SRIMAD BHAGAVATAM: CANTO 8

The king said: 'O great sage, could you please describe to me the respective duties in which all these Manus and the others, in each manvantara are engaged and who appoints them?

Mahârâja Parîkshit inquired: O most opulent S'ukadeva Gosvâmî, please explain to me how Manu and the others in each manvantara are engaged in their respective duties, and by whose order they are so engaged. (Vedabase)

Text 2

The Manus and all their sons, the sages and, o King, the Indras and the godly no doubt all resort under the rule of the Original Person.

S'ukadeva Gosvâmî said: The Manus, the sons of Manu, the great sages, the Indras and all the demigods, o King, are appointed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His various incarnations such as Yajña. (Vedabase)

Text3:

The Manus and others in charge of the universal affairs are, o King, inspired by the Lord of Sacrifice Yajña and the other incarnations of the Supreme Personality that I have already discussed.

O King, I have already described to you various incarnations of the Lord, such as Yajña. The Manus and others are chosen by these incarnations, under whose direction they conduct the universal affairs. (Vedabase)

Text 4

When at the end of each mahâyuga the saints by dint of their austerity witness how gradually misuse has risen with the loss of [the respect for] the vedic instruction, is there for that purpose the sanâtana dharma [the customary vedic duties to age and vocation, see also 1.17: 24-25].

At the end of every four yugas, the great saintly persons, upon seeing that the eternal occupational duties of mankind have been misused, reestablish the principles of religion. (Vedabase)

Text 5

Therafter are the Manus to the instruction of the Lord engaged in directly reestablishing for the time of their existence in this world the dharma in the full sense of all its four regulative principles, o ruler of man [see also B.G. 4: 1].

Thereafter, O King, the Manus, being fully engaged according to the instructions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, directly reestablish the principles of occupational duty in its full four parts. (Vedabase)

Text 6

The demigods and the other divisions of enjoyers of the results of sacrifice are also engaged in that business; by them do the rulers in the world execute what was ordained till the end of his [Manu's] reign [see also B.G. 4: 2]

To enjoy the results of sacrifices [yajñas], the rulers of the world, namely the sons and grandsons of Manu, discharge the orders of the Supreme Personality of Godhead until the end of Manus reign. The demigods also share the results of these sacrifices. (Vedabase)

Text 7

Indra, the ruler of heaven, enjoys the great opulences of the three worlds given by the Supreme Lord and fathers all the places of them three by pouring out rain over the earth as much as is needed.

Indra, King of heaven, receiving benedictions from the Supreme Personality of Godhead and thus enjoying highly developed opulences, maintains the living entities all over the three worlds by pouring sufficient rain on all the planets. (Vedabase)

Text 8

According each yuga explains the Lord the transcendental knowledge assuming the forms of liberated persons [the perfected or siddhas], great saints [rishis] and great lords of yoga to teach the work of unification in the consciousness.

In every yuga, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, assumes the form of Siddhas such as Sanaka to preach transcendental knowledge, He assumes the form of great saintly persons such as Yâjñavalkya to teach the way of karma, and He assumes the form of great yogîs such as Dattâtreya to teach the system of mystic yoga. (Vedabase)

Text 9

As the founding fathers [the prajâpatis] He creates offspring; to annihilate the miscreants He takes the form of kings and in the form of time is He there to put an end to everything that grew different to the modes of nature.

In the form of Prajâpati Marîci, the Supreme Personality of Godhead creates progeny; becoming the king, He kills the thieves and rogues; and in the form of time, He annihilates everything. All the different qualities of material existence should be understood to be qualities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. (Vedabase)

Text 10

With all the people searching for Him, who under the influence of mâyâ are bewildered in different names and different forms, can He not been found by the illusion of [the controversial of] the differing points of view [compare B.G. 18: 66]

People in general are bewildered by the illusory energy, and therefore they try to find the Absolute Truth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, through various types of research and philosophical speculation. Nonetheless, they are unable to see the Supreme Lord. (Vedabase)

Text 11

All these changes [vikalpas] I described as taking place in one day of Brahmâ [one kalpa] - to which the scholars speak of fourteen manvantaras - are evidence of this.'

In one kalpa, or one day of Brahmâ, there take place the many changes called vikalpas. O King, all of these have been previously described to you by me. Learned scholars who know the past, present and future have ascertained that in one day of Brahmâ there are fourteen Manus. (Vedabase)