sounds, throughout the world. I swear it by the
Tallquist, Akkadische Götterepitheta (Studia Orientalia 7), Helsinki, 1938, p.422. For Ninurta as the solar force, see p.49.
70 Tr. L. Cagni, The Poem of Erra, Malibu, CA: Undena Publications, 1977, p.32.
71 See Apollodorus, Library, I,7,2. 39
indo-european mythology and religion
infernal streams, that glide below the earth through
the Stygian groves. All means should first be tried,
but the incurable flesh must be excised by the knife,
so that the healthy part is not infected. Mine are the
demigods, the wild spirits, nymphs, fauns and satyrs,
and sylvan deities of the hil s. Since we have not yet
thought them worth a place in heaven let us at least
allow them to live in safety in the lands we have given
them.
Manu of the Sun
The course of the sun’s emergence in our universe
coincides with that of the first Man, who is called Manu
Vaivasvata, or Manu of the Sun (Vivasvant). This primal
man is of interest in a study of the flood since it is he who
is said to preserve the life of the universe in a boat that is
at once a solar barque, as in Egypt, and an ark that carries
the seeds of universal life through the flood to safety atop
a mountain (from whence the sun too will arise). Manu is
thus the divine ancestor of the race that is to inhabit the
universe. As a personification of enlightened humanity
the role of a Manu is to maintain the cosmic order at the
time of the creation of the universe ( BP VIII,14,3).
Manu Vaivasvata is also called Shraddhādeva
( BP VIII,13,1) and is the seventh Manu of our kalpa
( BP VIII,13, there being fourteen Manus in all in each
kalpa.72 The seventh manvantara of the Varāha Kalpa is
thus called Vaivasvata (of Vivasvant, the sun) Manvantara
( BP VII,8; VIII,7,12,18), or the Age of Manu of the
Sun. Since each manvantara has a duration of around
317,000,000 years ( BP III,11,24), life on earth must have 72 The names of the first six Manus of this kalpa are Swāyambhuva, 40
alexander jacob
begun more than 1,902,000,000 years after the inception
of the Varāha Kalpa.
The incarnation of the Lord as the Fish, Matsya,
which transfers Vaivasvata (or Shraddhādeva) Manu
from his celestial origin to Earth occurs early during this
manvantara. For, according to the BP, this manvantara
is marked by six cosmic avatārs from that of the Fish,
Matsya, to the dwarf sun, Vāmana, who is the last of the
solar Ādityas ( BP I,3,15-19). The avatars following Matsya are the tortoise Kūrma (which helps bear the mountain
Mandāra73 on its back while the latter is being used as a
ladle to churn the cosmic ocean with for the elicitation
of the nectar of immortality), the seductress Mohini, and
the man-lion, Narasimha. There are six further, human
incarnations of the deity after that of Vāmana, from Bhrgu
to the Buddha, the last coinciding with the Kali Yuga of
our manvantara.
Though Manu is differentiated in RV from Yama, who
is considered to be another son of the sun, Vivasvant,74
Yama bears the same epithet of “Shraddhādeva”75 which
Manu also does in BP. So it is likely that we are dealing with the same figure, especial y since the flood hero of the
Avesta is also called Yima.76 Manu’s “half-brother” (or alter ego), Yama is said to be the ruler of the lower heavens,
according to RV I,35,6, and the sun and moon themselves
are located in the mid-region between Heaven and Earth.
Svarochisha, Uttama, Tāmasa, Raivata, Chākshusha ( BP VIII,1).
73 The Mandāra mountain is one of the four mountains surrounding the central Mt. Meru, the other three being Merumandāra, Supārshva, and Kumuda (see BP V,16,11).
74 In
RV X, 10ff, Vivasvant engenders the first “man”, Yama, as well as Yama’s twin sister and wife, Yami, by mating with a daughter of Tvastr.
75 See
The HW II:615.
76 See p.51.
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indo-european mythology and religion
In the Shiva Purāna, the sage Mārkandeya substitutes
for Manu. When Mārkandeya appeals to the Lord for a
refuge in the boundless ocean, “the ocean of mundane
existence”, the Lord points out to him the holy heavenly
river Narmada (a form of Pārvathi, Shiva’s consort
corresponding to the Egyptian Mehet-Ouret), on the
banks of which Mārkandeya along with other sages
practices penance. Narmada also represents the flood
which bears the sun. Narmada assumes for this solar
birth the form of a cow with golden horns, a shape we
have encounter in the Egyptian representation of the
flood Mehet Ouret, or Hathor, as the bearer of Horus,
the sun, between her horns. At the same time, Narmada
represents Earth, the material universe, itself. This is in
consonance with her role as the consort of Shiva, who is
the counterpart of the Egyptian Geb [Earth] and Chronos/
Time.77 The transformation of the elemental universal
matter of Earth into a Cow that yields nourishment to the
various forms of life in the manifest universe is related in
the BP IV,17ff. And this transformation is a repetition of that which occurred within the Cosmic Egg itself at the
moment of the impregnation of the cosmic streams with
the seminal ‘water’ or seed of the supreme deity.78
Mārkandeya is saved from the cataclysm by seeking
refuge in Narmada’s “flanks”, for this cow’s milk is said to
be “ambrosial”, just as Aditi’s is, since it contains the divine
“soma” [seed]. The result of Mārkandeya’s imbibing of
Narmada’s milk is that “Divine vital energy” … “streamed
through [him]” so that Mārkandeya “was able to breast
the raging sea”. As he is dragged along by the cow, whose
“tail” he holds, for thousands of ages, Mārkandeya catches
a glimpse of the Purusha “asleep”79 in the cosmic ocean.
77 See A. Jacob, Ātman, Ch.XI.
78 See p.31.
79 Or moribund, in Osirian mythological terms.
42
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There is also an intimate connection between Hathor and
the Tree of Life, which springs up from the waters of the
abyss, just as there is between Aditi and Indra in the Vedas,
and Narmada is a form of Aditi as well as Pārvathi. Both
Hathor and Aditi represent the basis of universal creation
after the periodic destruction of the cosmos, and the Tree
of Life is the form of the material universe itself which
arises from the abyss through the divine seed represented
by Indra/Ninurta/Marduk.
It is clear that Mārkandeya is a form of the solar force
itself, and we may conclude that Manu, whom he replaces,
is, as the “son” of the sun, equal y one. Both Manu and
Mārkandeya are thus ‘superhuman’ solar figures that are
considered ancestors of the human race.
***
We may now consider some special aspects of the
flood story of Manu that may require elucidation. In
the
Shatapatha Brāhmana Manu80 is warned of the deluge
by a fish (representing Vishnu/Prajāpati in his piscine
Matsya avatār). Manu saves himself in a ship which is
tied to the “horn” of the fish81 and is borne by the latter
to the heights of “the northern mountain”, which, not
being specified as a Himalayan one, may well be the
80 The ancient Germans too considered the ancestor of the Germanic people to be ‘Mannus’, according to Tacitus, Germania, Sec.2.
81 See
SB I,viii,1,5. It is hard to determine what the “horn” of the fish might be (unless it were a sword-fish). On the other hand, we may recall the image of Re emerging as the sun by holding on to the horns of the Cow Mehet-Ouret. The Indic imagery may be a hybrid transformation of the Egyptian. This impression is reinforced by the fact that Manu’s daughter, Ida, who in SB I,viii,1,11-12 is said to characterise “cattle”, is, in TS I,7,1 and II,6,7, represented as a cow produced by Mitra-Varuna.
We shall see below that Ida is the same as Narmada.
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indo-european mythology and religion
Ararat of the Armenians mentioned in Genesis 8:4.82
In the Mahābhārata, the divine identity of the fish is
revealed to be that of Prajāpati/Brahman (the name of
the supreme god in his luminous, creative aspect), since
the fish declares to the “seven sages”—who, unlike in
the SB version of the story, accompany Manu in the ship
—“I am Brahma, lord of progeny [Prajāpati] … I in the
form of a fish have delivered you from this peril”.83 The
fish goes on to state that Manu should create all creatures
including “gods, asuras, and men and all the worlds and
what moves and what does not move [i.e. animal and
vegetable life].”
In the Matsya Purāna, too, the fish that saves Manu is
said to be a form of the supreme lord, Janārdana (Vishnu),
while the rope that Manu ties between the fish’s “horn”
and the boat is the serpent, Vasuki, identifiable with
the serpent of the Abyss, Sesha.84 We note here again a
similarity also between the Ship of Life and the Tree of
Life since both bear the serpent at one end and both bear
the seeds of universal life as well as the solar force – the
latter represented by Manu himself as well as by the sun
that arises atop the branches of the Tree.85 Besides, the
Ship of Life containing the seeds of life of the universe
comes to rest atop a mountain, and the sun too appears
atop the phallic, mountain-like, Tree of Life.
***
In the Dravidian Cikalittala Purānam of
Arunāchalakkavirayar, we get further glimpses into the
82 See p.9.
83 Mbh II, 187, 2ff. (cited S. Shastri, op.cit., p.9); cf. H. Usener, op.cit., p.28ff.
84 See S. Shastri, op.cit., p.28.
85 See A. Jacob, Ātman, Ch.XXIII. 44
alexander jacob
nature of the ship of life. The divine personages who
survive the flood are said to be Siva himself and his wife
Uma. The boat which saves Siva and his wife are considered
as being symbolic of the sacred sound “Om” itself, while
the resting place of the boat is a “shrine” which stands as
firm as “Dharma”.86 We may remember also that Ziusudra
is blessed, at the end of the deluge, with immortality in the
sacred land of “Dilmun”. The original form of Dilmun may
well have been “Dharman” and represented the perfect
holiness that this concept signifies in Vedic religion.87
Dilmun is also identified with the sacred “mountain”
from which the light of the universe arises and which is
the terrestrial source of the “me’s”.88 This suggests that the
phallic ‘mountain’ and ‘tree’ of life are identical.
The mountain atop which the boat comes to rest is
also considered to be situated at the centre or navel of
the universe. For the concept that the sanctuary is to
be found atop a mountain at the navel or centre of the
universe is to be found in Jewish (and later Muslim)
theologians as wel ,89 who no doubt derived it from
Babylon. The mountain and navel clearly represent the
phallic deity Shiva and his consort Pārvathi (representing
86 See D. Shulman, ‘The Tamil Flood Myths and the Cankam
Legend’, Journal of Tamil Studies, 14 (1978), 10.31.
87 It is unlikely that Dilmun original y had anything to do with the little island of Bahrain which later came to be identified with it.
88 The Sumerian ‘me’ corresponds to the Vedic ‘rta’, which are
principles of the divine ordering of Nature. ‘Mey’ is also the
Tamil word for “just” (see K. Mutturayan, “Sumer: Tamil of the
First Cankam”, Journal of Tamil Studies, 8 (1975), p.51). Cf. also Y.
Rosengarten, Sumer et le sacré, Paris: Editions E. de Broccard, 1977, p.56. The epithet “great “mountain” of the pure me’s” is applied to other sacred Mesopotamian lands, such as Aratta and Sumer, as well ( ibid. , pp.54ff.).
89 See A. Wensinck, “The Ideas of the Western Semites concerning the Navel of the Earth”, Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen, XVII (1916), no.1, pp.15f, 19ff, 40.
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indo-european mythology and religion
the cosmic vulva), so that they together constitute the
entire emergent universe.
In the Vedic literature Indra, infused with the potency
the sun emerges. In order to release the sun, however,
Indra has (in the vala myth, RV 10.67,1-12) to first free the
“cows” from the “vala”, a rocky enclosure in which they are
hidden by the evil Panis. The “cows” symbolise the radiant
solar energy, since RV I,164,3 suggests that this is the
secret name of the rays of the dawn.90 In RV X,108,5, the
“cows” are described as “flying around to the ends of the
sky”. The Panis themselves are described in BP V,24,30 as serpentine, Asuric creations of Diti and Danu and inhabit
Rasātala, the sixth of the seven subterranean regions of
the material universe bordering on the last, called Pātāla,
below which lies the serpent Sesha. The Panis are thus
related to Sesha/Vrtra. “Vala”, significantly, is the same
term that is, as we shall see, used in the Avesta (“vara”)
for the ark which bears Yima during the flood which
accompanies the birth of the sun.
David Shulman has pointed out that the creation
stories in the Dravidian versions emphasise the
importance of the shrine as the centre of the universe
and seat of the renewed creation after the deluge.91 Shiva
interestingly names this shrine “the root of the universe”,
which is situated on a hill rather like the primordial hill
from which the light of the cosmos arises in Egypt. The
shrine, therefore, is the foundation of the universe itself.
In the related Dravidian accounts of the deluge which
engulfed the sacred city of Madurai, the latter city serves
as an analogue of the shrine whence the universe emerges.
In these stories, the flood is said to have been caused by
90 H.P. Schmidt, Brhaspati und Indra, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1968, p.222.
91 See D. Shulman, op.cit.
46
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Varuna [Enki] at the instigation of Indra.92 The flood
caused by Varuna, Lord of the Underworld, precedes the
formation of the new sun. Shiva is the god who protects
the city Madurai from the flood, no doubt that it may
serve as the sacred foundation of our universe. The shrine
atop the mountain is secure (as also is the sacred city of
Madurai) from any destructive flood which may well up
from the netherworld, Pātāla.93
The Mahābhārata also includes the crucial detail
missing in SB, that Manu was instructed to carry on
board the boat “seed of every sort”. That the seed that is
preserved during the cosmic deluge is indeed the divine
seed which informs all life in the universe is made clear in
the Dravidian accounts of the flood, which state that Shiva
instructed Brahman/Prajapati to safeguard in a golden pot
(a substitute for the boat) the Vedas and other scriptures
along with the seed of creation.94 After the flood, the
pot comes to rest at a sacred spot and Shiva reappears
to release the contents of the pot and thus initiate the
terrestrial creation.95
92 See the Tiruvilai of Paranjoti, 12, 18, 19 (see D. Shulman, op.cit.).
93 The spire (gopurum) of the Hindu temple represents this mountain while the sanctum is dark and mysterious as the Apsu/Abyss whence the universe and its light emerge.
94 The common Vedic notion that the Vedas precede the actual
creation of the universe is copied in the Hebrew rabbinical literature which maintains that there are seven things created before the world:
“the Tora, conversion, the Garden of Eden, Gehenna, the divine
Throne, the Sanctuary, the name of the Messiah” (see A. Wensinck, op.
cit. , p.17). This confirms the cohabitation of Indic and Hebrew peoples in the Near East and dates back perhaps to the contacts in the 17th c.
B.C. between the Hurrian-Mitanni and the Habiru who served as their mercenaries (see B. Landsberger in J. Bottero, op.cit., p.160; cf. M.
Salvini, “Un royaume hourrite en Mésopotamie du Nord à l’époque de Hattušili I”, in M. Lebeau (ed.), About Subartu: Studies devoted to Upper Mesopotamia (Subartu IV,1), Turnhout: Brepols, 1998, p.307).
95 D. Shulman, op.cit.
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indo-european mythology and religion
The curious passage in Atrahasis, III,20, where Ea