substance of the universe itself, and hence yields
power when recited.
See also GAYATRI MANTRA.
Further reading: Harvey P. Alper, Mantra (Albany:
State University of New York Press, 1989); Guy Beck,
Sonic Theology: Hinduism and Sacred Sound (Columbia:
University of South Carolina Press, 1993); Sharon
Brown, Om Namah Shivaya: A Mantra Experience
(Ganeshpuri: Shree Gurudev Ashram, 1977); Harold
G. Coware and David J. Goa, Mantra: Hearing the
Divine in India and America (New York: Columbia Uni-
versity Press, 2004); Jan Gonda, “The Indian Mantra,”
in Selected Studies: History of Ancient Indian Religion
(Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1975), 4:248; Andre Padoux, Vâc:
The Concept of the Word in Selected Hindu Tantras.
Translated by Jacques Gontier (Albany: State Univer-
sity of New York Press, 1990); A. C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada, Chant and Be Happy—the Story of
the Hare Krishna Mantra (Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta
Book Trust, 1982); Ravi Shankar, Chants of India
(sound recording) (New York: Angel Records, 1997);
Swami Sivananda, Japa Yoga: A Comprehensive Treatise
on Mantra-Shastra (Sivanandanagar: Divine Life Soci-
ety, 1967).
Manu
Manu is the name of the first man in each of the
designated ages or MANVANTARAS in Indian tradi-
tion, a progenitor somewhat akin to the West-
ern biblical Adam. There have been an infinite
number of ages in the past, as there will be in
the future. Therefore the Manus are infinite in
number.
According to TIME calculations in Hindu tra-
ditions, there are 14 MANVANTARAS in each eon
or KALPA, which constitutes a day in the life of
BRAHMA or 4,320,000,000 years. The first Manu
of our kalpa was Svayambhuva Manu, who Indian
tradition says composed the LAW S OF MANU,
the famous text on social law. In all there have
already been seven Manus in the current kalpa,
each one leading off his designated age, includ-
ing the Manu who began the age we live in today,
who is known as Vaivasvata. There will be seven
more Manus in the remaining ages until our kalpa
is ended.Further reading: Cornelia Dimmitt and J. A. B. van
Buitenen. Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the
Sanskrit Puranas (Philadelphia: Temple University
Press, 1978); W. J. Wilkins, Hindu Mythology, Vedic and
Puranic, 2d ed. (Calcutta: Rupa, 1973)manvantara
A manvantara is one of the divisions of time in
Hindu tradition, made up of 71 YUGAS. Fourteen
manvantaras make up one KALPA, which consti-
tutes one day in the life of the god Brahma or
4,320,000,000 years. Each manvantara has its
associated MANU, or human progenitor. Each
manvantara also has seven RISHIS (saints/seers),
certain deities, and its own INDRA (king of the
gods).Further reading: Cornelia Dimmitt and J. A. B. van
Buitenen, Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the
Sanskrit Puranas (Philadelphia: Temple University
Press, 1978); W. J. Wilkins, Hindu Mythology, Vedic and
Puranic, 2d ed. (Calcutta: Rupa, 1973).Mariyamman
Mariyamman is the smallpox GODDESS of Tamil
Nadu. She compares to SHITALA in other regions
of India. Every village in Tamil Nadu has a
temple to Mariyamman. It was understood that
smallpox was both caused and cured by this
goddess.
There were those who understood the disease
to be in some way a blessing of the goddess upon
them, with the white pustules seen as auspicious
markings. However, the worship of Mariyamman
was almost always intended to ward off the dis-
ease or to alleviate its effects. Because smallpox
has been eliminated, Mariyamman is propitiatedK 278 Manu