Devanagari
स आत्मान् मन्यमान: कृतकृत्यमिवात्मभू: ।
तदा मनून् ससर्जान्ते मनसा लोकभावनान् ॥ ४९ ॥
Verse text
sa ātmānaṁ manyamānaḥ
kṛta-kṛtyam ivātmabhūḥ
tadā manūn sasarjānte
manasā loka-bhāvanān
Synonyms
saḥ
—
Lord Brahmā
;
ātmānam
—
himself
;
manyamānaḥ
—
considering
;
kṛta
—
kṛtyam — had accomplished the object of life
;
iva
—
as if
;
ātmabhūḥ
—
born from the Supreme
;
tadā
—
then
;
manūn
—
the Manus
;
sasarja
—
created
;
ante
—
at the end
;
manasā
—
from his mind
;
loka
—
of the world
;
bhāvanān
—
promoting the welfare .
Translation
One day Brahmā, the self-born, the first living creature, felt as if the object of his life had been accomplished. At that time he evolved from his mind the Manus, who promote the welfare activities of the universe.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Thinking himself successful, finally Brahmā created by his mind Manu and others for increasing the population.
When Brahmā desired to create a couple and became blissful, thinking that his creation was complete, the Manus appeared and took the form of humans for completing the creation. This is explained in two verses. Though Manus are mentioned here, at this time only Svāyambhuva Manu became visible. Others became visible at the appropriate time. The creation of the Manus took place last (ante). Therefore, the creation of the sages which will be described after this actually took place before the creation of Manu. In the Tenth, Twelfth and Twentieth Chapters sometimes the events are in proper sequence and sometimes some elements are omitted or put in a different order. The proper sequence of the creation is as follows: first creation of animals with five joints, then the creation of trees and plants, then the creation of snakes, then the creation of cows and buffalos, then the creation of Yakṣas, Rākṣasas, Asuras, Kinnaras, Kimpuruṣas, then the creation of the Kumāras and then the creation of the humans. Finally the Manus were created. All the forms previously created increased through the forms of male and female.