MANDA-KARNI A sage who dwelt in the Dandaka forest, and is said in the Ramayana to have formed a lake, which was known by his name. His austerities alarmed the gods, and Indra sent five Apsarases to beguile him from his penance of “standing in a pool and feeding on nothing but air for 10,000 years.” They succeeded, and became his wives, and inhabited a house concealed in the lake, which, from them, was called Panchapsaras.

MANDAKINI The heavenly Ganges. The Ganges. An arm of the Ganges, which flows through Kedara-natha. A river near the mountain Chitra-kuta (q.v.) in Bundelkhand. It was near the abode of Rama and Sita, and is mentioned both in the Ramayana and Maha-bharata. It would seem to be the modern Pisuni.

MANDALA ‘A circle, orb.’ A circuit or territorial division, as Chola-mandala, i.e., Coromandel. According to one arrangement, the Sanhita of the Rig-veda is divided into ten Mandalas.

MANDALA-NRITYA A circular dance. The dance of the Gopis round Krishna and Radha.

MANDA-PALA A childless saint, who, according to the Maha-bharata, after long perseverance in devotion and asceticism, died and went to the abode of Yama. His desires being still unsatisfied, he inquired the cause, and was told that all his devotions had failed because he had no son, no putra (put, ‘hell,’ tra, ‘drawer’), to save him from hell. He then assumed the form of a species of bird called Sarngika, and by a female of that species, who was called Jarita, he had four sons.

MANDARA The great mountain, which the gods used for the churning of the ocean. It is supposed to be the mountain so named in Bhagalpur, which is held sacred. See Kurma-avatara, under Avatara.

MANDAVI Daughter of Kusa-dhwaja, cousin of Sita, and wife of Rama’s brother Bharata.

MANDEHAS A class of terrific Rakshasas, who were hostile to the sun and endeavored to devour him.

MANDHATRI  A king, son of Yuvanaswa, of the race of Ikshwaku, and author of a hymn in the Rig-veda. The Hari-vansa and some of the Puranas make Mandhatri to have been born in a natural way from his mother Gauri, but the Vishnu and Bhagavata Puranas tell an extraordinary story about his birth, which is probably based upon a forced derivation of his name. Yuvanaswa had no son, which grieved him much. Some holy sages near whom he lived instituted a religious rite to procure progeny for him. One night they placed a consecrated vessel of water upon an altar as part of their ceremony, and the water became endowed with prolific energy. Yuvanaswa woke up in the night thirsty, and finding the water, he drank it. So he conceived, and in due time a child came forth from his right side. The sages then asked who would suckle the child, whereupon Indra appeared, gave his finger for the child to suck, and said, “He shall suck me,” mam ayam dhasyati. These words were contracted, and the boy was named Mandhatri. When he grew up he had three sons and fifty daughters. An old sage named Saubhari came to Nandhatri and asked that one might be given him to wife. Unwilling to give one to so old and emaciated a man, but yet afraid to refuse, the king temporized, but at length yielded to the sage’s request that the matter might be left to the choice of the girls. Saubhari then assumed a handsome form, and there was such a contention for him that he had to marry the whole fifty, and he provided for them a row of crystal palaces in a most beautiful garden.

MANDODARI Ravana’s favourite wife and the mother of Indra-jit.

MANDUKEYA A teacher of the Rig-veda, who derived his knowledge from his father, Indra-pramati.

MANDUKYA Name of an Upanishad translated by Dr. Roer in the Bibliotheca Indica.

MANGALA The planet Mars, identified with Kartikeya, the god of war. He was son of Siva and the Earth, and as son of the Earth is called Angaraka, Bhauma, Bhumi-putra, Mahisuta. He is also called Siva-gharma-ja, ‘born of the sweat of Siva;’ Gaganolmuka, ‘the torch of the sky;’ Lohita, ‘the red;’ Navarchi,’ the nine-rayed;’ Chara, ‘the spy;’ Rinantaka, ‘ender of debts, patron of debtors.’ See Kartikeya.

MANI-BHADRA The chief of the Yakshas and guardian of travelers.

MANIMAT A Rakshasa slain by Bhima.

MANI-PURA A city of the seacoast of Kalinga, when Babhru-vahana, the son of Arjuna, dwelt. Wheeler identifies it with the modern Munnipur or Muncepore, east of Bengal; but this is very questionable.

MANMATHA A name of Kama, god of love.

MANTHARA An ugly deformed slave, nurse of Queen Kaikeyi, who stirred up her mistress’s jealousy against Rama chandra, and led her to persuade King Dasa-ratha to banish Rama from court. Satru-ghna beat her and threatened to kill her, but she was saved by his brother Bharata.

MANTRA That portion of the Veda, which consists of hymns, as distinct from the Brahmanas. See Veda.

MANU (From the root man, to think.) ‘The man.’ This name belongs to fourteen mythological progenitors of mankind and rulers of the earth, each of whom holds away for the period called a Manwantara (manu-antara), the age of a Manu, i.e., a period of no less than 4,320,000 years. The first of these Manus was Swayam-bhuva, who sprang from Swayam-bhu, the self-existent. The self-existent, as identified with Brahma the creator, divided him into two persons, male and female. From this pair was produced the male Viraj, and from him sprang the Manu Swayam-bhuva. As the acting creator, this Manu produced the ten Prajapatis or progenitors of mankind, called also Maharshis (maha-rishis). According to another account, this Manu sprang from the incestuous intercourse of Brahma with his daughter and wife, Sata-rupa. Brahma created himself Manu, “born of an identical with his original self, and the female portion of himself he constituted Sata-rupa,” whom Manu took to wife. The law-book commonly known as Manu is ascribed to this Manu, and so also is a Sutra work on ritual bearing the same name. The Manu of the present age is the seventh, named Vaivaswata, ‘sun-born,’ who was the son of Vivaswat, the sun, and he is a Kshatriya by race. He is also called Satya-vrata. There are various legends about his having been saved from a great flood by Vishnu or Brahma. The names of the fourteen Manus are – (1.) Swayam-bhuva, (2.) Swarochisha, (3.) Auttami, (4.) Tamasa, (5.) Raivata, (6.) Chakshusha, (7.) Vaivaswata or Satya-vrata, (8.) Savarna, (9.) Daksha-savarna, (10.) Brahma-savarna, (11.) Dharma-savarna, (12.) Savarna or Rudra-savarna, (13.) Rauchya, (14.) Bhautya.

        The sons of Manu Vaivaswata were – Ikshwaku, Nabhaga or Nriga, Dhrishta, Saryati, Narishyanta, Pransu, Nabhaganedishta or Nabhanedishta, Karusha, and Prishadhra. But there is some variety in the names.

        With the seventh Manu, Vaivaswata, is connected the very curious and interesting legend of the deluge. The first account of this is found in the Satapatha Brahmana, of which the following is a summary: - One morning, in the water, which was brought to Manu for washing his hands, he caught a fish which spoke, and said, “Take care of me and I will preserve thee.” Manu asked, “From what wilt thou preserve me?” The fish answered, “A flood will carry away all living beings; I will save thee from that.” The fish desired Manu to keep him alive in an earthen vessel, to remove him to a dyke as he grew larger, and eventually to the ocean, “so that he might be beyond the risk of destruction.” The fish grew rapidly, and again addressed Manu saying, “After so many years the deluge will take place; then construct a ship and pay me homage, and when the waters rise, go into the ship and I will rescue thee.” Manu did as he was desired, he built the ship, conveyed the fish to the ocean, and did him homage. The flood rose, and Manu fastened the cable of the ship to the fish’s horn. Thus he passed over the northern mountain (the Himalaya, as the commentator explains). The fish then desired Manu to fasten the ship to a tree, and to go down with the subsiding waters. He did so, and found that the flood had swept away all living creatures. He alone was left. Desirous of offspring, he offered sacrifice and engaged in devotion. A woman was produced, who came to Manu and declared herself his daughter. “With her he lived, worshipping and toiling in arduous religious rites, desirous of offspring. With her he begat the offspring which is the of spring of Manu.”

        The story, as told in the Maha-bharata, represents Manu as engaged in devotion by the side of a river, and the fish craving his protection from the bigger fish. Manu placed the fish in a glass vase, but it grew larger and larger till the ocean alone could contain it. Then it warned Manu of the coming flood, and directed him to build a ship and to embark with the seven Rishis. He did so, and fastened his ship to the horn of the fish. Then, according to the rendering of Professor Williams –

“Along the ocean in that stately ship was borne the lord of men, and through Its dancing, tumbling billows and its roaring waters; and he bark, Tossed to and fro by violent winds, reeled on the surface of the deep, Staggering and trembling like a drunken woman: land was seen no more, Nor far horizon, nor the space between; for everywhere around Spread the wild waste of waters, reeking atmosphere, and boundless sky. And now, when all the world was deluged, nought appeared above the waves. But Manu and the seven sages, and the fish that drew the bark. Unwearied thus for years on years that fish pulled on the ship across The heaped-up waters, till at length it bore the vessel to the peak Of Himavan; then, softly smiling, thus the fish addressed the sage:

‘Haste now to bind thy ship to this high crag. Know me, the lord of all, The great creator Brahma, mightier than all might, omnipotent. By me, in fish-like shape, have you been saved in dire emergency. From Manu all creation, gods, Asuras, men, must be produced; By him the world must be created, that which moves and moveth not.’”