The Great flood

https://youtu.be/6qz_w_gnt_w?si=-O6832dpomlZa_qd

We are all familiar with the Great Flood through the stories of MANU in the Rig Veda and Puranas and NOAH in the Old Testament.

It is interesting that the Manu Temple which we visited in 2019, is up on  a hilltop at Manali, above the Beas River, in the area where the early Aryans settled circa 1800 BC. (Nearby is the Temple of Hidimbi, wife of Bhima and mother of Ghatotkacha).

The story of Manu, the first man, and the Great Flood occurs as early as 1500 BC in the Rig Veda. 

It is detailed in the  Shatapata Brahmana where Manu attaches his ship to the horn of a great Fish and after surviving the Flood makes sacrifices of Curds & Whey. 

In the Mahabharata ( 3rd century BC), Manu is Prajapati Brahma. 

Connect this Flood Story to the Greek legend of Ducalion, son of Prometheus, since both their roots are Proto Indo-European. As are that of the Persians, who have a similar "Freezing" story in the Zend Avesta, instead of a Flood.

 Prometheus, who brought Fire to Humans, saves his son from the Flood sent by Zeus, by instructing him to build an Ark.

In the Puranas, the Fish is the 1st avatar of Vishnu. And Manu is advised by messenger Matariswasa to build the ship. A link to a "Fire theft" comes through Yama, the brother of Manu.

After the paths of the 2 Aryan groups diverged, the original Flood Story too would obviously taken different paths!

The Noah story in the Old Testament, comes from the Hebrew of the Jews, who borrowed it from ancient Mesopotamian " Epic of Gilgamesh" wherein god Enki warns  Utnapishtim about the impending Flood. At the end of 6 days of torrential downpour, Utnapishtim  successively sends out a Dove, a Swallow and a Raven. The first two return but the Raven doesn't, indicating the end of the Great Deluge.

There are 2 Hebrew versions both based on Babylonian legend. 

In (J), the destructive Flood is God's reaction to Man's bad behavior but righteous Noah is warned of a Flood which lasts 370 days. He takes his family and a pair of every animal and sends out a Dove to check whether it's over.

 (P) says that Man was already corrupted. The Flood lasts only 40 days and Noah sends a  Raven to check.

In both versions, Noah offers animal sacrifices after the Ark comes to rest on Mount Ararat.

There are also South American variants of the Great Flood.

We owe much to Sir James George Frazer for his authoritative 1918 opus on the Flood, especially his analysis of whether the Flood Story is Monogeneric or Polygeneric.

I have always been fascinated by the Noah/Manu story and this video answers several of my questions.... while asking many more!

J P Alexander 

 the here are records of a Great Flood in several early civilizations, as well as in the myths of many tribal societies.