They say for every beginning, there is an end.
For every life, there is death.
The material universe is limited, its days numbered, and like all things live, age and
die, so is the material universe created, so does it age, and eventually fade.
The hindus say the life of the universe lasts 4 billion human years, from creation to dissolution,
from birth to death, a duration which in the eyes of Brahma, is only a day.
They call it Kalpa, a day of Brahma', and a day of Brahma is followed by a night of
Brahma, a night of equal length, a time in which the world dissipates, and a new world
is born from the old.
Once upon a time a time long long gone, the world was filled with so much atrocities and
iniquities, it had been ravaged by men and creatures of various forms and sizes, that
its end was nigh, and the Trimurti saw it fitting that such barbaric generation ended,
and a new era begins.
Out of the many wicked, there was one man who remained different, his name was Manu,
he tood out among the rest.
Manu' good deeds and austeries touched the hearts of the divine, they could not let him
perish with others, and so the lord Vishnu descended to the mortal world to save this
man.
To test Manu's kindness, Vishnu came in the form of a tiny golden fish, appearing to Manu
while he was meditating by the sea one day, begging him to save him from the bigger fishes
and water creatures who would want to eat him.
Manu carried the delicate fish home and placed it in a jar of water, where he fed it everyday.
He called this fish - Matsya.
Matsya began to grow at an alarming rate, and in no time, had grown too big for the
jar.
Manu built a big pond, transferring the fish there, but it outgrew the pond in a few days.
he transferred it to the river ganga, and yet it outgrew the river.
Matsya had become a gigantic fish, he could not be contained any longer, and so Manu took
him back to the ocean.
Nothing could harm him now, he was bigger than the biggest fishes, and they would all
cower in fear of his enormous size.
Matsya thanked Manu, warning him of the impending doom.
He told him there would come a great flood, a flood that would destroy the world and everything
in it, instructing him to build a big ship, attaching to it a long strong rope, and take
himself and his family, along with 7 sages and all manner of animals and crops, into
the ship.
There should he stay, and he Matsya would keep him safe.
Manu did exactly as he was told, and when the flood began, the gigantic Matsya tied
the rope of the ship to his horn, sailing all who were inside to safety, and all who
were not in the ship, were destroyed by the great flood.
The flood dried down and the world began anew, and Matsya blessed Manu, giving him the power
to multiply and give rise to a new generation.
Manu brought forth a new human race, a better one, and the gigantic Matsya was never seen
again, for he had ascended back into the heavens as his true self, the lord Vishnu..