The 4 Manus in Gita 10.6

[Vishal Agarwal]

A while back, there was a discussion on the identity of 4 manus in this
verse of Gita. I draw the attention of the list members to the article
"Maharshayah sapta purve chatvaro manavastatha"(pg. 134-139) in the text "
Bhagvadagita aur Vedagita" (Jagannatha Shastri Sarasvata; Gur Gangeshwar
Chaturveda Samsthana; Gur Gangeshwar Granthamala No. 11; Bombay; Vikrama
2030).

This book gives a Vedic verse corresponding to each and every verse of the
Gita (except places like chapter 1  of Gita obviously) and shows admirably
that each and every doctrine of Gita finds an echo either in the 4 veda
mantra samhitas (Shakalya RV; Madhyandina YV; Shaunakiya AV; Kauthuma SV) or
in the principal Upanishads. The text is preceded by more than a dozen
essays on various aspects of the Gita (like the exact no. of verses- 700 or
745?) and so on.

The article referred to above suggests that the conception of 14 manus is
Pauranic and that the  Vedic literature (Samhitas et al) refers only to 4
Manus. These 4 Manus are:

1. Vaivasta Manu (RV 8.52.1)
2. Samvarani Manu, aka Samvarana Manu (RV 8.51.1)
3. Apsava Manu (seer of RV 9.106-107)
4. Savarni Manu aka Savarnya (RV 10.62.9)

There is some related information from the Arshanukramani and from the
Bhagvata Purana.

I think this suggestion also merits some attention.

In the commentary portion however, the author does not take the word
'chatvara' as an adjective of 'Manu' and glosses the former as Sanaka,
Sanandana etc- who also incidentally add up to 4.

Sincerely,

Vishal

________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com

--
bhava shankara deshikame sharaNam

Archives : http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l.html
Help     : Email to listmaster at lists.advaita-vedanta.org
Options  : To leave the list send a mail to
           listserv at lists.advaita-vedanta.org with
           SIGNOFF ADVAITA-L in the body.