DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.638#0213
DIVINITIES OF THE EPIC PERIOD 141
"Know thou, O worshipful one, my protector, that the dis-
solution of the Universe is at hand. The time is ripe for purging
the world. I will therefore advise thee what thou shouldst do,
so that it may be well with thee. Build a strong and massive ark,
and furnish it with a long rope; thou wilt ascend in it with the
seven Rishis (the Celestial Rishis), and take with thee all the differ-
ent seeds enumerated by Brahmans in days of yore, and preserve
them carefully. Wait for me and I will appear as a horned animal.
Act according to my instructions, for without mine aid thou canst
not save thyself from the terrible deluge."
Manu gathered together all the different seeds and " set
sail in an excellent vessel on the surging sea". He thought
of the fish, and it arose out of the waters like an island;
he cast a noose which he fastened to the horns on its head,
and the fish towed the ark over the roaring sea; tossed
by the billows the vessel reeled about like one who is drunk.
No land was in sight. "There was water everywhere,
and the waters covered the heaven and the firmament
also. ... When the world was thus flooded none but
Manu, the seven Rishis, and the fish could be seen."
After many long years the vessel was towed to the
highest peak of the Himavat, which is still called Nau-
bandhana (the harbour), and it was made fast there. The
fish then spoke and said: " I am Brahma, the Lord of all
Creatures; there is none greater than me. I have saved
thee from this cataclysm. Manu will create again all
beings—gods, Asuras, and men, and all those divisions
of creation which have the power of locomotion and
which have it not. By practising severe austerities he
will acquire this power. . . ."
Then Manu set about creating all beings in proper
and exact order.1
Markandeya elsewhere described the universal cata-
Condensed from Vana Parva section of Mahabharata, sec. clxxxvii, Roy's trans.
"Know thou, O worshipful one, my protector, that the dis-
solution of the Universe is at hand. The time is ripe for purging
the world. I will therefore advise thee what thou shouldst do,
so that it may be well with thee. Build a strong and massive ark,
and furnish it with a long rope; thou wilt ascend in it with the
seven Rishis (the Celestial Rishis), and take with thee all the differ-
ent seeds enumerated by Brahmans in days of yore, and preserve
them carefully. Wait for me and I will appear as a horned animal.
Act according to my instructions, for without mine aid thou canst
not save thyself from the terrible deluge."
Manu gathered together all the different seeds and " set
sail in an excellent vessel on the surging sea". He thought
of the fish, and it arose out of the waters like an island;
he cast a noose which he fastened to the horns on its head,
and the fish towed the ark over the roaring sea; tossed
by the billows the vessel reeled about like one who is drunk.
No land was in sight. "There was water everywhere,
and the waters covered the heaven and the firmament
also. ... When the world was thus flooded none but
Manu, the seven Rishis, and the fish could be seen."
After many long years the vessel was towed to the
highest peak of the Himavat, which is still called Nau-
bandhana (the harbour), and it was made fast there. The
fish then spoke and said: " I am Brahma, the Lord of all
Creatures; there is none greater than me. I have saved
thee from this cataclysm. Manu will create again all
beings—gods, Asuras, and men, and all those divisions
of creation which have the power of locomotion and
which have it not. By practising severe austerities he
will acquire this power. . . ."
Then Manu set about creating all beings in proper
and exact order.1
Markandeya elsewhere described the universal cata-
Condensed from Vana Parva section of Mahabharata, sec. clxxxvii, Roy's trans.