Separate the Wheat from the Chaff
As things stand
There is a flood story myth in every world culture across time. We had reviewed the history of flood myth amongst the various world cultures in the first part of this series. The question is, are the myth stores about the flood real or merely myth only? Many of the tales are merely popular belief but false stories. What about the flood stories? Are the narrations of a flood mere myths or there was a flood?
Are they all talking about the same flood or different floods? Are these flood stories provable or, is there any proof available? The very fact that similarity exists between the various flood narrations suggests that they have evolved from each other chronologically. So, the question is about the veracity of the myths. Can the truth be gauged or, so to say, can we separate the wheat from the chaff? Was the flood limited geographically? Can the timescales be matched?
Are these flood narration myths real or unreal? We need to dig deeper and understand it logically. We need to go through in a chronological order to arrive at the truth.
Evidence if any?
In the biblical version of the narrative, there appears to be a knitting of two stories. Published work seems to suggest the flood story to be a linking of two accounts. This linking or knitting together of two stories creates a bit of contradiction in the details. As an example, the duration of the flood itself. According to Genesis 7:17, the flood lasted 40 days, while, according to Genesis 7:24, it lasted for 150 days. There is again no clarity regarding how many animals the ark would carry. Genesis 6:19 states one pair of each. However, genesis 7:2 says one couple of the unclean animals and seven pairs of the clean. Again, one version says that Noah released a raven which “went to and fro until the waters dried up”. A second version mentions of a dove that on the third occasion “did not return to him again”. Or, possibly both?
Preceding these biblical versions are the ones from Mesopotamia*. Earlier flood myth emanates from Mesopotamia. There are three versions under this — the Sumerian** Epic of Ziusudra, the Babylonian episode of Atrahasis and the Babylonian episode of Gilgamesh. Between these stories, the time of flood varies anything from 3000 to 5000 years. Some have tried to link these flood myths with the Black Sea flood which occurred roughly about 8000 years ago. William Ryan and Walter Pitman have attempted to readjust the biblical flood of Noah to match the Black Sea flood.
*Mesopotamia is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. In modern days, it is roughly corresponding to most of Iraq, Kuwait, the eastern parts of Syria, South-eastern Turkey, and regions along the Turkish–Syrian and Iran–Iraq borders.
** Sumer, site of the earliest known civilisation, located in the southernmost part of Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, in the area that later became Babylonia and is now southern Iraq, from around Baghdad to the Persian Gulf.
There is some inaccuracy regarding the date of occurrence of the historical flood myth of different cultures. Even if we overlook the discrepancy in dates, the question is, did a flood occur in the period of 5000 to 6000 years ago? Is there any scientific evidence or recording?
Though there have been floods that devastated substantial areas, there is no archaeological or geological evidence for a single massive deluge in the last 6000 years that covered the whole of the earth. Proof for no world wide flood 6000 years back discounting the flood myths can be found in “Bible and Interpretation: forget about Noah’s ark, there was no worldwide flood” (see web site given at the end).
Basis of all the flood myths
As mentioned in part 1, there is a chronological carry forward with modification of earlier flood myth and, the most initial description of a flood myth comes from the ancient Indian texts of Matsya Purana and the Shatpatha Brahmana. As per this Hindu flood myth, the flood coincides with the appearance of the 7th Manu, Vaivasvata Manu. He is the 7th of a total of 14 Manus of a creation cycle. According to Hindu mythology, the deluge had occurred between the 6th and 7th Manu*.
* For a detailed understanding of Manvantras, Manus and the Vedic Cosmology keep checking for future posts.
The 7th Manu is also known as ‘Jal–plavan–Manu’, i.e., ‘Manu of the Great Deluge’. The Manus are essentially chosen ones of God with proven integrity. The Satapatha Brahmana compiled about 8000 – 10000 years ago has this to say about the 7th Manu: “There lived in ancient time a holy man called Manu, who, by penances and prayers, had won the favour of the Lord of the heaven.”
The description of Manu in Mahabharata is as follows:
“And Manu was imbued with great wisdom and devoted to virtue. And he became the progenitor of a line. And in Manu’s race have been born all human beings, who have therefore been called Manavas (humans)….”
(Mahabharata, Book 1: Adi Parva: Sambhava Parva: Section LXXV)
Findings of an Orientalist
A.J.A. Dubious, a scholar of oriental studies, had studied Hinduism for 40 years. In his work ‘Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies’ he writes:
“… Suffice it to remark that a celebrated personage, reverenced by the Hindus, also known to them as ‘Mahanuvu‘, escaped from the calamity in an ark, in which were also the seven famous Penitents (saptarishs) of India. The appellation of Mahanuvu is worthy of remark. It is a compound of two words – MAHA, i.e. Great and NUVU, who is undoubtedly the same as Noah.” (pg. 47-48)
He also writes:
“To me, no other religion has such a detailed account of Prophet Noah and his flood as the Hindu scriptures have and, in many ways, it is similar to the accounts of the Old Testament. Surprisingly, we have received this information from a nation (Hindus) who acclaim themselves as the oldest religion on earth.” (pg. 97–98)
To quote him at another place:
“It is practically admitted that India was inhabited very soon after the Deluge/flood, which made a desert of the whole world.” (pg.100)
Hindus do represent the oldest civilisation in the world. They received the first and the earliest unworldly scripture in the form of the four Vedas.
Relevant Vedic concepts
Vedic time scale consists of one creation cycle whence the solar system undergoes creation and dissolution known as a Kalpa that has 14 Manvantaras. For a detailed understanding of the Vedic time scale, that includes, yugas, mahaygas, kalpas, manvantaras and pralays or dissolutions, look up at another blog.
The duration of a manvantara as per Vedic cosmology is 306.720 million years. This duration is known as a Kalpa or a cosmic day/one-day creation cycle of the Creator God. The great deluge ended the 6th manvantara and, the 7th manvantara started post-deluge initiating a new creation cycle. The scriptures further describe that the creation after in existence for 306.720 million years undergoes dissolution (a solar system) marked by a great deluge. The dissolution period lasts for an equal number of 306.720 million years.
In short, the duration of a creation cycle (i.e., creation + dissolution) is equivalent to 2 kalpas or 613.440 million years. There is a misunderstanding about the afore-described dissolution. Though a deluge on the worldly stage marks the dissolution, the creatures do not drown to death, but the souls exit the world leaving behind the lifeless bodies. Soon, the entire solar system also disappears in a smooth act of the divine.
Unfortunately, the later cultures/religions have mistaken it as an act of an angry God wreaking havoc on creation for the misdeeds of human beings. I am sure that God cannot be vengeful as humans and punish humans by such a ruthless act of drowning in a flood because He is ever-merciful and ever-loving. To ascribe such merciless deeds to God is against the attributes of God. There is another reason for the later cultures to have got it wrong. An event unknown to all had happened some 5000 years back which shall be made known in another blog.
Now let us separate the wheat from the chaff/Factual
So, we need to understand the truth behind the great flood which have been talked about by all cultures. The actual act of dissolution at the end of the 6th manvantara happened approximately about 123 million years ago. Since there was an act of partial dissolution about 5000 years back (known through the revealed wisdom of Supreme Lord/kulzama Swaroop/Taartamic wisdom#) and a patch up recreation in continuation, it was challenging to get the pieces of evidence or the exact time realistically. This dissolution and patch-up recreation had occurred during the time of Krishna, and hence, the incarnation of Krishna has some unknown attributes. Another blog on ‘The sport of ternary power within Krishna’ shall appear in a short time.
References
https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/blog/a-flood-of-myths-and-stories/
https://www.salon.com/2014/04/12/noah_wasnt_the_first_flood_story_partner/
https://bibleinterp.arizona.edu/articles/flood357903
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Manu_(Hinduism)
