Raivata Manu: The Fifth Manvantara

A. Royden D'souza
Nov 14
5 min read

Very Late Satya (Krita Yuga)

When the Tāmasa Manvantara ended, the universe slipped again into that brief twilight where no age holds dominion. The Harita gods faded like sparks, the sages withdrew, and the avatāra Hari dissolved back into the eternal.

The cosmos grew quiet, as if listening for the footsteps of the next guardian of Dharma.

Birth of Raivata

Raivata was born in the ancient lineage of Priyavrata, son of the first Manu, Svāyambhuva. But unlike his forefathers, Raivata was not born in a hermitage or palace. He was born on a mountain peak, where the wind rang like a crystal bell.

His mother had been staying in those high places during her pregnancy, seeking clarity and peace. When Raivata was born, a faint echo, like distant celestial chanting, spread across the mountaintops.

It was said:

“This child carries the resonance of the stars.”

Raivata grew tall, with an unusually calm gaze. His voice was deep but soothing, and he possessed a dreamlike detachment, as though remembering something from before this life.

He was named Raivata, “the one born under the sound of the void.” The sages sensed destiny around him.

The Choosing of Raivata

When the time came to select the Fifth Manu, the gods, led by Brahmā, tested Raivata.

Test of the Cosmic Sound: The sages placed him in a cave where every worldly noise was removed.Then they introduced a sound that no mortal hears. Nāda, the primordial hum beneath creation. Most beings faint or panic when hearing it unfiltered. Raivata listened peacefully, as if hearing a familiar lullaby.

Test of the Elements: The Devas brought storms, fires, and floods before him. Raivata walked through them as one walks through a warm mist.

Test of Detachment: Treasures from Svarga were laid before him. Raivata touched none. “I have seen worlds rise and fall,” he said, “and none remain mine.”

The gods bowed. Thus Raivata was chosen as the Fifth Manu.

The Raivata Manvantara Begins

With his coronation, the cosmic structure shifted once more. This was the Raivata Manvantara, an era marked by unusual brightness, celestial music, and the presence of beings almost dreamlike in nature.

The Devas of This Era: The gods of this age were the Abhūtarajasas, beings of extraordinary purity, free from the passion (rajas) that clouds perception. They shone with a soft, translucent radiance, their minds calm and clear like still rivers beneath moonlight. Though not aggressive by nature, they possessed a profound inner poise and spiritual insight.

Their King, Indra Vibhu (Vipāścita): The ruler of these serene gods was Indra Vibhu, also known in older Purāṇic recensions as Vipāścita, “the all-knowing one.” He governed the heavens with a steady, luminous intelligence, balancing gentleness with subtle vigilance.

The Seven Sages: The Saptarṣis of this era included: Hiraṇyaroman, Vedasiras, Urdhvabāhu, Tapasvī, Dhritimat, Satya, and Śrutāyus.

These sages radiated unusual serenity, many of them were known for living in semi-aerial hermitages where the wind sang hymns.

The Reappearance of the Danavas

During Raivata’s reign, an old turbulence stirred in the lower worlds. The Daityas and Dānavas, scattered and weakened through earlier manvantaras, began once more to gather strength.

In the caverns of Rasātala, new chieftains of the Asura race arose, each hardened by fierce austerities performed in secret darkness.

These Asuras were unnamed in the scriptures, but their presence was unmistakable: their ascetic heat warped the subtle realms, their rituals shook the foundations of the mid-world, and their ambition spread like a shadow across the three worlds.

The Abhūtarajasas, gods of pure radiance free from passion, were gentle by nature and not made for protracted conflict. Though serene and luminous, they faltered under the pressure of Asura power.

Even Indra Vibhu, brilliant sovereign of the heavens, found himself hesitating as the accumulated austerities of the Asuras distorted natural rhythms: rivers momentarily reversed their flow, mountains hummed with unseen resonance, and day and night blurred along their boundaries.

Whenever Dharma strains beneath the weight of such imbalance, Viṣṇu descends.

Vishnu’s Incarnation: Vaikuṇṭha

In this age, Viṣṇu manifested as Vaikuṇṭha, a serene, majestic form whose luminous presence echoed the stillness of the highest divine realm.

His complexion shimmered with soft celestial radiance, and He was attended by beings of quiet brilliance, figures whose glow resembled dawn rising over a lotus-covered lake.

Vaikuṇṭha rode no mount, brandished no weapon, and displayed no fury. His very presence was peace incarnate, a calm powerful enough to steady the trembling cosmos.

When the Asuras of that era, their names lost to time, but their strength sharpened by relentless austerities, rose to challenge the balance of the three worlds, they hurled storms of fiery wind, uprooted mountains, and bent the elements to their violent will.

Vaikuṇṭha lifted a single hand. At once, their assaults collapsed into silence. The force of their long-earned austerities dissolved like mist in sunlight. Their pride crumbled, their illusions vanished, and they fled into the shadowed recesses of Rasātala.

With their aggression quelled, the Abhūtarajasas resumed their tranquil radiance, and the heavens breathed freely once more. Indra Vibhu returned to his throne with newfound assurance, and the Raivata Manvantara regained its gentle equilibrium.

Raivata’s Age of Music and Light

Under Raivata’s governance, the world entered a strangely harmonious, artistic era.

Creation blossomed easily.
Sages received visions with clarity.
The arts flourished.
Celestial architects descended to inspire human builders.
Even mortals began crafting instruments unlike anything before seen.

This period came to be called The Age of Resonance. Raivata fathered many sons, among them Arjuna, Bali, Vindhya, and others, who helped shape the mortal realm. He ruled with gentle firmness, not too soft, not too strict, like a steady rhythm that guides music.

The Setting of the Fifth Age

The gentle radiance of the Abhūtarajasas began to fade, their forms withdrawing into subtler realms. The Saptarṣis of the age prepared to ascend, and Vaikuṇṭha, the divine manifestation of Viṣṇu, dissolved back into the infinite stillness from which He had emerged.

The cosmos exhaled, as though preparing itself for the turning of the great wheel. Sensing the nearing twilight of his era, Raivata Manu returned to the place of his birth, the lofty mountains where the sky rang with a clear and ancient music.

On the same peak where the wind had once sung at his arrival, he seated himself in deep meditation. He closed his eyes, and once again the wind began to chant the soft, resonant note that had heralded his beginning.

Thus ended the Raivata Manvantara,and the wheel turned toward the Sixth Manu — Cākṣuṣa.

REFERENCES:

Bhāgavata Purāṇa

8.1.10–11 — Raivata as the Fifth Manu; names of his Devas (Ribhus), Indra (Vibhu), Saptarṣis.
8.5.37 — Viṣṇu’s manvantara avatar Vaikuṇṭha for the Raivata Manvantara.
8.13.7 — Further structure of the fifth manvantara.

Viṣṇu Purāṇa