All Topics  
Matsya Purana

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Matsya Purana
 
 
  Topics Matsya Purana Topic Home

The Matsya Purana is the first and the oldest of all the Puranas
Puranas

The Puranas are a group of important Hindu religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the Universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of the kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography....
 and Hindu scriptures and texts. It is primarily the story of the first Avatar
Avatar

Avatar or Avatara , often translated into English as incarnation, literally means descent and usually implies a deliberate descent from higher spiritual realms to lower realms of existence for special purposes....
 of Lord Vishnu, in the form of a fish or Matsya
Matsya

Matsya was the first Avatar of Vishnu in Hindu mythology.According to the Matsya Purana, the king of pre-ancient Dravida and a devotee of Lord Vishnu, Satyavrata who later becomes known as Manu was washing his hands in a river when a little fish swam into his hands and pleaded with him to save its life....
. The Arya
Arya

Arya is an ethnic epithet in the Achaemenid inscriptions and in the Zoroastrian Avestan tradition.Outside the Iranian world there is also evidence of non-single term "arya-"....
 way of life, most likened to the Hindu way of life in present times is supposed to have begun after this epoch.

The story is set in pre-ancient Dravida, where the central characters are Lord Matsya and the then Emperor of Dravida called Satyavrata who is later known as Manu
Manu

Manu may refer to:...
, the "Father of all Aryaas." The timeline is rather bizarre as it is assigned a staggering two billion years and more.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Matsya Purana'
Start a new discussion about 'Matsya Purana'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


The Matsya Purana is the first and the oldest of all the Puranas
Puranas

The Puranas are a group of important Hindu religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the Universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of the kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography....
 and Hindu scriptures and texts. It is primarily the story of the first Avatar
Avatar

Avatar or Avatara , often translated into English as incarnation, literally means descent and usually implies a deliberate descent from higher spiritual realms to lower realms of existence for special purposes....
 of Lord Vishnu, in the form of a fish or Matsya
Matsya

Matsya was the first Avatar of Vishnu in Hindu mythology.According to the Matsya Purana, the king of pre-ancient Dravida and a devotee of Lord Vishnu, Satyavrata who later becomes known as Manu was washing his hands in a river when a little fish swam into his hands and pleaded with him to save its life....
. The Arya
Arya

Arya is an ethnic epithet in the Achaemenid inscriptions and in the Zoroastrian Avestan tradition.Outside the Iranian world there is also evidence of non-single term "arya-"....
 way of life, most likened to the Hindu way of life in present times is supposed to have begun after this epoch.

The story is set in pre-ancient Dravida, where the central characters are Lord Matsya and the then Emperor of Dravida called Satyavrata who is later known as Manu
Manu

Manu may refer to:...
, the "Father of all Aryaas." The timeline is rather bizarre as it is assigned a staggering two billion years and more. The most important part of the story begins when Lord Vishnu incarnates as Lord Matsya
Matsya

Matsya was the first Avatar of Vishnu in Hindu mythology.According to the Matsya Purana, the king of pre-ancient Dravida and a devotee of Lord Vishnu, Satyavrata who later becomes known as Manu was washing his hands in a river when a little fish swam into his hands and pleaded with him to save its life....
 just before a deluge to King Satyavrata, when he is in penance at the foot of the Malaya Mountains
Malaya Mountains

Malaya Mountains were a range of mountain ranges that were mentioned in the Matsya Purana, the Kurma Purana, and the epics of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata....
 in his native Dravida, after which his ship is perched on top of the same Malaya Mountains
Malaya Mountains

Malaya Mountains were a range of mountain ranges that were mentioned in the Matsya Purana, the Kurma Purana, and the epics of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata....
.

The Purana describes the life of Satyavrata or Manu
Manu

Manu may refer to:...
 who is also the son of the Sun God, Surya
Surya

In Hinduism, Surya is the chief solar deity, one of the Adityas, son of Kasyapa and one of his wives Aditi, of Indra, or of Dyaus Pitar . The term "Surya" also refers to the Sun, in general....
. However, its main content is the description of the deluge that follows and the manner in which Lord Matsya directs Manu
Manu

Manu may refer to:...
, his family and a handful of others to safety, and then reveals the Vedas
Vedas

The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in History of India. They form the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest Hindu scripture of Hinduism....
 to him, and the norms of the new Arya
Arya

Arya is an ethnic epithet in the Achaemenid inscriptions and in the Zoroastrian Avestan tradition.Outside the Iranian world there is also evidence of non-single term "arya-"....
 or Vedic
Historical Vedic religion

The religion of the Vedic period is the historical predecessor of Hinduism. Its liturgy is reflected in the Mantra portion of the four Vedas, which are compiled in Sanskrit....
 way of life.

Further reading


  • Mani, Vettam. Puranic Encyclopedia. 1st English ed. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1975.


External links