“Father Manu” of the _Vedas_, who appears to have been worshipped as a patriarchal ancestor, was, for instance, embraced in the _Mahábhárata_ by the cult of Vishnu. He had been exalted by the ritualists as one who was greater than the gods, because he had been the first to inaugurate sacrificial rites, and he was afterwards associated with Brahma in performing some of the acts of Creation at the beginning of one of the Yugas (Ages). It was necessary, therefore, to show that he owed his power and opportunities to Vishnu. In the _Mahábhárata_ the sage Markandeya refers to Manu as the great Rishi, who was equal unto Brahma in glory. He had practised rigid austerities in a forest for ten thousand years, standing on one leg with uplifted hand. One day while he brooded in wet clothes, a fish rose from a stream and asked for his protection against the greater fish which desired to swallow it, at the same time promising to reward him. Manu placed the fish in an earthen jar and tended it carefully till it increased in size; then he put it in a tank. The fish continued to grow until the tank became small for it, and Manu heard it pleading to be transferred to the Ganges, “the favourite spouse of Ocean”. He carried it to the river, and in time the fish spoke to him, saying: “I cannot move about in the river on account of my great length and bulk. Take me quickly to the Ocean.” Manu was enabled to carry the fish from the Ganges to the sea, and then it spoke with a smile and said: [Illustration: INTERIOR OF A ROCK-HEWN BUDDHIST TEMPLE (AJANTA) 25] “Know thou, O worshipful one, my protector, that the dissolution of the Universe is at hand. The time is ripe for purging the world. I will therefore advise thee what thou shouldst do, so that it may be well with thee. Build a strong and massive ark, and furnish it with a long rope; thou wilt ascend in it with the seven Rishis (the Celestial Rishis), and take with thee all the different seeds enumerated by Brahmans in days of yore, and preserve them carefully. Wait for me and I will appear as a horned animal. Act according to my instructions, for without mine aid thou canst not save thyself from the terrible deluge.” Manu gathered together all the different seeds and “set sail in an excellent vessel on the surging sea”. He thought of the fish, and it arose out of the waters like an island; he cast a noose which he fastened to the horns on its head, and the fish towed the ark over the roaring sea; tossed by the billows the vessel reeled about like one who is drunk. No land was in sight. “There was water everywhere, and the waters covered the heaven and the firmament also.... When the world was thus flooded none but Manu, the seven Rishis, and the fish could be seen.”