Manu was the son of Surya and Sandhya. Manu was married to Shradda. They organized a putrakamesti yagam under Sage Vasishta. The queen prayed to get a girl child. Consequently a girl was born to them. She was named Ila. But the King requested Vasishta to transform her into a boy. Then he was named Sadyumna. One day Sudyumna had gone on a hunting excursion. Riding the horse with his ministers, Sudyumna reached a forest at the foothills of Meru Mountain. The forest was the nuptial abode of Lord Shiva and Mata Parvati. As soon as Sudyumna and his companions entered the forests, they all, even horses, got converted into females. This happened because of an earlier event: ‘Once, Mata Parvati was sitting naked in the lap of Lord Shiva when suddenly some great sages arrived there to have a sight of Lord. Mata Parvati sank with shyness and ran to don some cloth. When the sages saw that Gauri-Lord Shiva were enjoying intimacy, they moved at once to the hermitage of Nar-Narayana. Right at that moment, in order to please Mata Parvati, Lord Shiv said: ‘Except me, any man who enters here, shall become a women.’ It was because of these words of Lord Shiva, that Sudyumna and his companions were transformed into females. While Sudyumna was roaming as woman, Budh, the son of Chandra, fell in love with her and they agreed to get married. From their marriage, a son, Pururava was born. Sudyumna, in a female form, prayed Lord Shiva to free him from woman incarnation. Lord Shiva blessed Sudyumna that he would be a man for a month and a woman for another. Thus this cycle would continue life long. Thereafter Sudyumna returned to the kingdom and began to rule it religiously. He got three sons in due course, Utkal, Gaya and Vimal. In the twilight of his life, Sudyumna gave his kingdom to Pururava and he took exile.

Prithu was the son of King Vena. His wife was Arci. Armed with scimitars, bows and arrows, and well-versed in the science of weapons, he was fully acquainted with the Vedas and their branches. It is said that Sukra became his priest, Garga his astrologer, Valakhilyas his counsellors and the Saraswats his companions. Prithu made the land leveled making roads. He cultivated 17 kinds of crops for producing food. He gave to the Sutas and the Magadhas land and made them kings. Prithu made Plans for villages and cities.

King Prithu in Srimad Bhagavatham  - Milking Mother Earth

King Prithu is regarded as having the aspects of Lord Vishnu. Once during the reign of King Prithu, there was a scarcity of food grains. The citizens came to the King and informed him about the situation. Having arrived at the conclusion that Mother Earth is responsible for the same, he took his bow and arrow and aimed at the Earth. The Earth became very much afraid and took the form of a cow.  King Prithu chased the Earth wherever she went. Helpless the Earth turned back and addresses the King. Please save me and why are you anxious to kill a woman.  King replied “My dear Earth you have defied my orders and rulings. You have accepted the offerings from the Yagnas but have not produced sufficient grains. For this I must kill you.”

The Earth replied, “ Due to the seeds being stocked within me for a long time, they have deteriorated. You should take the standard procedures for taking these seeds out. If you desire to relieve the subjects of their hunger, please use the milk. Arrange for a calf and a milkman.” Then everyone milked the Mother Earth to get what they needed. Sages made Brihaspati a calf and milked the knowledge of Vedas, Gods made Indra a calf and milked the necter called Soma. The Asuras, Ditis, Gandharvas, Apsaras, Pitris, people of Siddaloka, Vidyadharaloka, Kimpurushaloka, Yakshas, Rakshashas, all milked the cow. The Mother Earth provided all with what they needed.

King Prithu in Srimad Bhagavatham  - The Sacrifice

Once King Prithu performed one hundred horse sacrifices. Every God came to see the Yagna. Indra saw that this King was performing good deeds and hence could become a potential threat to him. He therefore disguised himself and stole the last  horse that had to be given as a sacrifice. Indra while returning in space was met by Sage Atri. The Sage seeing Indra dressed as a liberated soul, understood the whole situation. Prithu saw Indra dressed as a regious person and did not kill him. Sage Atri nevertheless asked Prithu to kill Indra since he had committed a sin. Then Prithu chased Indra. Indra then disappeared leaving the horse. Prithu returned with the horse and completed his sacrifice.

He was a noble and ascended the throne after King Bana. Ravana after obtaining the boon from Brahma that he cannot be killed by any God, demon, Naga or Yaksha, advances the heavenly cities. The Devas knowing about the boon do not fight him. Ravana is disappointed. He comes down to Earth and sees the capital of Ayodhya ruled by Anaranya. King Anaranya refuses to run away or give the kingdom to Ravana. A fierce fight ensures. Anaranya is wounded and curses Ravana “In the very line you deride Oh Ravana, there will be born a King who will destroy you and your race”.This curse was the precursor for Lord Rama to be born in the Sun or the Ikshvaku dynasty.

He was the son of Vikukshi. He is regarded as a very powerful King. Once when the Gods and Demons fought, Indra asked Puranjaya’s help. Puranjaya said that Indra needs to be his vehicle and then he would fight the demons. Indra took the form of an Ox. Puranjaya rode Him and defeated the demons. He gave all the riches, kingdoms that he obtained to Indra. Since Puranjaya rode on the hump of the Ox, he is also called as Kakutsth. He is also called as Indravah since Indra was his Vahana.

Kukshi was the son of Ikshvaku. His son was Vikukshi. Once when King Kukshi was performing a sacrifice, Vikukshi was sent to bring the sacrificial meat. While hunting, Vikukshi was hungry and ended up eating a part of the meat destined for the sacrifice. This was an act of sacrilege. Sage Vashistha made the King banish him from the Kingdom. He also earned the title Sashada (hare eater) (Please note that in the Bhagavata Purana it is stated that Vikukshi was the son of Ikshvaku)

The name Ikshvaku means Sugar Cane. He was the son of Manu. He was the first king to implement Manusmriti. He is remembered as a righteous and glorious king.

Ikshvaku and Ranganathar 

The deity of Sri Ranganatha was first worshiped by Lord Brahma. The deity was later given to King Ikshvaku to worship, and he brought the deity to his capital, Ayodhya. Eventually Lord Rama worshiped Sri Ranganatha. When Vibhishana, the brother of Ravana, came to Ayodhya, he requested permission to take Sri Ranganatha to his capital in Lanka to worship. He was allowed to do so on the condition that if he placed the deity on the ground, he would not be able to move the deity from that spot. Vibhishana agreed and proceeded to carry the deity south to Sri Lanka. On his way he placed the deity on the ground at Srirangam, on the bank of the Chandra Pushkarani tank.

This King Manu is the 7^th Manu of the present Kalpa. Also known as the Sraddadeva Manu. Being the son of Vivasvant / Vaivasvata he is also known as Vaivasvata Manu. He is supposed to be the first Human being on Earth. He is the first human ruler and the most honest one. Hence he is also called as Satyavrata. It is said that since all Men are from Manu, they are called Manavas. The ten sons of Manu are known as Vena, Dhrishnu, Narishyan, Nabhaga, Ikshvaku, Karusha, Saryati, the eighth, a daughter named Ila, Prishadhru the ninth, and Nabhagarishta. The Kingdom ruled by Manu in the current world parlance stretched from Madagascar & East Africa covering most of South Asia and Australia. The works by King Manu are Manava Grihyasutra, Manava Sulbasutra, and Manavadharmasashtra. The Manusmriti is the first book of Law.

Manu & the Matsyavataram

He is also known as Vaivasvata. He was the founder of the Sun dynasty. He established his capital at Ayodhya. This was the first Dynasty of Bharatvarsha. Vivasvant means master of the rays, another name for the Sun God. There were 3 Vanshas at that time, Suryavanshi, Agnivanshi and Chandravanshi. Each one of them is supposed to have come down the line of the respective Gods. Vivasvant is believed to be the son of Lord Surya.

The great rulers of Sun Dynasty – Vivasvant, Akash, Manu, Ikshvaku, Kukshi, Vikukshi, Bana, Anaranya, Prithu, Trishanku, Dhundumara, Mandhata, Sushandi, Dhruvasandhi, Bharata, Asita, Sagara, Asmanjya, Amshuman, Dilip, Bhagirath, Kakutstha, Raghu, Pravridda, Shankana, Sudarshana, Agnivarna, Shigragha, Maru, Prashushruka, Ambarisha, Nahusa, Yayati, Nabhaga, Aja, Dasaratha, Rama. 

In the lineage of this dynasty is the Ikshvaku dynasty & the Raghuvamsha.  The Sun dynasty spanned from 1700 BC to 1500 BC