Matsya Purana

01The fish in Manu's palm

Manu, son of Surya, had handed his kingdom to his son and done tapas on a spur of the Malaya hills for a very long time. Brahma offered him a boon, and he asked for one thing: to be able to protect all beings when the pralaya came. Some time later, as he was offering water to the pitris, a tiny fish fell into his cupped hands with the water and cried, protect me. He put it in a pot. In one night it grew too large. A well, a lake, the Ganga, the sea; each time it filled the place and cried again.

02The boat and the horn

When the fish filled the whole ocean, Manu folded his hands. You are Vasudeva, he said; who else could take such a body? Keshava, you have been recognised in this fish form. Bhagwan was pleased. The earth, he told him, will soon sink beneath the water with its mountains and forests. The devas have built a boat; load it with every kind of living being and guard them. When the winds of the yuga's end strike it, tie it to this horn of mine. Manu did so, and through the night of the pralaya the great fish towed the boat and taught him. That teaching is the Matsya Purana.

03Its place among the eighteen

Suta recites the Matsya to the rishis of Naimisharanya at the close of their long sattra, as Maharshi Vyasa handed it down. The Bhagavata counts it at 14,000 shlokas. The Matsya itself, in its fifty-third adhyaya, lists all eighteen Mahapuranas with their lengths and tells on which day of the year each should be given as dana, copied and gifted to a learned brahmana. In the same place it gives the classic definition of a Purana: creation, re-creation, lineage, the Manvantaras and the deeds of the lineages. Scholars of every school cite that verse from here.

04The five marks in order

The Matsya follows its own definition closely. After the pralaya, Matsya tells Manu how Brahma emerged and the worlds were made, then the births of the devas, asuras and pitris. The lineages come in full. The Lunar line runs from Soma and Budha to Pururavas, and then to Yayati, whose katha of Devayani, Sharmishtha and the youth he borrowed from his son Puru is told at length, with Kacha learning the Sanjivani vidya from Shukracharya. Later adhyayas measure the yugas, list the Manus and their Indras, and lay out Bharatavarsha with its mountains and rivers.

05Tripura, Taraka and Narasimha

Maya, the asura architect, built three flying cities of gold, silver and iron, which could be destroyed only when they came into one line. Shiva mounted a chariot made of the earth, with the Vedas as horses and Brahma as charioteer, and burned all three with a single arrow. The Matsya gives this katha more than ten adhyayas. Then Parvati's tapas, her marriage to Shiva, and the birth of Kumara to kill Tarakasura. The Narasimha avatar follows, with a long hymn of the devas. Shaiva and Vaishnava kathas sit side by side, told by Vishnu himself as the fish.

06Prayaga, told to Yudhishthira

After the war, Yudhishthira, grieving for his kin, asks Maharshi Markandeya how a man may be freed of such sin. Markandeya tells him of Prayaga. The Matsya's Prayaga Mahatmya fills several adhyayas: the Yamuna guarded by the Sun, Prayaga guarded by Indra, Maheshvara ever present there, the merit of bathing in Magha, the rules of the pilgrimage. Even remembering Prayaga, it says, wears away sin. At the Magh Mela and at the Kumbh the pandas on the sangam sands quote it, and kalpavasis who spend the month of Magha in tents by the Triveni live by its rules.

07Vratas and danas

Between the lineages and the great kathas the Matsya sets a long run of vratas, many kept by women. The Nakshatra Purusha vrata, in which each nakshatra is worshipped as a limb of Vishnu. The Saubhagya Shayana and the Rasakalyani, kept for a happy married life. The Kalyana Saptami for Surya. The Vibhuti Dvadashi. Each comes with its month, its offering and the katha of someone who kept it. Later in the Purana come the sixteen mahadanas, the great gifts, beginning with the Tulapurusha, in which a king is weighed against gold that is then given away. Inscriptions of many medieval kings record that they performed it.

08Savitri, kingship and the shilpi's chapters

The Matsya tells the katha of Savitri, who followed Yama and won back Satyavan's life, and women recall it on Vat Savitri, tying threads round the banyan. It gives chapters on rajadharma, the duties and conduct of a king. Toward its close come vastu: choosing a site, laying out a house and a temple, and the proportions of pillars and doors. Then pratima lakshana, the measures and marks of each deity's image, and the rites that bring life into a new murti before worship begins. Temple sthapatis still name the Matsya among their oldest authorities.

09Editions and translations

The Anandashrama Sanskrit Series of Pune printed the Matsya in 1907, and the Venkateshvara Press of Mumbai printed it too; these remain the standard texts. Gita Press publishes it with Hindi translation. An English translation by a Taluqdar of Oudh appeared in the Sacred Books of the Hindus series of the Panini Office, Allahabad. Medieval nibandha writers on dharma, Hemadri among them, quote its vratas and danas at length. The GRETIL digital library carries the first 176 adhyayas in Sanskrit, from which the verses on this page are checked.

What it contains

1. 1
   The pralaya and Manu

   Manu's tapas on the Malaya hills, the fish in his palm, and the boat tied to Matsya's horn. Through the pralaya Matsya answers Manu's questions. The whole Purana is framed as that conversation.

2. 2
   Creation and the dynasties

   Brahma's creation, the births of devas, asuras and pitris, and the Solar and Lunar lines. Yayati's katha with Devayani, Sharmishtha and Puru is told at length, along with Kacha and the Sanjivani vidya. The list of the eighteen Puranas and the five marks of a Purana come in adhyaya 53.

3. 3
   Vratas and danas

   The Nakshatra Purusha, Saubhagya Shayana, Rasakalyani, Kalyana Saptami, Vibhuti Dvadashi and many more vows. Each gives the month, the worship and its katha. The great danas are set out later in the Purana.

4. 4
   Prayaga Mahatmya

   Markandeya tells Yudhishthira of the Triveni, the merit of bathing in Magha, and the rules of the pilgrimage. It is the scriptural basis of the Magh Mela and the kalpavas. Remembering Prayaga alone, it says, wears away sin.

5. 5
   Geography and the yugas

   Bharatavarsha with its mountains, rivers and peoples, and the measure of the yugas. The Manus and their Indras are listed. The kings of the Kali age are named as what is to come.

6. 6
   Tripura, Taraka and Narasimha

   Shiva burns the three cities of Maya with one arrow. Parvati's tapas and marriage lead to the birth of Kumara, who slays Tarakasura. The Narasimha avatar follows, with the devas' hymn.

7. 7
   Savitri and rajadharma

   Savitri wins back Satyavan from Yama. Manu then asks about the duties of a king, and Matsya answers with rajadharma. Omens and their remedies are also given.

8. 8
   Vastu, pratima lakshana and mahadanas

   The planning of houses and temples, the measures of images, and the rites of consecration. The sixteen great danas, from the Tulapurusha onward, close this portion. Temple builders and dharma writers have drawn on these chapters for centuries.

Famous verses

कदाचिदाश्रमे तस्य कुर्वतः पितृतर्पणम्। पपात पाण्योरुपरि शफरी जलसंयुता॥

Once, in his ashrama, as he was offering water to the pitris, a tiny fish fell into his hands along with the water.Matsya Purana 1.17 (GRETIL ed.)

ज्ञातस्त्वं मत्स्यरूपेण मां खेदयसि केशव। हृषीकेश जगन्नाथ जगद्धाम नमोऽस्तु ते॥

Manu says: You are known now, Keshava; in the form of a fish you have been testing me. Hrishikesha, lord of the world, abode of the world, salutation to you.Matsya Purana 1.27 (GRETIL ed.)

सर्गश्च प्रतिसर्गश्च वंशो मन्वन्तराणि च। वंश्यानुचरितं चैव पुराणं पञ्चलक्षणम्॥

Creation, re-creation, lineage, the Manvantaras, and the deeds of those in the lineages: a Purana has these five marks.Matsya Purana 53.65, second and third lines (GRETIL ed.)

स्वल्पमल्पतरं पापं यदा ते स्यान्नराधिप। प्रयागं स्मरमाणस्य सर्वमायाति संक्षयम्॥

Markandeya to Yudhishthira: O king, whatever sin you have, small or smaller still, it all wastes away for one who keeps Prayaga in remembrance.Matsya Purana 104.11, second and third lines (GRETIL ed.)