Bhagavad Gita · Mahabharata Codex

Manu

मनु · manu

Son of the sun; father and first lawgiver of humankind

The Sanskrit word for 'human' means 'child of Manu'.

Manu Vaivasvata, son of Vivasvan, is the ancestor of the present human race. In the old story a small fish he had protected warned him of a flood and towed his boat to safety. Each great age of the world has its own Manu, fourteen in all, and the Gita speaks of 'the Manus' as born from Krishna's mind. He is the second link in the chain through which the yoga was handed down.