MATSYANARAYANA AVATAR
(Compilation
for a discourse By N. R. Srinivasan, Nashville, TN, USA, April 2016)
Introduction
Before the beginning there was an
end. The world was decaying, degenerating, drifting towards destruction. But Manu was calm. He knew that the world
would be created as before (yatahhpoorvam akalpayat says
Vedas). Manu was bathing in a river when
a tiny fish Matsya called Rohita swam
into his hands as a tiny red fish.
Matsya kept growing. Manu moved
it from urn to well, from the well to a pond, to lake and to the sea where it still
continued to grow. Manu asked this
strange fish as to who it was. “I am Vishnu, Preserver of Life” came a reply
from a strange voice. The world rested
as the lotus in the palm of his hand, the cosmos revolved round his finger like
a discus. He blew the music through his conch and wielded his mace to protect
all creatures.
Matsya revealed that in seven
days Siva’s arrow of destruction would herald the floods of doom to engulf the
whole universe. It also instructed Manu to take immediate stock of the
situation, gather the seeds of all plants, and a pair of each of every bird and
beast. Manu put them all in a ship and
waited for the flood. As per the fore-told,
black clouds covered the Sun and hurled lightning in all directions. The seven
rivers began to swell and the four oceans started to overflow. Waves, as high
as mountains, drowned the Earth. That was Maha
Pralaya, The Great Deluge.
The Divine fish sprouted a horn
and harnessed Manu’s ship to it using Ananta-Adisesha, the serpent of Time, as
the rope. He then towed the ship with bits of precious cargo to safety, cutting
through the agitated waters. But Manu realized he had forgotten the books of
knowledge, The Vedas in his frightened state. Matsya plunged into the dark
flood and found them in the hands of Damanaka, the demon of ignorance, who hand
taken shelter in a conch-shell. Cracking Damanaka’s skull the Lord recovered
the Vedas and gave them to Manu for safe-keeping. Matsya finally steered the ship to Mount
Meru, the eye of the apocalyptic storm. From its peak, Manu watched the earth
being swallowed by the waves. Manu
mourned the end of the word not realizing that nothing in this world ends. What
he was witnessing was only destructive change of Nature—Death before the
Rebirth. Matsya brought these facts to the knowledge of Manu and disappeared.
When Manu stopped weeping and raised his head he saw floating on the ocean, tossed by the floods a
banyan leaf on which lay a dark child, sucking his right toe, unperturbed by
the calamity that had befallen the world. It was Balaji, Vatapatra Sayee. With
a care-free smile the child negated the brutality of the Deluge. His composed
calm demeanor reassured Manu that life would go on. Manu realized the child was
none other than Vishnu who had withdrawn the world to Himself, Narayana, the deliverer of mankind.
Chanting the blessed name of his savior repeatedly Narayana, Narayana Manu
became one with Vishnu awaiting rebirth in the new World. The divine infant took a deep breath and
ducked Manu into His body. Then Vishnu went on his Yoga Nidra resting on Ananta,
waiting for the reawakening of the world. The seed of life present in his body emerged from
the navel as a thousand petal lotus. On it sat the Brahma, the Creator. Brahma closed his eyes and pondered over the
problem of next creation. Vishnu opened
his eyes, setting the stage of creation.
In MN Upanishad Narayana is called Purusha, recalling
Purushasookta out of whom the entire universe was fashioned. Narayana became an important component in
Vaishnava Theology as well as iconography.
As Mahaa Purusha, Narayana represents the cosmogonic totality of
Vaishnava sect called Pancharatra. All
creation unfurls when this manifestation differentiates itself into four
emanations. His first manifestation is
called Paravaasudeva. Cosmogony
continues as the manifestation differentiates himself into four emanations,
called Chaturvyuhas—Vasudeva, Sankarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha.
The Tamil Saints called Aazhwars frequently evoke the baby
lying on the banyan leaf, floating on the ocean--Vatapatrasayana—this child who
has swallowed all the seven worlds in order to protect them from the great flood that has overtaken the cosmos,
keeping them within his body until it is
time for the universe to come into being once again. This image of the God allows for the playful
reversal of the Aazhwar’s poetry—Vishnu is both the baby whom his mother has to
tenderly care for and the “Cosmic Child” who holds the entire universe within
the body—but also points towards that from of God Anantasayana, the Lord
reclining on the coils of Ananta serpent in the milky ocean who is the
originator of the universe.
Varaha,
Hayagriva, Trivikrama (or Vamana) and Narasimha are the earliest Avatars
depicted in Vedas. The whole world lies
within the Creator (Virat Purusha) and is born when the Creator ejects all
these phenomenal forms. Virat-Purusha portrays a profusion of animals, Nature,
beings, all within the bodily confines
of a giant possessing a profusion of multiple bodily parts. An earliest
sculptural Viswarupa of Gupta period brings us to the doorsteps of this
concept. Later, Puranas blended this concept to a progressive evolution theory
starting from the fish to Lord Buddha as a Mendicant and deep Meditator
excluding Hayagrieva avatar from Dasavatara list. Later saints too meddled with
this list of Purnas and created their own list of Dasavatara. Mohini, the femal
enchantress form of Vishnu was
introduced into the list to bring forth
Aiyappan, deleting Buddha, a
child born out of the union of Siva and
Mohini.
Matsyavatara
First Incarnation of Vishnu was Fish. That took
place on Kaartik Poornima Day. It falls
on Saturday 9, 2016 this year in USA. There
is a strong belief among Hindus that Ten Incarnations depict that humans have
evolved from Fish. Progressively we can see the first evolution of man in the
fifth incarnation of Vishnu, Vaamana Avataara, a dwarf human being which got
progressively perfected in the Avatar of Rama, a perfect human being. In
Sanskrit literature a beautiful girl with bewitching eyes like the fish is
called Meenakshi. We are all familiar with the famous temple in Madura
celebrating Parvati, consort of Siva as Madurai Meenakshi (Goddess of Fish
Eyes)’. There is a lone temple for Matsya Narayana in Bengaluru in India where
this first incarnation is iconized and
his Jayanti celebrated on a grand scale every year.
Vishnu
is addressed as Rohitah in Vishnu
Sahasranama Stotra. The term “Rohita” means fish, and this name has come to
indicate Lord Vishnu because His first Avatar as the fish is hailed in Puranas. When the entire world was submerged
in the waters of the deluge, the only living creatures that were available at
that time could only be fishes. This was a red tiny fish as it appeared in the
hands of Svaymbhu Manu. Lord could incarnate at that time only in the form of
the Fish. Therefore, here the term Rohitah means “One who had manifested to
serve the living creatures as Fish among
fishes”
Matsya
Avatar is generally represented as a four-armed deity having the upper half of
Maha Vishnu with four arms. Two arms hold Shanka (conch shell) and Chakra (divine discus) and the other two arms are in
Abhaya (divine protection) and Varada (boon)postures and the lower half is Matsya
(fish).
The
Matsya Narayana temple located in Bengaluru in Omkar Asram in Omkara Hills in
Srinivaspura in one of the highest Points in Bengaluru, celebrates the major
annual festival on Matsya Jayanti. The annual festival of Matsya Jayanti is
celebrated on Chaitra Shukla Paksha Triteeya (Third day of the waxing moon
period of the Chaitra month (March- April) every Year. In 2016 it is on April 9th.
Guided
by Puranas we are all influenced to worship deities in temple as Vishnu or his
emanations or Avatars, Parivaras like
Subhadra, Pradyumna, Hanuman, Garuda, Viswaksena etc., or accessories like Sudarsana. This is also
true for Siva or his emanations. Though people do not talk about Avatars of
Siva his temples for few avatars are very popular like Kala Bhirava. His
Lingavatara (Vyaktaavyakta) is most popular. Strangely there are no exclusive
temples for Brahma except in Pushkara though his presence or worship can’t be
avoided in all temples. This is due to a rather silly reason explained in Siva
Purana inviting the wrath of Siva. Siva Purana raises the Vedic deity Rudra
celebrated in Sata Rudriyam and also as 11 Rudras in terrible form to
auspicious and pleasant form of Siva to the status of Parabrahman, which is
nothing but one of the facets of Brahman
in his role of Dissolution. Rudraanam Sankaroham says Bhagawan in Bhagavad Gita.
Why
should Brahma be condemned and punished and Vishnu pushed to the level of
subordinate deity in the Holy text of Siva Purana though its authorship is
attributed to Vedavyasa who has gone with negative approach. In all probability
its author may not be Vedavyasa. It is rightly called also Tamasa Purana one
that keeps us in darkness but in order to credit high status among Puranas its authorship
is attributed to him. My own reasoning is that having been born our concern is
more towards Sustenance and fear of Death. There are mantras in MNU that says
Vishnu, Rudra, Brahma and Prajapati are
all but Vedic devatas who are nothing but Brahman himself, part presented for
the whole. But there is one important Mrityunivarana Mantra in MNU which is
prescribed for repetition throughout life to save oneself from death as
important as “Mrityor
maa amritam gamaya”. This Mantra which also appears along with “Traymabaka Yajaamahe”
is as follows: Namo Rudraaya Vishnave mrityurme paahi”—Salutation to Rudra, and to Vishnu. Guard me from death. Various
Puranas and Hindu religious texts often come out with distinct slokas where unity and identity of
Siva and Vishnu are brought to focus. I am not surprised because Vedavyasa is
the compiler and moderator of all these Puranas. After editing controversial and conflicting
Puranas from various authors he wanted to draw the attention of all that
Brahma, Vishnu and Siva are none other than Brahman in his threefold function of
Srishthi, Sthiti and Laya as well as Trigunas with which life started with
various proportion of mixes. Creation started from pervading darkness (Tamas)
of Siva by Rajasic Brahma (red) and maintained by Satvic Vishnu (whiteness). Another Saivite Upanishad Skandopanishad
declares the identity of and Vishnu thus:
Yathaa
Sivamayo Vishnur evam Vishnumayah Sivah—as
Siva pervades Vishnu so Vishnu pervades Siva. It is clear from this Mantra of MNU
that people are more concerned with the role of Vishnu and Siva for sustenance
and death threat than Brahma who has completed his task in bringing us to this
world with all past karma records. Probably he is blamed for bringing us to
this world for facing shackles of Samsara (struggle and miseries of life)
rather than thanking him for his generous attitude to give us an opportunity to
be born on earth to exhaust our accumulated Karmas. Perhaps it is a trick
played by our Jnyana yoga Rishis who did not want Brahma to freely distribute
the knowledge (Jnaana) to all indiscriminately just because they worship
casually and praise him to get immediate benefits; so they dissuaded people
from the worship of Brahama, the custodian of Vedas! You all know how Siva and Brahma often made
the mistake easily falling prey to their worshipers even though such prayers
are not from the depth of their hearts! Probably
we are more worried we will not be able to do that and will accumulate more bad
karmas at the present status of the world.
There are contradicting stories as to the origin in Puranas though
authorship is ascribed to Vyasa. May be he believed in where you cannot
convince confuse like me.
In Hinduism Manu is the originator to the progenitor of
humanity who appears in the world at the start of a new Kalpa after universal
destruction. According to Puranas 14 Manus appear in each Kalpa and the period
of each Manu is Manvantra. We are now in Vaivasvata Manvantara. The word man in
English and Manushya in Sanskrit are believed to be derived from Manu. Does it
mean to say that Manu is a specific Devata responsible for the most important
creation of humans alone or he is none other than Brahma who sprang from
Narayana’s belly button on a lotus flower! Then Manu and Brahma should be
synonyms. Later texts of Vedas say Brahma Vishnu and Siva are the three facets of
Brahman alone. Though Puranas have this form of Trinity
for worship they also talk of several other forms of Trinities like Dattatreya.
It also says Manu, Brahma, Indra etc., are only titles for
the post they are holding. This also goes well with the fact that Brahmas life
span is 100 Brahma years where one day of Brahma is one human year! I wonder
why Vedavyasa failed to remove all such confusions from Puranas which he
compiled coming from various authors. Probably out of modesty he did not want
to disrespect them and believed in “Vipravakyo Janardhanah”— Pundits are always divine in their
postulations.
The story for present Manvantara goes as follows: Manu was
the son of Vivasvaan (hence known as Vaivasvata Manu) who was the son of Kaasyapa,
in turn son of Marichi, the off spring of Brahma the creator). He is associated
with the creation of the world and establishment of order and religion in the
world. We are now in Vaivasvata Manvantara.
I believe Matsya Purana and Bhagavata Purana refer to this Manu as to
the Matsyavatara story. The story in Satapata Brahmana associates Matsyavatara
to Svayambhu Manu, the first among the 14 Manus. It is safe to conclude in line
with Vedic statement “Yathapoorvamakalpayat”—everything was created as before—that
these avatars are repeated in each Yuga of the Kalpa. It is therefore logical to conclude that the
temple in Bengaluru is the symbolic representation of Matsyavatar of Krityuga
of Vaivasvata Manvantara. The first Matsyavatara refers to Svayambhu Manu and
Svayambhu Manvantara. At that time there was neither temple nor Moorti Worship.
Satapata Brahmana for the first time narrates a story in
which it describes a tiny fish which grew to gigantic fish that advised
Swaayambhu Manu to build a ship to save himself and all living creatures as the
impending flood would destroy the world. On its advice he did so and was saved
by the first incarnation of Lord Vishnu in the form of fish (Matsyaavataara).
This story is similar to the later Biblical story of Noah’s Ark. Probably Bible got inspired by ancient
Hinduism to come out with their version of Noah’s Ark based on the present
Kalpa. After the waves receded, Manu went to the plains and restarted life for
another 4, 320, 000,000 years. Hindus believe that Manus come in repeated
cycles as the Patriarchal Earth Ruler, infinite times, at the beginning of creations.
The story is quite clear from the text given in the Appendix.
We also come across another story as to the recovery of Vedas
from horse headed demon Hayagreeva cited below. Vedas mention the earliest
Avatar Hayagreeva and also say Vajasaneya Samhita is named after Hayagreeva,
the Incarnation of Vishnu. The Vedic
version should be more authentic than the Puranic versions. Unlike the lone temple of Matsya Narayana,
Hayagreeva Temples are more popular and
he is the presiding deity of Parakala Maths. I have discussed at length on the
importance of this earliest Avatar. It is also interesting to note this Avatar
is called Matsya Narayana and Not Matsya Vishnu. Generrally all Avatars are
indicated as Avtars of Vishnu only, one of the trinities among Brahma, Vishnu,
Maheswara.
I believe Puranas have thought about Matsya (fish) as first
Avatar among Dasvatars like the later concept of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.
Probably our sages had similar thoughts as Darwin which he later scientifically
investigated. Therefore they cleverly managed to throw out the Hayagreeva
avatar and brought in a demon Hayagreeva to make Matsyavatara story besides the
earlier story of deluge to save lives. The story of floods, the giant fish with
horns and the boat goes well to make a mythological story. With all these conjecture
Hindus get offended when someone calls Puranas as mythology.
In order to go with evolution theory they needed a man-animal
stage of evolution—man emerging out of an animal. They preferred the head of
Lion King than a man’s companion horse head. After the popularity of Rama and
Krishna Avatars to-day Narasimha is the most worshiped deity.
Why then Matsya-Narayana nomenclature and not Matsya-Vishnu. Naryana mean
one who is water borne and so Matsyavatara goes well with Narayana. Naryana’s consort is Lakshmi and so also
Matsya’s. In fact all the first five avatars have only Lakshmi as their
consorts and no additional Sakti form creation took place to be the consort of
these avatars. It is also logical to conclude the earlier avatars of Matsya Kurma, Narasimha and Vamana took place not on earth planet but at
higher planet levels. Brahman is associated with Prosperity (Sri) and Wealth
(Lakshmi)—“Hreescha te Lakshmeescha Patnyau” – O Sun! Hri and and Lakshmi are thy
consorts! (MNU). We have Srisooktam as part of the Vedas. These consorts have been deified in Puranas substantiated
by Samudra Mathana (churning of the Ocean) story.
We come across consorts born on earth to all the later human
avatars starting from Parasurama with names. Thus Parasurama’s wife was
Dharani, Rama’s Sita, Krishna’s Rukmini, and Satyabhama (incarnation of
Bhoodevi, Earth), Radha and Gopis and Buddha’s Yasodhara. Hindus say Yasodhara
was incarnation of Lakshmi but Buddhists deny.
The first five avatars had no specific consort and are always associated
with Lakshmi. Except for Yamuna all the consorts of human avatars are believed
to be incarnation of Lakshmi. Why avatar concept did not come out with the idea
of consort and married life to earlier avatars need some explanation.
The term sex is in
reference to the Sanskrit concept of rasa, the original spiritual
relationships. In the material world this rasa is best reflected as mundane
sex. But even in this there are many gradations according to the degrees of
covering by the three modes. The Taittiriya Upanishad describes the degrees of
enjoyment among the different human species, from the common man, to the
Gandharva, Apsara, Siddha, Deva, Devadeva, Devendra, Brahma, etc.-- each being
one hundred times greater or more complete than the previous.
Animals like dogs and
hogs become pregnant twice a year, and each time they beget at least half a
dozen off-springs. Even lower species of life such as snakes give birth to
hundreds of young at one time. In
grades of life higher than ours, pregnancy occurs once in a lifetime. People
still have sex life, but there is no pregnancy. In the spiritual world, people
are not very attracted to sex life, due to their exalted devotional attitude.
Practically speaking, there is no sex life in the spiritual world, but even if
sometimes it does occur, there is no pregnancy at all. That is how many Ayonija
births are mentioned in Puranas—Sita, Andal, Ganesha, Subhramanya, Uravasi etc.
On the planet earth, however, human
beings do become pregnant, although the tendency is to avoid having children.
In this sinful age of Kali, people have even taken to the process of killing
the child in the womb. This is the most degraded practice. This is considered
as heinous crime Brunahatya in Hinduism.
In the iconographic
representation Matsya takes variant forms. Often it is a simple fish, with a
horn, placed upon a lotus. Sometimes one lower half is that of fish and the
other half a human form (Narayana or Vishnu with four arms carrying conch,
discus, lotus and mace). Sometimes, the human form emerges from the neck of the
fish seated upon a lotus pedestal.
The Mantra of Matsya
includes the idea of dissolution, creation and the Vedic lore—“Matsyam
pralayasmhaaram srashtaaram vedaroopinam’
Matsya Mantra
Eka evabhavanmatsyaavataarah
kalpa aadiye |
Tasya mantram pravakshyaami
bhukti-mukti-prdaayakam ||
Taaro (om) namo bhagavate ma
matsyaaya ramaam(sreem) vadet |
dvaadasaakshara mantroyam
munirbrahma sameeritah |
gayatree chchanda
uchchishtam devataa meenavigrahah ||
(Note the term devata used for the avatar and not deva normally used for Vishnu )
Gaayatree Mantra
Om mam namo bhagavate matsyaaya Sreem (12 letters)
The Rishi is Brahma, Chchndas is Gayatri and the Devataa
Matsya Moorti
Dhyaana Sloka
Naabhyaadho rohitasamam
aakantham cha naraakritih |
Ghsnasyaamaschaturbaahuh
sankha-chakra-gadaadharah |
Sringee matsyanibho moordhaa
lakshmee-vaksho-viraaajitah |
Padmachinhita-sarvaangah
sundaras-chaaru-lochanah ||
Dr. Michael Mosley speaks of
Human evolution from fish. I believe he should have been inspired by the human
evolution from fish of Dasavatara concept in his research work and Darwin’s
Theory of Evolution. It is
believed mermaids are non-existent and are only seen in folklores and dramas.
After going through Matsya-Narayana Avatar and the research findings of Dr.
Michael Mosley there is every possibility that Merman and Mermaids once existed
and they are today extinguished species. Hinduism talks about animal-head transplant
surgery by Lord Siva who is praised as Bhishak (doctor) who inspired Medical
Sciences. Like Hindu beliefs in curative effects by worshiping Lord Matsya-Narayana
other traditions believe Mermaids can be benevolent or beneficent,
bestowing boons or falling in love with humans. Search for mermaids continues
today by some nations like the Himalayan Snowman!
Today Tigons are a reality with tiger’s body and lion’s head.
Hinduism speaks of Kinnaras with horse-body and human head in other planets. Our knowledge
is today limited to one small planet called Earth in the Milky Way of this vast
Universe. Who knows what exists where and how? They are already talking of
brain transplant from the dead.
“Students can learn from teachers/elders/scholars/saints/parents
in a variety of ways. Depending on the eagerness of the student, circumstances
in the student's life that is preparing him/her to seek such learning,
powerfulness of the knowledge that is relevant to the question, ability of the
student to identify with the teacher determines how much knowledge gets
transferred.
Transformative events
have occurred in people's lives under special circumstances that are so
powerful and can be equivalent to brain transplant. I still could not
understand the stories of Yajnavalkya,
Abhimanyu, Kalidasa, blind Surdas, Valmiki, Tulasi Das, Hanuman and Siddhas etc.,
acquiring advanced abilities. There has to be more to the story” as one of our
participant psychiatric doctor tells.
REFERENCES:
1.
Ramachandra Rao, S.K., Vishnu Kosha. KalpataRU
Research Academy, Sankar Math, Bengaluru, India.
2.
Devdutt
Pattanaik, Vishnu, Vakils, Feffer and Simons Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, India.
3.
Swami
Harshananda, Hindu Gods and Goddesses, Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, India.
4.
Ed.
Viswanathan, Am I a Hindu, Rupa & Co., New Delhi, India.
5.
Joan
Cummins, et al, Vishnu, First Center of Visual Arts, Brooklyn Museum, New York,
USA.
APPENDIX I
Why
was Lord Vishnu Born as Matsya Avatar ?
During the deluge before the latest re-creation of the
universe, the four Vedas (the Holy Scriptures) which were required by Brahma
for the re-creation were drowned deep in the waters.
Vishnu took the form of a fish to retrieve the sacred
scriptures. Another legend has it that Vishnu in his Matsya Avatar instructed
Manu (the progenitor of mankind in each creation) to build a huge boat and
gather samples of all species in it. The Matsya then pulled the ark to safety
through the deluge and floods to enable Brahma to start the work of
re-creation.
Legend
One day while bathing, Satyavrata (also called Manu by some)
accidentally catches a small fish in his hands. To his surprise, the fish looks
at him and starts talking to him. It asks Manu to save its life and protect it
in return for which the Matsya will protect Manu from an impending flood about
which it is aware of.
When Manu agrees to help, the fish first asks him to put it
in a jar of water, and then when it outgrows the same, it asks him to dig a
pit, fill it with water and put it in the pit. Later, when it outgrows the pit,
it asks Manu to transfer it to the ocean, by which time it is big enough to
survive and is also indestructible.
At this point, the fish asks Manu to build himself a boat and
be ready for the impending flood. It also instructs him that when the flood
waters increase, he should think of the fish that will then come over to help
him out.
When the flood begins, Manu boards the boat and then prays to
the fish for assistance. The fish then appears and ties the boat to a horn that
has grown on its head. It uses the serpent Vasuki as the rope to tie the boat
to its horn. The fish then tows this boat to safety and takes Manu to the
highest and driest point left on the earth.
It is told that as the Matsya swam through the flood waters
he discoursed as Manu on the various topics and revealed to him the knowledge
of the Vedas, Puranas, Samhitas and the Supreme Truth.
Some versions also have the Matsya instructing Manu to
collect seeds of all types of plants and assembling the saptarishis (seven
great sages) on the boat that is then rescued by the great matsya.
Symbols of Matsya
Avatar
The story of a great Deluge is found in many civilizations
across the earth. It is often related to the Genesis narrative of the flood and
Noah’s Ark; The fish motif and saving of the scriptures from a demon being
additions in the Hindu tale. Similar flood myths also exist in tales from
ancient Sumer and Babylonia, Greece, the Maya of Americas and the Yoruba of
Africa.
Matsya is believed to symbolize the first stage of evolution,
as aquatic life was the first beings on earth. The tale of Matsya may be
interpreted as a creation myth where Manu creates beings of the world and men
after they destroyed in the flood, though the creation is never the focus of
the legend. Some authors consider the tale not a flood myth, but symbolic in
nature. Manu’s boat is representative of moksha (salvation), which helps one to
cross over.
Himalayas is treated as a boundary between the earthly
existence and land of salvation beyond. God as the fish guides one to
salvation. The horn of the fish is symbolic of “sacrificial values”. The
presence of fish seems to be an allusion to the Indian “law of the fishes”, an
equivalent to the “law of the jungle”, when the fish seeks protection from
being eaten by a larger fish.
Treated as a parable, the tale advises a good king should
protect the weak from the mighty, reversing the “law of fishes” and uphold
dharma, like Manu, the progenitor of mankind and in particular two royal
dynasties, thus an ideal king. In the tales where the demon hides the Vedas,
dharma is threatened and Vishnu as the divine Savior, rescues dharma, aided by
his earthly counterpart, Manu – the king.
Worship of Matsya
Avatar
The Sri Matsyanarayana Temple is a unique and the only temple
in Karnataka for Bhagavan Sri Matsyanarayana Swamy. Bhagavan Sri Matsyanarayana
is the first Avatara among the Dashavataras (Ten Avataras) of Bhagavan Mahavishnu
in the form of Fish to protect the creation from great deluge.
By worshiping him, through his grace generally one gains health,
wealth, peace and prosperity and specially one gets cured of rare skin diseases
and gains abundant wealth. Where ever Bhagavan Sri Matsyanarayana’s presence is
there all the Vastu Doshas will get nullified.
Salient Features:
1. Place the Yantra in the water filled plate in such a way
that it will get immersed in water and worship it daily.
2. Replace the water regularly.
3. After worshipping
the Yantra chant the Matsya Maha Mantra 108 times (facing east or north) daily.
--Courtesy by The Editor | Feb 15, 2016 | IndiaDivine.Org
APPENDIX II
HUMAN
EVOLUTION FROM FISH
[Dr. Michael Mosley in BBC talks on "Anatomical Clues to Human Evolution from Fish".]
Extracts from his talk are reproduced below in support of his theory:
It
seems strange that humans have evolved from fish, but the evidence can be found
not just in fossils but also with our own bodies.
The
following observations can be made if one watches the video picture of the face
developing from one month old embryo of humans to an age of 10 weeks. If you
watch closely, you will see that the human face is actually formed from three
main sections which rotate and come together in an unborn fetus.
The
early human embryo looks very similar to the embryo of any other mammal, bird
or amphibian all of which evolved from fish.
The
way this happens only really makes sense when you realize that strange though
it may sound we are actually descended from fish:
·
Your eyes start out
on the sides of your head, but then move to the middle.
·
The top lip along
with the jaw and palate started life as
a gill-like structures on your neck.
·
Your nostrils and the
middle part of your lip come down from the top of your head.
Who
are Mermaids and Mermen
(WIKEPEDIA)
A mermaid
is a legendary aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish
Mermaids appear in the folklore of many
cultures worldwide, including the Near East, Europe, Africa and Asia. The first
stories appeared in ancient Assyria, in which
the goddess Atargatis transformed
herself into a mermaid out of shame for accidentally killing her human lover.
Mermaids are sometimes associated with perilous events such as floods, storms,
shipwrecks and drownings. In other folk traditions (or sometimes within the
same tradition), they can be benevolent or beneficent, bestowing boons or
falling in love with humans.
The male
equivalent of the mermaid is the merman, also a
familiar figure in folklore and heraldry. Although traditions about and
sightings of mermen are less common than those of mermaids, they are generally
assumed to co-exist with their female counterparts.
Some of the
attributes of mermaids may have been influenced by the Sirens of Greek mythology. Historical
accounts of mermaids, such as those reported by Christopher Columbus during his exploration of the Caribbean, may
have been inspired by manatees and similar
aquatic mammals. While there is no evidence that mermaids exist outside of
folklore, reports of mermaid sightings continue to the present day, with recent
examples from Canada, Israel, and Zimbabwe.
Mermaids
have been a popular subject of art and literature in recent centuries, such as
in Hans Christian Andersen's well-known fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" (1836). They have subsequently been
depicted in operas, paintings, books, films and comic
APPENDIX III
Manu
in the Bible and the History of Mankind
“The
Manu named King Satyavrata formerly saved himself by tying the small boat of
the entire world to the horn of the Matsya avatara, the fish incarnation. By
the grace of the Matsya avatara, Manu saved himself from the great danger of
the flood. May that same fish incarnation save us from the great and fearful
danger caused by the son of Tvashta.” (Shrimad Bhagavatam 6.9.23)
A
single event of the ancient world has been covered by a number of
scriptures—even though some of these old
historical texts are not
generally considered as Vedic.
Elements of the history of Vaivasvata
Manu, our current Manu, can be found as
the story of “Noah and the Flood” both
in the Bible and in the Koran. The great flood is also described in some
other scriptures including the Book of
Enoch and the Book of Jasher.
The inundation is also described in the Sumerian epic poem Gilgamesh. Manu, who
is the progenitor of humanity, has made a significant mark on history.
Therefore it is natural that he has been discussed in numerous scriptures from
different periods throughout millennia. It would appear that the Noah we read
about in the Bible is none other than the current Vaivasvata Manu.
The
Book of Jasher, which is an apocryphal work (and which is twice mentioned in
the Bible) says the following in 4.13-14 about the birth of Manu:
“And
the wife of Lemech conceived and bore him a son at that time, at the revolution
of the year. And Metushelach called his name Noach, saying, ‘The ground was in
his days at rest and free from corruption.’ And Lamech his father called his name
Menachem (Manu), saying, ‘This one shall comfort us in our works and miserable
toil from the ground, which YHWH (God) had cursed.’”
In
the book of Enoch—an ancient Jewish religious work that is mostly preserved in
its original form in Ethiopia—Noah is described as a follower of God’s rule
(dharma). It is written there that he lived during a period that had become
degraded due to the intermingling of the demigods with human women and that
this intermingling had produced giants of demonic nature. In time practically
all humankind became corrupted. Foolish people began to worship mere inhabitant
of the Earth as gods … a vice that continues till this day in our present Kali
Yuga.
The
different Manus are described in Shrimad Bhagavatam 8.13 and the flood is described later.
“O
King Parikshit, at the end of the past millennium, at the end of Brahma’s day,
because Lord Brahma sleeps during the night, annihilation took place and the
three worlds became covered by the waters of the ocean. At the end of Brahma’s
day, when Brahma felt sleepy and desired to lie down, the Vedas were emanating
from his mouth, and the great demon named Hayagriva stole the Vedic knowledge.
Understanding the acts of the great demon Hayagriva, the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, Hari, who is full of all opulence, assumed the form of a fish and
saved the Vedas by killing the demon.” (SB 8.24.7-9).
Shrila
Prabhupada comments, “Because everything was inundated by water, to save the
Vedas it was necessary for the Lord to assume the form of a fish.” (Note that
this verse does not relate to the form of Matsya who saved Manu at the end of a
certain millennia when only a partial annihilation takes place.)
At
the end of each Manvantara (lit. “rule of one Manu”), and before the next
progenitor of humankind Manu takes charge, a total dissolution of the Earth—a
flood—occurs. This is obviously the same devastating flood that is also
described in the Bible, in the Book of Enoch and in the Book of Jasher. As Noah
was an enlightened personality, he was saved from the flood along with other
sages and his sons. It is said that his ark, or huge boat, remained atop the
Malaya Mountain after the flood.
The
Book of Jasher 5.13 discusses why Vaivasvata (Noah) was chosen as the present
Manu:
And
Noach was a just man, he was perfect in his generation, and YHWH chose him to
rise up seed from his seed upon the face of all the earth.
The
book describes the many long years during which the flood ravaged the Earth. It
tells how all creatures had to endure being tossed from one side of the ark to
the other. Despite the fear that Manu and the rest of the animals and sages
endured in the boat, we know from Shrimad Bhagavatam that Lord Matsyadeva
protected the ark throughout the flood’s duration.
After
the flood Manu and his sons populated the Earth. The sons of Manu are mentioned
as being three in number in the Book of Jasher, but the Vedic literature
mentions at least ten amongst whom Ikshvaku is prominent. Since the Book of
Jasher was scribed in a mleccha tongue, it mentions only the facts that are
considered more important for the people of that time and who spoke that
language:
“And
these are the names of the sons of Noach: Yafe (Ikshvaku), Ham and Shem; and
children were born to them after the flood, for they had taken wives before the
flood.” (Book of Jasher 7.1)
It
is interesting that in the line concerning Noah,
the name of Rama appears along with the name of Kush in the same paragraph,
possibly an indirect reference to Lord Shri Ramachandra:
“And
these are the sons of Ham; Kush, Mitzraim, Put and Kanaan, four sons; and the
sons of Kush were Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raama
and Satecha, and the sons of Raama were Sheba and Dedan.” (Book of Jasher
7.10)
After
some years the children and descendants of Manu populated the entire Earth.
Once again, in due course of time, the people again became irreligious. They
built a city with the Tower of Babel that was supposed to reach for the heavens
where they proposed to install human idols. According to the Bible, such
misguided plans could not work and their skyscrapers were destroyed by the
designs of the Lord. Assisted by His devotees (the demigods), the mouths of the
inhabitants of the city were made to mispronounce their language, and thus
Babel became the source of the English word “babble.” Since the citizens could
no longer understand each other, conflicts arose and in this way they destroyed
both the city and themselves. Thus different languages were created which now
rendered the immoral citizens incapable of working together and considering
competing with the demigods. Since this occurs at the end of Kali Yuga, we
propose that this event this could have marked the end of another chatura-yuga
cycle and the beginning of another Satya Yuga.
Manu
is described in the Bhagavata as living for seventy-one yuga cycles. Our
present Manu has already lived for twenty-eight yuga cycles. This means that
already in his lifetime twenty-eight major destructions must have occurred with
the onset of each consecutive Satya Yugas.
In
the Book of Jasher the nations that were born from the sons of Manu are
mentioned and some of them, like Turkey and Bulgaria, are still recognizable
today:
“And
the sons of Yafet the son of Noach went and built themselves cities in the
places where they were scattered, and they called all their cities after their
names, and the sons of Yafet were divided upon the face of the earth into many
divisions and languages. And these are the names of all their families
according to all their cities which were built to them in those days after the
tower.” (10.6)
“And
the children of Tugarma are ten families, and these are their names: Kuzar,
Partzinak, Bulgar, Elikanus, Ragvina, Turki, Buz, Zabuk, Ongar and Tilmatz; all
these spread and rested in the north and built themselves cities. And they
called their cities after their names, those are they who abide by the rivers
Hital and Altak unto this day. But [the families of] Angoli, Bulgar and
Partzinak, they dwell by the great river Danuvi; and the names of their cities
are also according to their names.” (10.10)
As
those nations were directly founded by different sons of Manu, it is obvious
that their history—and thus the history of the world—is much older than the
fairy tale that “historians” have been trying to wholesale us for the past many
centuries. For example, Bulgaria has a modern history of around 1300 years
which today’s so-called scholarship considers as one of the oldest nations.
Bulgaria has preserved its name throughout the ages, and according to this
ancient verse the histories of these areas are far, far more ancient. The
Danuvi River mentioned is obviously the Danube which till today forms the
northern boundary between Bulgaria and Romania.
All
nations have one father and one culture which is the selfsame Vedic culture
that is rooted in the worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Lord Shri
Krishna.
Source: vedicastrologers.org