A manvantara, in Hindu cosmology, is a cyclic period of time identifying the duration, reign, or age of a Manu, the progenitor of mankind. In each manvantara, seven , certain deities, an Indra, a Manu, and kings (sons of Manu) are created and perish. Each manvantara is distinguished by the Manu who rules/reigns over it, of which we are currently in the seventh manvantara of fourteen, which is ruled by Vaivasvata Manu.[ Account of the several Manus and Manwantaras Vishnu Purana, translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, 1840, Book III: Chapter I. p. 259, The first Manu was Swáyambhuva, then came Swárochisha, then Auttami, then Támasa, then Raivata, then Chakshusha: these six Manus have passed away. The Manu who presides over the seventh Manwantara, which is the present period, is Vaivaswata, the son of the sun...][ Pralaya The Secret Doctrine by H. P. Blavatsky, Vol. 2, p. 307 THE SEVEN AND FOURTEEN MANUS.]
Etymology
Manvantara (), sometimes spelled
manwantara or
manuantara, is a compound of
manu () and
antara (), creating
manu-antara or
manvantara, literally meaning "the duration of a Manu", or his lifespan, with synonym meanings of "the interval, reign, period, or age of a Manu".
[
]
Sandhya () or sandhi (), sometimes with a compound of Kaal (), have been used to represent "the juncture before or after a manvantara", a period of universal deluge (flood):[
]
-
manvantara sandhya ()
-
manvantara sandhi ()
-
sandhya kala () when describing a manvantara
-
sandhi kala () when describing a manvantara
Duration and structure
Each
manvantara lasts for 306,720,000 years (852,000 divine years; 1 divine year = 360
Tropical year) and repeats seventy-one
(world ages). In a
kalpa (day of
Brahma), which lasts for 4.32 billion years (12 million divine years or 1,000
Yuga Cycles), there are a total of fourteen
manvantaras (14 x 71 = 994
Yuga Cycles), where each is followed by and the first preceded by a
manvantara-sandhya (fifteen
sandhyas) with each
sandhya lasting for 1,728,000 years (4,800 divine years; the duration of
Satya Yuga). During each
manvantara-sandhya, the earth (
Bhu-loka) is submerged in water.
Each kalpa has 14 manvantaras and 15 manvantara-sandhyas in the following order:
-
1st manvantara-sandhya ( adi sandhya)
-
1st manvantara
-
2nd manvantara-sandhya
-
2nd manvantara
-
...
-
14th manvantara-sandhya
-
14th manvantara
-
15th manvantara-sandhya
Manusmriti, Ch. 1:
Surya Siddhanta, Ch. 1:
Vishnu Purana, Part 1, Ch. 3:
Manus
In the current
kalpa (day of
Brahma), these fourteen Manus reign in succession:
See also
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Itihasa
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Hindu units of time
-
Hindu cosmology
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List of numbers in Hindu scriptures
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Manu
-
Saptarishi (Names in each manvantara)