Manu’s family, the Pandyas, had ruled that land for many generations. However, from the
records left by Lord Manu, we know that by his time the kings had lost their old code of honour.
Having fallen on corrupt ways, they spent their days in the pleasures of their fabulous wealth
rather than being focused on their duties and their spiritual life. Then a terrible calamity
occurred. The seas rose and destroyed their entire civilisation.’
‘My God!’ exclaimed Shiva.
‘Lord Manu knew that this day would come and had in fact prepared for it. He believed it
was the decadence his old country had fallen into that had incurred the wrath of the gods.
Wanting to escape the calamity, he led a band of his followers to the northern, higher lands in a
fleet of ships. He established his first camp at a place called Mehragarh deep in the western
mountains of present day Meluha. Wanting to establish a moral and just society, he gave up his
princely robes and became a priest. In fact the term for priests in India, pandit, is a derivation
of Lord Manu’s family name — Pandya.’
‘Interesting. So how did Lord Manu’s litde band grow into the formidable India we see
today?’
‘The years immediately following their arrival at Mehragarh were harsh on them. With each
year ’s monsoon, the flooding and sea tides would become stronger. But after many years and
with the force of Lord Manu’s prayers, the anger of the gods abated and the waters stopped
advancing. The sea, however, never receded to its original levels.’
‘This means that somewhere in the deep south, the sea still covers the ancient Sangamtamil
cities?’
‘We believe so,’ answered Brahaspati. ‘Once the sea stopped advancing, Lord Manu and his
men came down the mountains. They were shocked to see that the minor stream of Indus had
become a massive river. Many other rivulets across northern India too had swollen and six
great rivers had emerged — Indus, Saraswati, Yamuna, Ganga, Sarayu and Brahmaputra.
Lord Manu said the rivers started flowing because the temperatures of our land rose with the
wrath of the gods. With the rise in temperatures, huge channels of ice or glaciers frozen high in
the Himalayas had started melting, creating the rivers.’
‘Hmm...’
‘Villages, and later cities, grew on the banks of these rivers. Thus our land of the seven
rivers, Sapt-Sindhu, was born out of the destruction of the Sangamtamil.’
‘Seven? But you mentioned the creation of six rivers in North India.’
‘Yes, that’s true. The seventh river already existed. It is the Narmada and it became our
southern border. Lord Manu strictly forbade his descendants to go south of the Narmada. And
if they did so, they could never return. This is a law that we believe even the Chandravanshis
adhere to.’
‘So what are Lord Manu’s other laws?’
‘There are numerous laws actually. They are all listed in an extensive treatise called the
Manusmriti. Would you be interested in listening to the entire text?’
‘Tempting,’ smiled Shiva. ‘But I think I’ll pass.’
‘With your permission, my Lords, perhaps we can further discuss Lord Manu’s guidance of
our society over lunch,’ suggested Krittika.
singke
(singke)
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