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Tamasa — Son of Priyavrata and Surupa, Fourth Manu
Tamasa · Tamasa Manu · Caturtha Manu
Tamasa is the second of the three sons of Priyavrata and Surupa, named in the Bhagavata Purana, Canto 5, Chapter 1 and elaborated further in Canto 8. He became the fourth Manu, presiding over the fourth Manvantara of the present Kalpa. The Bhagavata Purana records that during Tamasa's Manvantara, he had ten sons including Prithu, Khyati, Nara, and Ketu. The gods of that epoch were the Satyas, Suras, and Sudhis; Trisikha served as Indra; and the seven sages included Jyotirdhama, Prithu, Kavya, Chaitra, Agni, Vanaka, and Pivara. The Lord appeared in that epoch as Hari — born to Harimedha from the womb of Harini — and rescued the elephant Gajendra from the crocodile in the celebrated episode of Gajendra Moksha, which is one of the most widely recounted narratives of the Bhagavata Purana. Tamasa's name derives from the Sanskrit tamas, meaning darkness, inertia, or the third of the three gunas — a name that does not carry negative connotations in the context of a Manu's title but simply identifies the cosmic quality associated with that epoch.
✦ Lineage
- Father: Priyavrata — eldest son of Svayambhuva Manu.
- Mother: Surupa — second wife of Priyavrata, daughter of Vishvakarma Prajapati.
- Brothers: Uttama — the third Manu; and Raivata — the fifth Manu.
- Sons: Prithu, Khyati, Nara, Ketu, and others named in Bhagavata Purana Canto 8.
✦ References
- Bhagavata Purana, Canto 5, Chapter 1, verse 28: Names Tamasa among the three Manvantaradhipati sons of Priyavrata.
- Bhagavata Purana, Canto 8, Chapter 1: Details of Tamasa's Manvantara including his sons, the seven sages, the gods, Indra, and the avatar Hari of that epoch.
- Vettam Mani, Puranic Encyclopaedia (1975): Records Tamasa as the fourth Manu and son of Priyavrata.