More details on the rule of the Manus
A mysterious purport by Srila Prabhupada on SB 5.1.22 that gives us some additional insights about the system of cosmic management and the rule of the Manus.
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The Manus are an important part of the administrative apparatus of the Vedic universe. There are 14 Manus in a day of Brahma, in a sequence that repeats in each of his days. At the end of each Manvantara, a great process of extinction occurs, with the previous Manu and all demigods leaving their posts. After one team of demigods leaves, the next Manu takes charge of the management of the cosmos, together with a new team of demigods. There is a period of 1.728 million years between two Manvantaras, called Sandhya (juncture), when things are gradually restored after the previous devastation. From there, the population of the universe is restored, and the different living entities can again continue with their activities.
We come then to a mysterious purport by Srila Prabhupada on SB 5.1.22 that gives us some additional insights about the system of cosmic management and the rule of the Manus.
Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.1.22 reads:
“Svāyambhuva Manu, with the assistance of Lord Brahmā, thus fulfilled his desires. With the permission of the great sage Nārada, he delivered to his son the governmental responsibility for maintaining and protecting all the planets of the universe. He thus achieved relief from the most dangerous, poisonous ocean of material desires.”
In his purport to this verse, Prabhupada mentions:
“From Bhagavad-gītā we get information that Vaivasvata Manu was the son of the sun-god and that his son, Mahārāja Ikṣvāku, ruled this planet earth. Svāyambhuva Manu, however, appears to have been in charge of the entire universe, and he entrusted to his son, Mahārāja Priyavrata, the responsibility for maintaining and protecting all the planetary systems. Dharā-maṇḍala means “planet.” This earth, for instance, is called dharā-maṇḍala. Akhila, however, means “all” or “universal.” It is therefore difficult to understand where Mahārāja Priyavrata was situated, but from this literature his position certainly appears greater than that of Vaivasvata Manu, for he was entrusted with all the planetary systems of the entire universe.”
Vaivasvata Manu is the current Manu, the 7th in the sequence. He is mentioned in the Gīta, togueter with his son Ikṣvāku. Svāyambhuva Manu was the first Manu, who is mentioned in the third canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, and Priyavrata is his eldest son, who became not only the ruler of Bhu-Mandala, but the whole universe.
How is this possible, and how this fits with other descriptions of the Manus and their descendents ruling the Earth?
The system followed by kṣatriyas in Vedic societies is that each king would rule over a certain tract of land and rule over other smaller kings, who would control smaller sections of the country, down to single villages. Sometimes, however, a single emperor would be accepted by all other kings and would become the ruler of the whole planet, like in the case of Maharaja Yudhiṣṭhira.
In this purport, Prabhupāda reveals that a similar system exists in the universe. Each planet or star has its own ruler, from the hellish planets, ruled by Yamarāja, all the way up to Satyaloka, ruled by Brahma.
Ordinarily, a Manu reigns only over Bhu-Mandala and passes the responsibility to his descendants. Dhruva Maharaja was ruling over Bhu-Mandala, just like Pṛthu, for example.
Bhu-Mandala is often equated to our planet, since it is the only visible part of the structure in our plane. We can see that Prabhupāda uses the term “Earth” in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam sometimes as meaning just our particular planet, and sometimes as meaning the extended Earth, including the whole Bhu-Mandala, while in some other passages he refers to Bhu-Mandala directly. This reflects the usage of different terms in the Sanskrit text itself. The reason for this apparent ambiguity is that what appears as Bhu-Mandala in higher planes appears as our planet in the gross reality we live in, and therefore, both are, in one sense, one. We need to go beyond the interpretation of individual words and understand the larger context to follow his explanation.
This said, what exactly is the function of the Manus, since in some passages they are described as cosmic figures and in others appear to be described as ordinary human kings?
Usually, Manus are descendants of Prajapatis, and not human beings from this planet. Their origin may differ, but the main point is that they are highly perfected beings, on the level of the demigods, if not higher.
Each Manu stays in his post for an entire Manvantara, or 306.72 million years (71 divya-yugas, plus the sandhyās), the same period during which all the different demigods also stay in their posts. The primary function of the Manus is that of law-givers and progenitors of humanity. They restore order in the lower and intermediate planetary systems (up to Svargaloka) after the chaos that follows the end of the previous Manvantara, appointing demigods, repopulating the planets, and so on. In the process, they also assume the function of rulers of Bhu-Mandala, producing descendants and starting a dynasty of kings.
As soon as a qualified son appears, they transmit to him the political leadership. In this way, Svāyambhuva Manu transmitted the rule of Bhu-Mandala to Uttānapāda, who transmitted it to Dhruva and so on, as described in the Third Canto of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.
At the same time, Manu remains the universal patriarch and maintainer of religious principles, as well as an overseer of the universal affairs. When some delicate matter appears, as in the case of the breakage in the line of Dhruva Maharaja after the Pracetas, Manu intervenes to restore the universal order.
An example that can be given to describe these different levels of rulership is that sometimes the owner of a restaurant may personally work in the kitchen for some time while establishing the business, training the employees, and establishing the standards, and later give up this function when a qualified chef is found to focus on other aspects of the business. He continues to be responsible for the kitchen in a sense, but now as an overseer.
As mentioned, apart from the rule of the Manus over Bhu-Mandala, there are many other departmental heads in the universe. Each planet has its governor and predominant deity. Some Manus or descendants, however, may be so qualified that they may be accepted as rulers of the whole universe, with all the rulers of different planets accepting their authority, just like smaller kings accepting the rule of the emperor. In this case, it doesn’t mean Manu micromanages the affairs of each individual planet, but just that he gains authority over all these different rulers of different planets across the universe, who then follow the directives established by him.
As Prabhupāda explains, the words “akhila-dharā-maṇḍala” in text 22 indicate that Svāyambhuva Manu was one of such cases, being accepted as the ruler of the entire universe, and passing the responsibility to Priyavrata.
Nowadays, we see that politicians try to hold to their posts until the end of life, without considering what awaits them, but the Manus and other saintly kings are not like that. They would rule as a matter of duty and pass the responsibility as soon as qualified descendants would be available. Their ultimate goal is self-realization, and not political power. Svāyambhuva Manu was not at all inclined to accept again the post of king of Bhu-Mandala, which involves performing so many material activities, but by the arrangement of the Lord, he was relieved by Priyavrata, who was in turn empowered to perform the function without becoming entangled.
In this sense, we can understand the description of Śukadeva Goswami that describes Svāyambhuva Manu eagerly passing the government of the universe to Priyavrata, like an undesirable thing:
“Svāyambhuva Manu, with the assistance of Lord Brahmā, thus fulfilled his desires. With the permission of the great sage Nārada, he delivered to his son the governmental responsibility for maintaining and protecting all the planets of the universe. He thus achieved relief from the most dangerous, poisonous ocean of material desires.
Following the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Mahārāja Priyavrata fully engaged in worldly affairs, yet he always thought of the lotus feet of the Lord, which are the cause of liberation from all material attachment. Although Priyavrata Mahārāja was completely freed from all material contamination, he ruled the material world just to honor the orders of his superiors.” (SB 5.1.22-23)
In his purport, Prabhupāda compares the situation of Priyavrata with Arjuna, who also didn’t want to fight in the battle of Kurukṣetra for his personal gain, but fought with all his might for the satisfaction of Krsna. Mundane persons may sometimes act out of attachment or avoid it out of aversion, but a pure devotee acts with even more energy for the satisfaction of Krsna, regardless of any personal consideration.
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