Manu is one of fourteen patriarchs. Each patriarch ruled or will rule the world for one period of its history. Each period of time, known as a Manvantara or Manu interval, is equal to 4,320,000 years. Each interval is named for its own Manu and ends with a great flood. We are now considered to be in the seventh interval and the Manu for this period is Vaivasvata, the son of the sun god Vivasvat. The first Manu, "The Intelligent," who emanated from Brahma was Svayam-bhuva and as Brahma's son was the progenitor of mortals. His wife, Satarupa, emanated from the goddess of knowledge Sarasvati. Svayambhuva was the father of the ten Prajapatis and the seven, and later ten Maharishis. Svayam-bhuva created the Manu-sanhita, the Book of Hindu Laws. In the Satapatha Brahmans, it is said that Manu came upon a small fish on the bottom of his wash bowl. The fish begged to be saved and in return promised to save Manu from certain destruction when the Great Deluge flooded the land. Manu saved the fish until it grew so large that it had to be taken to the ocean. That day, the fish instructed Manu to build a ship. When the flood arrived, Manu boarded the ship and was towed around for years by the fish. Finally, Manu and the ship arrived on Mount Himalaya. When the waters subsided, everything on earth had perished except for Manu. Manu offered a sacrifice of whey, cream and ghee (the sacrificial melted butter), and was given a woman, who was called his daughter. Manu turned himself into a bull to avoid the act of incest. Ida, his daughter turned herself into a she-goat and Manu turned into a he-goat. This went on until the earth was populated with animals. Manu is one of "the seven sages' who shine in Saptarshi (the Great Bear constellation). A similar myth is told in the Mahabharata involving the seventh Manu, Vaivasvata, and Matsya, the fish avatar of Vishnu.

Source link: Turner, Patricia and Charles Russell Coulter, Dictionary of Ancient Deities

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