through the daughters they gave in marriage to ṛshis, all moving and unmoving beings came to fill the three worlds.
Birth from Brahmā’s body
Bhagavān Śiva had told Brahmā to create mortal beings, and Bhagavān Śiva himself took the place of Guru to lift up those who suffer. Brahmā then made the gross elements, mountains, oceans, trees, the divisions of time and mortal beings. He then made the great ṛshis from different parts of his own body: Marīci, Bhṛgu, Aṅgiras, Pulaha, Pulastya, Vasishṭha, Kratu, Atri, Daksha, Nārada, Kardama and Dharma.
Bhagavān Śaṅkara, the antaryāmī (the guide within), urged Brahmā inwardly. Brahmā then divided his own body (deha) into two equal halves. The right half became a man and the left half became a woman. Both came from one undivided source.
The man was Svāyaṃbhuva Manu, the first man, called the best of sādhakas (those who practise spiritual discipline). The woman was Śatarūpā, “of a hundred forms”, a yoginī and a tapasvinī (one who does tapas, austerity).
Marriage and children
Svāyaṃbhuva Manu married Śatarūpā in the proper way, and through their union the human line began. They had five children:
- Priyavrata, the elder son
- Uttānapāda, the younger son and the father of Dhruva
- Ākūti, the eldest daughter, given in marriage to Ruci. Yajña and Dakshiṇā were born from them, and from Yajña and Dakshiṇā came twelve sons.
- Devahūti, given in marriage to Kardama Muni. Many sons were born from them, among them Kapila.
- Prasūti, given in marriage to Daksha, the great Prajāpati. His many daughters married the ṛshis, and through their lines all three worlds were filled.
The widest line of creation came through Prasūti and Daksha. Daksha’s daughters were given to Dharma, to the ṛshis, to Kaśyapa and to others. Their children filled all the worlds from Pātāla to Satya with devas, ṛshis, daityas, trees, birds, mountains and all living beings. The Rudra Saṃhitā tells that Bhagavān Śaṅkara urged Brahmā from within to divide his body. So even the beginning of the human race came from the will of Bhagavān Śiva.
The Manvantara named after this first Manu is the Svāyaṃbhuva Manvantara.
Teaching Suvarṇa on offering flowers
The Mahābhārata, in the Anuśāsana Parva, tells of a meeting between Svāyaṃbhuva Manu and the golden-hued tapasvin Suvarṇa on a golden peak of Mount Meru. Suvarṇa asked how the offering of flowers to devas began and what fruit it brings. Manu answered by telling an older conversation between Bali, the son of Virocana who then ruled the three worlds, and his guru Śukrācārya.
That teaching sorts flowers, incense and lamps by what suits devas, yakshas, nāgas, enemies, bhūtas and humans. It also teaches that dīpa-dāna (the gift of a lamp) is the gift of tejas (radiance) itself.
Manu had himself received this teaching from an earlier link in the same chain. He passed it to Suvarṇa, Suvarṇa taught it to Nārada, and Nārada taught it to Bhīshma.
Sources
- Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Sṛshṭi Khaṇḍa, Chapter 16
- Mahābhārata, Anuśāsana Parva, Chapter 98