Tamasa (Tapasa) Manu: The Fourth Manvantara

A. Royden D'souza
Nov 14
5 min read

Late Satya (Krita) Yuga

When the Uttama Manvantara came to its gentle close, the cosmos once again inhaled deeply, as if preparing to turn the great wheel of time anew.

The radiance of the Satyas dimmed, their king Indra Satyasena withdrew, the avatar dissolved, and the old sages ascended into the subtle layers of existence where time barely moves.

A new Manu had to rise, but this time, the universe was preparing for a darker, heavier age.

The Birth of Tamasa

Tamasa was born in the lineage of the first Manu, descended from Uttānapāda, the father of Dhruva. He was called Tāmasa, meaning “born under the shadow,” not because he was evil, but because he would rule an age where the light of Dharma would face deep and persistent obscurations.

When Tāmasa was born, the sky was strangely clouded. Not ominous — simply veiled. The sun appeared pale that morning, as though a thin layer of twilight lingered at dawn.

This was subtle foreshadowing of the era to come.

Yet Tāmasa grew into a king of great seriousness and strength. He was quiet, contemplative, and harsh toward falsehood. His eyes were sharp, his posture always straight, and his voice steady.

He was not gentle like Svārociṣa, nor effortlessly harmonious like Uttama. He was a stern pillar, shaped for an age that needed firmness.

The sages tested him, as they had tested the Manus before him.

The Trial of Darkness: A cavern was conjured, a psychic void filled with illusions of despair, loss, and abandonment. Tāmasa walked through its choking shadows without flinching.

When he emerged, he said simply:

“Light is known by contrast. Dharma is known in adversity.”

The gods nodded. He was suited for the fourth age.

The Trial of Compassion: A wounded serpent was placed before him, feared and despised by many. He tended to it without hesitation. “Compassion,” he said, “is not selective.”

This ability to uphold the harsh and the gentle in balance revealed his worthiness. Thus Tāmasa was chosen as the Fourth Manu.

The Tāmasa Manvantara Begins

The cosmos restructured itself again. This was the Tāmasa Manvantara, an age in which Dharma would not flow effortlessly, but would require struggle, discipline, and keen discernment.

The Devas of This Era: The gods of this manvantara were known as the Haritas, bright and vigorous, but less serene than the Devas of earlier ages. They carried both courage and restlessness.

Indra of This Era, Trisikha (Triśikha): The king of the gods was Indra Trisikha, a fierce, vigilant deity whose very name suggests “three-pointed flame.”

The Seven Sages: The Saptarṣis of this age, according to the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, were: Jyāmagha, Dhundhumāra, Tuṣita, Sattvavān, Agnīdhra, Atināman, and Aruna.(Other Purāṇas list small variants.)

These sages supervised the moral and spiritual course of the age.

The Rise of the Asuras

During Tāmasa’s reign, the Asuras grew unusually bold. The Daityas and Dānavas, who had lain dormant during the era of Uttama, emerged once more with renewed ferocity.

From the depths of Rasātala and Mahātala, a new host of Daitya warlords arose—sons of ancient Asura lineages, hardened by terrifying austerities, their minds sharpened by long meditation in darkness.

They rallied the serpent-clans of the lower worlds, and the illusion-weavers of the Dānava race, forging alliances beneath the earth’s crust.

Massive citadels of black stone flared to life in the underworlds, and the armies of the Asuras multiplied like storm clouds gathering before an unseen tempest.

The Harita gods, though radiant and energetic, did not possess the serene discipline of the Devas of earlier ages. Their brilliance was bright but unstable, and they faltered before the rising wave of Asura aggression.

Indra Triśikha rose valiantly to resist them, but the heavens trembled under the pressure of asymmetrical power. Sacrifices sputtered and dimmed, sages were hindered in their rites, and the natural order—winds, seasons, and the courses of rivers—began to show signs of imbalance.

Whenever Dharma strains under the weight of mounting darkness, Viṣṇu descends.

Vishnu’s Avatar: Hari

In the fourth manvantara, Viṣṇu incarnated as Hari, a radiant, sky-blue warrior whose presence carried the weight of cosmic majesty. He was not fierce like Narasiṃha, but held a disciplined, devastating calm, a force that dissolved chaos with quiet authority.

When the Asuras rose in turbulent strength, darkening sacrifices, bending the winds, and driving the Harita gods into retreat, Hari descended into the mid-region between the worlds.

The Asuras unleashed storms of illusion, psychic force born of terrible austerities. But before Hari’s serene and piercing gaze, their conjurations fractured like brittle glass.

Their battalions broke. The Daitya hosts fled into the deeper caverns of Rasātala, their pride shaken, their power dimmed. Serpent legions slithered back into Mahātala, their alliances scattered.

Hari’s presence restored the sacrificial fires, steadied the trembling elements, and re-anchored the cosmic order that had begun to fray.

The Harita gods felt their radiance return. Indra Triśikha, reassured and restored, resumed his guardianship of the heavens. Balance returned. The age stabilized.

Tāmasa’s Governance

Tāmasa ruled with a stern but unbiased mind. In this era:

Justice was strict, for dharma was harder to sustain.
Austerity was valued, as passion and anger ran high in beings.
Kings and sages required discipline, not ease, to maintain balance.
Asuras constantly tested cosmic boundaries, demanding vigilance.

Tāmasa fathered noble sons —Prsni, Viraja, Dharmaketu, Satyaka, Hari, and others(depending on Purāṇic variation). They upheld order in the mortal realms with his same clear firmness.

Unlike the previous manvantaras, this age was not gentle, nor serene. It was tense, charged, and constantly rebalanced. But under Tāmasa, it held firm. He became known as one who ruled not through ease, but through endurance.

The End of the Tāmasa Age

As its vast span drew to a close, the Harita Devas dimmed. The sages began their journey upward, preparing for the next cosmic cycle. Hari, the avatāra, withdrew into the infinite.

Tāmasa, having kept dharma alive through a heavy and difficult age, walked alone into the western deserts where crimson dunes stretched for miles.

There he meditated upon the impermanence of cycles, and gradually, as the sun set behind him, his form shimmered into golden dust that rose into the twilight.

Thus ended the fourth manvantara, and the wheel turned toward the Fifth Manu — Raivata.

REFERENCES:

Bhāgavata Purāṇa:

8.1.9–10 — Tāmasa listed as the Fourth Manu, with names of his Devas, Indra, Saptarṣis.
8.5.37 — Mentions Viṣṇu’s manvantara-avatāras including Hari in Tāmasa Manvantara.
8.13.6 — Cosmic order during this manvantara.

Viṣṇu Purāṇa: