---
type: Concept
bundle: cosmology-creation
bundle_version: "0.7.0"
id: manvantara
title: "Manvantara — मन्वन्तर"
iast: "Manvantara"
devanagari: "मन्वन्तर"
description: "The cosmic epoch of a Manu (progenitor-archetype), comprising 71 Mahāyugas (~306.7 million years); 14 Manvantaras constitute one Kalpa; each has its own Manu, Indra, saptarṣis, and Viṣṇu-Avatāra; the current epoch is the 7th Manvantara (Vaivasvata), whose Manu is the source of the present human lineage."
darshana:
  - Purāṇic
school_scope: "Pan-Purāṇic; lists of 14 Manus with their associated deities vary slightly between Purāṇas but the structural framework is consistent"
text_source: "BhP 8.1-24 (all 14 Manvantaras); Viṣṇu Purāṇa 3.1-2; Manu-Smṛti 1.61-63"
tags: [cosmology, time, manvantara, manu, kalpa, puranic]
not:
  - term: "prehistoric man / evolutionary era"
    why: "Manvantara is a cosmic-time unit, not an archaeological or evolutionary period. Manu is a cosmic progenitor-archetype (like an operating system instance for each epoch), not a historical ancestor in the modern evolutionary sense. Conflating Manu with prehistoric human ancestors imposes modern categories onto a cosmological framework."
    instead: "Translate as 'epoch of the Manu' or 'Manvantara'; specify which Manu (e.g., 'Vaivasvata Manvantara, the current seventh epoch')."
  - term: "one Kalpa"
    why: "14 Manvantaras = one Kalpa. A single Manvantara is 1/14 of a Kalpa (approximately 71 Mahāyugas). They are nested, not equivalent."
  - term: "Manu-Smṛti's Manu = the cosmic Manu"
    why: "The Manu-Smṛti (Manu's law-code) presents its teachings as from Svāyambhuva Manu (the first), but the text is a Dharmaśāstra composed in the 2nd century BCE to 3rd century CE. The cosmological Manus (progenitors of each Manvantara) and the jurisprudential Manu are the same mythological figure but the texts attributed to them are distinct compositions."
related:
  - /concepts/kalpa.md
  - /concepts/mahayuga.md
  - /concepts/brahma-the-creator.md
  - /concepts/avatara.md
timestamp: "2026-07-01"
okf_version: "0.2"
license: "CC BY-SA 4.0"
---

# Manvantara — मन्वन्तर

**Not:** prehistoric epoch, evolutionary era, equivalent to a Kalpa

## What a Manvantara Is

Manvantara = "Manu's interval" (Manu + antara). Each Manvantara is a complete cosmic epoch governed by its own:
- **Manu**: the progenitor-archetype of beings in that epoch; the cosmological "parent" of humanity during that period
- **Indra**: the king of the gods for that epoch (a role, not a fixed person)
- **Saptarṣis**: seven sages who maintain Vedic knowledge through the epoch
- **Viṣṇu-Avatāra**: a specific manifestation of Viṣṇu appropriate to that epoch's needs

Each epoch runs for 71 Mahāyugas (approximately 306,720,000 human years). The 14 Manvantaras within a Kalpa are separated by junctions (Manvantara Sandhyās), each equal to one Satya Yuga (1.728 million years), during which the three worlds are briefly flooded and renewed.

## The 14 Manus (Vaivasvata Kalpa)

| # | Manu | Associated Avatāra |
|---|------|--------------------|
| 1 | Svāyambhuva | Matsya (in some accounts) |
| 2 | Svārociṣa | — |
| 3 | Uttama | — |
| 4 | Tāmasa | — |
| 5 | Raivata | — |
| 6 | Cākṣuṣa | — |
| **7** | **Vaivasvata** (current) | **Vāmana, Rāma, Kṛṣṇa** |
| 8 | Sāvarṇi | Sāvarṇi-Śambhu Avatāra (prophesied) |
| 9-14 | Various | Prophesied |

The current Manvantara is the 7th: Vaivasvata Manu's epoch.

## Vaivasvata Manu: the Current Progenitor

Vaivasvata Manu is the "progenitor" of the current human lineage in the cosmological sense — not a biological ancestor but the archetypal pattern for humanity in this Manvantara. The Viṣṇu-Purāṇa's Matsya Avatāra story (Viṣṇu as a fish warning Manu of the cosmic flood and saving the Vedas) occurs in the transition to the Vaivasvata Manvantara and establishes Vaivasvata Manu as the re-founder of this epoch's humanity.

The parallel with Noah's ark and similar flood narratives in other cultures is striking and has been extensively noted; the cosmological framework — a progenitor, a flood, the preservation of sacred knowledge — is common to many traditions while the specific cosmological architecture differs.

## Audience Metaphor

Each Manvantara is like a new software instance on the same cosmic operating system. The OS (the Kalpa) remains; the running instance (the Manu, the saptarṣis, the Indra) is refreshed at each Manvantara boundary. Files from the previous instance do not automatically carry over; the saptarṣis preserve the Vedas as the "seed data" that initializes each new epoch.

## Citations

1. Bhāgavata Purāṇa 8.1-24 — comprehensive treatment of all 14 Manvantaras; the most complete Purāṇic account
2. Viṣṇu Purāṇa 3.1-2 — Manvantara structure and Manu lists; see references/vishnu-purana.md
3. Manu-Smṛti 1.61-63 — Manu as progenitor and the time-scale framework; see references/manusmriti.md
4. Matsya Purāṇa — detailed Manvantara tables; see references/matsya-purana.md
