Story of Cākṣuṣa-manu

General.

The sixth of the fourteen Manus. (See Manvantara).

Genealogy.

Uttānapāda and Priyavrata were the sons of Svāyambhuvamanu, and Dhruva was Uttānapāda’s son. Dhruva had two sons, Śiṣṭi, and Bhavya by his wife Śambhu. Suchāyā, wife of Śiṣṭi, had five sons, viz., Ripu, Ripuñjaya, Vipra, Vṛkala and Vṛkatejas. From Bṛhatī, wife of Ripu, was born Cākṣuṣa, the mighty and Cākṣuṣa begot a son called Manu by Puṣkaraṇī, daughter of Vīraṇaprajāpati and one of the offsprings of Varuṇa. This Manu was called Cākṣuṣa Manu. And Cākṣuṣa Manu had ten sons by his wife Nadvalā, daughter of Vairājaprajāpati, called Kuru, Puru, Śatadyumna, Tapasvī, Satyavān, Śuci, Agniṣṭoma, Atirātra, Sudyumna and Abhimanyu. Out of the ten, Puru had the following sons by Āgneyī, viz. Aṅga, Sumanas, Khyāti, Kratu, Aṅgiras and Śibi. Aṅga married Sunīthā, and Vena was their son. The famous emperor, Pṛthu was Vena’s son.

Former life.

The following story is told in the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa about the former life of Cākṣuṣa before he was born as Cākṣuṣa. In that former life he was Ānanda, son of Anamitra. Once a cat carried Ānanda away and laid him on the bed of the child of King Vikrānta, and the same cat deposited the king’s child somewhere else. And, Ānanda grew up as the real son of the King. But, one day he told the King the truth about him and left for the forest for tapas. Brahmā appeared before him and blessed that he would, in the next birth, be born as the sixth Manu and thus Cākṣuṣa became the sixth Manu.

Chief incidents during his time.

During Cākṣuṣamanvantara were born the famous Nara and Nārāyaṇa as the sons of Dharma. It was also during this period that Brahmā was born as Candra, Viṣṇu as Dattātreya and Śiva as Durvāsas from Anasūyā, the purest of women and the wife of Atri. (Devī Bhāgavata, Caturtha Skandha).