Manvantara is a Sanskrit word literally meaning the duration of the life span of a Manu.

Each Manvantara is created and ruled by a specific Manu, who in turn is generated by Lord Brahma.

There are many Brahmas, one for each of the billions of universes. Ours is called Bhu-Mandala.

Out of the many billions of Brahmas, ours has four heads and others have 10 or 100 or 1000 or 10,000 or even 10 million heads, depending on the size of their material Universe.

Fourteen Manus constitute one Kalpa, or a day of Brahma. Another Kalpa of the same duration constitutes one night. Therefore, there are two Kalpas in a 24-hour day of Brahma, one for daytime, one for nighttime.

Thereafter, at the end of Brahma’s daytime, from sunrise to sunset, there is a period of dissolution or Pralaya, wherein the world^[1]  is destroyed and lies in a state of rest, which is called Brahma Ratri, the night of Brahma^[2].

This happens between sunset and sunrise within Brahma’s 24 hour day.

Also all Maha yugas only exist between sunrise and sunset; there are no Maha yugas during Brahma’s 12 hour night.

Comparison to the Age of the Universe from Modern Astronomy

Modern scientific astronomy estimates the Age of the Universe as around 13 billion years (13 x 109 years).

Conversion of 1 day-night of Brahma into human years yields 8.58816

* 109 years (derived as 2 kalpas)

* 14 Manvantaras

* 71 Chaturyugas

* 12,000 Deva vatsaras

* 360 human years).

According to Vedas, there are 504,000 Manus manifested during the lifetime of one Brahma (311,040,000,000,000 human Earthly years), 5,040 Manus in one year of Brahma, and 420 Manus in one month of Brahma.

Manus of the Sveta Varaha Kalpa

The period we are living is called Sveta Varaha Kalpa because the Boar incarnation of Visnu that has a white complexion appeared at the beginning of this age.

The names of the fourteen Manus:

Below are the names of the fourteen Manu followed by the Manvantara-avatara name:

• Svayambhuva Manu, Yajna
• Svarocisha Manu, Vibhu
• Uttama Manu, Satyasena
• Tapasa Manu, Hari
• Raivata Manu, Vaikuntha
• Cakshusha Manu, Ajita
• Vaivasvata Manu, (current) Vamana
• Savarni Manu, Sarvabhauma
• Daksha-savarni Manu, Rishabha
• Brahma-savarni Manu, Vishvaksena
• Dharma-savarni Manu, Dharmasetu
• Rudra-savarni Manu, Sudama
• Deva-savarni Manu, Yogesvara
• Indra-savarni Manu, Brihadbhanu

Some information about the Manu

First Manvantara, Svayambhuva Manu

Saptarshis: Marichi, Atri, Angiras, Pulaha, Kratu, Pulastya, and Vasistha.

In the Svayambhuva Manvantara, the Avatar is named Yajna.

His two daughters, namely Akuti and Devahuti, gave birth to two sons, named Yajna and Kapila respectively.

Svayambhuva Manu, along with his wife, Satarupa, went into the forest to practice austerities on the bank of the River Sunanda.

At some point in time, Rakshasas and Asuras attacked them, but Yajna, accompanied by his sons the Yamas and the demigods, killed them. Then Yajna personally took the post of Indra, the King of the heavenly planets.

Second Manvantara, Svarochisha Manu

The Sapta Rishi were Urjastambha, Agni, Prana, Danti, Rishabha, Nischara, and Charvarivan. In the Svarocisha-manvantara, the avatara is named Vibhu.

He was the son of Agni, and His sons were headed by Dyumat, Sushena and Rochishmat. In the age of this Manu, Rochana became Indra, the ruler of the heavenly planets, and there were many demigods, headed by Tushita.

There were also many saintly persons, such as Urjastambha. Among them was Vedasira, whose wife, Tushita, gave birth to Vibhu. Vibhu instructed eighty-eight thousand dridha-vratas, or saintly persons, on self-control and austerity.

Third Manvantara, Uttama Manu

The Sapta Rishi were the sons of Vasistha, namely Kaukundihi, Kurundi, Dalaya, Sankha, Pravahita, Mita, and Sammita. In the Uttama-manvantara the avatara is named Satyasena.

Uttama was the son of Priyavrata. Among his sons were Pavana, Srinjaya and Yajnahotra. During the reign of this Manu, the sons of Vashista, headed by Pramada, became the seven saintly persons.

The Satyas, Devasrutas and Bhadras became the demigods, and Sushanti became Indra. From the womb of Sunrita, the wife of Dharma, the Lord appeared as Satyasena, and He killed all the Yakshas and Rakshasas who were fighting with Satyajit.

[1] A partial destruction, not the entire universe itself

[2] Brahma Ratri or Brahma Ratra

In the supplementary Vedic literature, there is the following list of thirty-two offenses in the matter of serving the Lord:

(1) One should not enter the temple of the Deity in a car or palanquin or with shoes on the feet.

(2) One should not fail to observe the various festivals for the pleasure of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, such as Janmastami and Ratha-yatra.

(3) One should not avoid bowing down before the Deity.

(4) One should not enter the temple to worship the Lord without having washed one’s hands and feet after eating.

(5) One should not enter the temple in a contaminated state. (According to Vedic scripture, if someone dies in the family the whole family becomes contaminated for some time, according to its status. For example, if the family is brahmana their contamination period is twelve days, for the ksatriyas and vaisyas it is fifteen days, and for sudras thirty days.)

(6) One should not bow down on one hand.

(7) One should not circumambulate in front of Sri Krishna. (The process of circumambulating the temple is that one should begin circumambulating from the Deity’s right-hand side of the temple and come round. Such circumambulation should be performed outside the temple structure at least three times daily.)

(8) One should not spread his legs before the Deity.

(9) One should not sit before the Deity holding the ankles, elbows or knees with one’s hands.

(10) One should not lie down before the Deity of Krishna.

(11) One should not accept prasadam before the Deity.

(12) One should never speak a lie before the Deity.

(13) One should not talk very loudly before the Deity.

(14) One should not talk with others before the Deity.

(15) One should not cry or howl before the Deity.

(16) One should not quarrel or fight before the Deity.

(17) One should not chastise anyone before the Deity.

(18) One should not be charitable to beggars before the Deity.

(19) One should not speak very harshly to others before the Deity.

(20) One should not wear a fur blanket before the Deity.

(21) One should not eulogize or praise anyone else before the Deity.

(22) One should not speak any ill names before the Deity.

(23) One should not pass air before the Deity.

(24) One should not fail to worship the Deity according to one’s means. (In Bhagavad-gita it is stated that the Lord is satisfied if some devotee offers Him even a leaf or a little water. This formula prescribed by the Lord is universally applicable, even for the poorest man. But that does not mean that one who has sufficient means to worship the Lord very nicely should also adopt this method and try to satisfy the Lord simply by offering water and a leaf. If he has sufficient means, he should offer nice decorations, nice flowers and nice foodstuffs, and observe all ceremonies. It is not that one should try to satisfy the Supreme Lord with a little water and a leaf, and for himself spend all his money in sense gratification.)

(25) One should not eat anything that is not offered first to Krishna.

(26) One should not fail to offer fresh fruit and grains to Krishna according to the season.

(27) After food has been cooked, no one should be offered any foodstuff unless it is first offered to the Deity.

(28) One should not sit with his back toward the Deity.

(29) One should not offer obeisances silently to the spiritual master, or in other words, one should recite aloud the prayers to the spiritual master while offering obeisances.

(30) One should not fail to offer some praise in the presence of the spiritual master.

(31) One should not praise himself before the spiritual master.

(32) One should not deride the demigods before the Deity.

This is the list of thirty-two offenses.

Besides these there are a number of offenses which are mentioned in the Varaha Purana. They are as follows:

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