Manu
Manu (devanāgarī: मनु) is the Sanskrit title given in Hinduism to the progenitor of mankind, who is said to have been the very first king to rule this earth. During a Kalpa 14 Manus are said to appear, one after the other, who manifest and regulate this world. Each Manu’s life (Manvantara) consists of 71 Mahayugas.
In Theosophy
H. P. Blavatsky wrote:
Manu (Sk.). The great Indian legislator. The name comes from the Sanskrit root man “to think”—mankind really, but stands for Swâyambhuva, the first of the Manus, who started from Swâyambhu, “the self-existent” hence the Logos, and the progenitor of mankind. Manu is the first Legislator, almost a Divine Being.[1]
Root and Seed Manus
In Theosophical literature, a Kalpa is said to be the time employed for the development of seven Rounds in a given Planetary Chain. During this cycle 14 Manus are said to appear. This number is explained by Mme. Blavatsky by pointing out that there are two "Manus" in each round: the Root Manu at its beginning, and the Seed Manu at its end:
Those who know that there are seven Rounds, of which we have passed three, and are now in the fourth; and who are taught that there are seven dawns and seven twilights or fourteen Manvantaras; that at the beginning of every Round and at the end . . . there is “an awakening to illusive life,” and “an awakening to real life,” and that, moreover, there are “root-Manus” and what we have to clumsily translate as “the seed-Manus”—the seeds for the human races of the forthcoming Round (a mystery divulged, but to those who have passed their third degree in initiation); those who have learned all that, will be better prepared to understand the meaning of the following. . . . There is a root-Manu at globe A and a seed-Manu at globe G.[2]
Notes
Further reading
- Manu at Theosopedia