Verse 1.36

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

एते मनूंस्तु सप्तान् यानसृजन् भूरितेजसः ।
देवान् देवनिकायांश्च महर्षींश्चामितोजसः ॥ ३६ ॥

ete manūṃstu saptān yānasṛjan bhūritejasaḥ |
devān devanikāyāṃśca maharṣīṃścāmitojasaḥ || 36 ||

These mighty (Sages) called into being the seven Manus, gods and gods’ habitations, as also Great Sages,—all possessed of illimitable power.—(36)

 

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

The aforesaid Great Sages. ‘called into being the seven Manus’; ‘Manu’ is the name of the office; that person is called ‘Manu’ who, during a particular ‘Manvantara’ (Cycle), controls the creating and maintaining of all created things, in the manner described.

‘Bkūritejasaḥ,’ ‘mighty,’ and ‘amitaujasaḥ,’ ‘possessing illimitable power,’—both terms mean the same thing; the former with the nominative ending qualifies the creators, and the latter, with the accusative ending, qualifies those created, Manus and the rest.

Question:—“But the gods were created by Brahmā himself (as already described in Verse 22).”

Answer:—True; but not all of them; there are endless kinds of gods.

‘Gods’ habitations’—The abode of the gods, such as the Celestial Region, the ‘Region of Brahman,’ and so forth.—(36)

 

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

‘Manūn’—The name ‘Manu’ here stand for that Being whose function it is to create all creatures and to maintain the entire world during a manvantara, and apparently belongs to the office. Some Mss. read ‘munīn’.

‘Devanikāyān—‘Classes of gods’ (according to Nandana and Nārāyaṇa);—‘abodes of gods’ (Medhātithi, Kullūka and Rāghavānanda); the last of these suggests also the meaning ‘servants of the gods’.