The limited space at command forces us to allow a few brief quotations
to stand as landmarks and not even attempt long explanations. It is no
exaggeration to say that upon each of the few hints now given in the
cited Slokas a thick volume might be written.
From the well-known hymn To Time, in the Atharva-Veda (xix. 53):
"Time, like a brilliant steed with seven rays,
Full of fecundity, bears all things onward.
"Time, like a seven-wheeled, seven-naved car moves on,
His rolling wheels are all the worlds, his axle
Is immortality...."
--down to Manu, "the first and the seventh man," the Vedas, the
Upanishads, and all the later systems of philosophy teem with allusions
to this number. Who was Manu, the son of Swayambhuva? The secret
doctrine tells us that this Manu was no man, but the representation of
the first human races evolved with the help of the Dhyan-Chohans (Devas)
at the beginning of the first Round. But we are told in his Laws (Book
I. 80) that there are fourteen Manus for every Kalpa or "interval from
creation to creation" (read interval from one minor "Pralaya" to
another) and that "in the present divine age there have been as yet
seven Manus.
Pages:
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262