Vedic Mythology c6.s1.3

c6.s1.3

Manu appears to have been regarded as the son of Vivasvat even in the RV.; for he is once (Vāl. 4¹ cp. 3¹) called Manu Vivasvat (cp. p. 42). In the AV. (8, 10²⁴) and the ŚB. (13, 4, 3³), as well as in post-Vedic literature, he bears the regular patronymic Vaivasvata. Yama also is a son of Vivasvat, and the first of mortals. Manu is thus a doublet of Yama as ancestor of the human race². But Manu is regarded as the first of men living on earth, while Yama, as first of men who died, became the king of the dead in the other world. Hence in the ŚB. (13, 4, 3³⁻⁵) Manu Vaivasvata is described as ruler of men, and Yama Vaivasvata as ruler of the Manes. Yāska (Nir. 12, 10) explains Manu to be the son of Vivasvat, the sun (*Āditya*), and of Savarṇā the substitute of Saraṇyū (cp. 10, 17²; p. 125), counting him (Nir. 12, 34) among the divine beings of the celestial region (Naigh. 5, 6).