A Counter to Devdutt Patnaik's Matsya Nyaya

Let's start with the usual disclaimers. Devdutt Patnaik is free to express his own thoughts on any topic. All of us are free to comment on any topic. This is a commentary on Patnaik's blog from 2007 on Matsya Nyaya here: https://devdutt.com/law-of-fishes/. Also, I am aware Patnaik has used "Matsya Nyaya" as a vessel for other ideas in other places. None of that is relevant in the context of this blog.

I expect you read it and ponder on the ideas presented there on your own and then come back here. I am not summarizing the contents of that blog, but just writing from my own point of view here, on the context of the material there.

1. The Problem

The problem is very simple. Matsya Nyaya is used, once (prominently) by Chanakya in Arthashashtra. I am loathe to point to Wikipedia, but here you go: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsya_Nyaya.

(If a source as weak and biased as Wikipedia can only name one, this pretty much proves my point of the relative commonality of this idea or phrase.)

If someone connects the word "Matsya" as it appears in Vishnu Puranam with "Matsya Nyaya" as it appears in Arthashashtra, because of that one common word and further extrapolates that a new novel thought is the original lesson of the Purana, then we are forced to ascribe a wild bout of imagination or possible malice to that someone.

Let's point out the leaps of logics, hereby shortened to LoLs.

2. LoL1: The Matsya (of Vishnu Puranam) needs help.

OP states that the Matsya begs Manu to help it, even after it becomes big or large. OP implies that when the fish is small, it atleast has a valid reason, but when it becomes larger, its concern is not that justifiable anymore. That it is greed and not need anymore.

There are a few problems here.

Firstly, the fish does not ask Manu for help, in fear of a predator (like a larger fish), but because it has grown so much that it literally cannot fit in the water body it is in now. This is an existential problem, but not in the way of predator-prey. This is an out of context problem, which cannot be analyzed using ideas of "Survival of the fittest", which is what OP is making "Matsya Nyaya" to be. What is the fish supposed to do? Make a bigger pond for itself? How does that fit in with the law of nature and all that?

Secondly, even if we assume that the fish's problem is of competition like OP says it is, why would a fish ask to move to a larger pond (the ocean in the last round) - where there are arguably more bigger fishes compared to the small pond it is in now. By moving the fish to larger ponds, Manu does the opposite of Protectionism, that is give the fish a larger pool of competition. See the logic misfire? In any case, this entire assumption is wrong and so is the idea of linking the Vishnu Puranam with Capitalism without thinking deeply.

Thirdly, and this is most important, trying to analyze the Vishnu Puranam without seeing Vishnu in it is like using a torch after switching it off. Or throwing away the torch, closing your eyes and searching for something in a dark room. Sure, you may accidently find something, but you are wasting everyone's time. And you definitely are not going to find what you were originally supposed to: the light.

Matsya is Vishnu. Vishnu doesn't need anything from anyone. Vishnu has appeared as the Matsya for Manu's benefit (and subsequently for all of mankind). Manu is not in any position to give or demand anything to the Matsya.

But, what if I am an Nastika? I don't need to believe in Vishnu to read a book, you say. That is fine and dandy, but if you don't believe in or not even curious about what the book has to say about Vishnu, then it is better to close the book and step away and have a nice day elsewhere. This is not about belief, but basic logic: why would you consider as a valid source, a book whose main claims you reject? If you say that you will pick and choose what you believe in, that leaves you in shaky grounds, as far as pramanas go.

If you, as a Nastika, take any reading out of Vishnu Puranam, good for you. But, you don't have any ground to claim this (the very last line of the OP):

… A good leader is not someone who gives you the fish — he is one who teaches you how to fish. That is the first lesson of the Vishnu Puran.

3. LoL2: Manu's weakness led to the Flood.

OP implies that Manu's actions, read weakness in succombing to the Matsya's incessant demands, directly leads to the destruction of his world. The OP literally says (emphasis mine):

And Manu, in his compassion, keeps giving and giving and giving, until finally even the sea is not big enough for the fish. Rains must come and the sea must expand so that the fish can be accommodated. In the process Manu’s world is destroyed.

I don't even know how to start here. This is putting the cart before the horse, flipping the cause and effect a full 180 degrees around. The sea didn't expand to accomodate the fish, Vishnu took the incarnation of a Matsya because the sea was going to expand.

Look, the rains were going to come and the sea was going to expand nevertheless. This flood was incoming and it was incoming so hard that Gods all over world took notice and intervened.

Thanks to the Matsya, Manu survived the flood. And with him, humanity (at least in this part of the world).

4. Chanakya's Matsya Nyaya

Let us examine, for a moment, Mastya Nyaya, as Chanakya says it. You can read the whole chapter, it is quite short, here.

Danda, literally rod, is a symbol for justice and punishment. Yama and Kalabhairava are dieties who wield the Danda. Dandadharaa means the "Weilder of the Rod". The link translates this to magistrate, but I think that is a poor translation. A better one would be "Punisher" since that makes the role very clear.

Aside: this is an important point here. This word magistrate as it appears in Western Empires, especially in the context of the Church, may now make more sense to the Indian audience, given this equivalence being put forth in this translation. This is the kind of problem that Balagangadhar discusses in his book "Cultures Differ Differently", that as much as the West has in understanding ideas like Yoga or Dharma, we have the same trouble in understanding the cultural underpinnings of the West.

Without punishment and the presence of the punisher, says Chanakya, Matsya Nyaya will prevail where the weak are preyed on by the strong. A few shlokas above, Chanakya does clarify that the punishment should be timely and proportionate. This just means that a strong enforcement of law is needed for society to function as it should. This should make sense to everyone, east or west.

5. Vishnu Puranam's Matsya

I wanted to find and link here, the original description from the Vishnu Puranam of the Matsya avatar, to complete this discussion. We all know the stories, from grandparents and parents, from popular references to movies to Wikipedia, but why not go to the very source, and see the basis with our own eyes, right?

The only problem: there is no mention of Matsya avatar in Vishnu Puranam. Yes, you read that right. Matsya does not make an appearance, not even once, in all of the Vishnu Puranam!

This is the version I went through: https://archive.org/details/vishnu-purana-sanskrit-english-ocr/mode/2up. I went through the entire book, page by page, delaying this blog by more than two weeks, to find out what exactly is presented about Matsya. Reached the very last page, having gained some very useful knowledge, but no Matsya.

You don't have to take my word for it, this version has a fairly detailed chapter-wise contents and I can confirm that it matches with the content. I would still recommend you read the first link - since it has the Sanskrit original interleaved with the translation while the latter only has English translation which can be notoriously unreliable.

Note: for example, the word "foulness" is used to translate rajas in the first version, which makes no sens rom any angle. The concept of the gunas are difficult to understand - I would recommend starting with chapter 14 of the Srimad Bhagavad Gita - only made worse by poor english translations. The commentary I link to uses "passion" which is a lot better word that "foulness", but let us just use the word rajas as it is.

Now, of course, you can claim that there is no guarantee that the version I am reading is not manipulated. That is true, all my knowledge is limited to what I get to see, in addition to what I have experienced in life. But, nevertheless, I have a source that I can link, instead of making tall claims in the air.

6. The first lesson of Vishnu Puranam

Hopefully this incident has taught you to go do your own research. Our lack of attention to original sources, means that every random person can claim whatever they want about our scriptures. In this day and age of access, you only need time to check out stuff for yourself.

So, if the Vishnu Puranam does not say anything about Matsya, what does it say?

Surprisingly a lot of things. You can go through the contents and read up specific chapters yourselves, but loosely, it has:

Describing the universe - structure, creation, forms, time cycles etc
A geography of Earth
A genealogy of the Kings of Earth
History of the Vedas
Outlining Dharma for men in various stations, pithru dharma - what has to be done to please the ancestors
Life history of Sri Krishna avatar
The cycle of destruction, the kinds of dissolution, means of attaining Moksha

All of this is infused with identifying Vishnu as Brahman and is a conversation between Maitreya and Parasharar (father of Vyasa).

Apart from Sri Krishna, it has very little coverage of the other major Vishnu avatars. Only Varaha is explicitly mentioned, with some minor references to Parashuram and Ram. Balaram is, of course, covered in detail through the life of Krishna.

What then is the main lesson of Vishnu Purnama? I would love to do a complete analysis of the Puranam, extracting out all of the information in easily presentable form, but for the moment I will remain content with trying to frame my reading of the main lessons of Vishnu Puranam below.

All of reality is Brahman, he who creates the universe as Brahma, sustains it as Vishnu and destroys it as Shiva, all the while also being Kala - time, through which this process runs. All this is one Paramatma, any difference in form and shape, in you and me is the result of karma, past actions - good or bad. Any action originating in the physical world can only have effects in the physical world. Mukthi is not about doing something to achieve oneness between jiva-atma and Paramatma, but being able to see the universal oneness that is already, always present as Vishnu.

The way to reach this Mukthi is through combined application of both svadhyaya: self study of scriptures - Vedas, Puranas, Upanisads, Bhagavad Gita etc and yoga: not physical exercise - asnana, but the wholistic approach of yama (restrains), niyamas (recommended actions), pranayama (controlling of breath), pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses), dharana and dhyana (meditation) to the final state of samadhi (a state of perception to attuned to seeing the true reality).

If you are interested, read:

Part 2, Chapter 13 onwards.
Part 6 fully.

Of course, I would recommend you to read the whole thing and come to your own conclusions.

7. The story of Matsya Avatar

If you want the real story of the Matsya Avatar, we have a few places we can turn to.

7.1. In the Mahabharatha

In the Vana Parva (book 3), in the subsection Markandeya-Samasya Parva, the Pandavas during their exile return to the Kamyaka forest for a while, after Arjuna returns from his individual adventures. Then, they are visited by Sri Krishna, Narada and subsequently Markandeya rishi. In the many things he tells them, the story of Vaivastva Manu is one.

Here is the section from a few different versions:

You can see for yourself, what transpires, as Vyasa says it. Interestingly, the Matsya says that the larger fishes would eat it, for that is the dharma of the fishes, but no mention of the phrase "matsya nyaya" is ever made.

7.2. The Matsya Puranam

One of the major Puranas, this is a conversation between Manu and the Matsya. How nice for us? A full book on the topic.

Here are a few versions:

The second, being from Gita Press, can be trusted. Unfortunately, they don't seem to have an English version, at least online. This leaves us with (1), which seems a bit suspect, given the blatant English/Western/Christian boolicking right in the beginning. For sure, don't use this version to draw insights. You can cross check with the Hindi version if in If I find a better English version, I will link it here later (or if you know of one, please let me know).

This purana opens with the Manu incident - page 16 of (1). Here, Manu starts out doing intense tapas to Brahma and obtains a boon from him, "May I have the power, sufficient for the protection of whole creation, movable and immovable, when the hour of the Pralaya will come.". Then, after this, the events proceed.

In this version, the matsya (a शफरी is the exact species) does not speak with Manu initially, in fact it falls into his hands. Manu, out of his own kindness, places the matsya into a bowl, which in the span of a single day-night grows to sixteen finger width and so on. The matsya does request for switching bowls as it becomes bigger.

When it becomes large enough to be transferred from Ganga to the Samudra, Manu himself realizes that the matsya has to be none other than Vishnu himself and asks it so!

Also, it is interesting to note how the flood occurs in this version. The end comes about not immediately as a flood, but as heat and fire, which absorbs all the water into large clouds. When the three worlds are reduced to ashes, the clouds emerge into a huge cloud mass that begins the downpour. (That does make sense - the extra water has to come from somewhere. Also, the beings on earth don't die of the water, but of the destructive fires of Shiva and the water is absorbed from all the biomass to come back as rain.)

The rest of the Purana would also be interesting to read - which I will, beyond the scope of this blog entry.

7.3. The Bhagavata Puranam

The Bhagavata Puranam has the story of Manu in Book Eight, Chapter 24.

https://archive.org/details/bhagavatapuranagitapress_201907/page/n893/mode/2up?view=theater

It is similar to the above two versions, with some minor changes.

7.4. The Vedas

Apparently, Manu and Matsya make an appearance in the Vedas in a few places. At this point in my own "svadhyaya", I am not qualified to find and comment on this. So, we shall keep this for a future blog post.

8. Conclusion

Don't believe anything anyone says about Sanatana Dharma.
Develop a keen eye/ear to logically reason through claims.
Do your own investigation - go to source material and see it for yourself.
When people come up with their own blog posts, however wrong or agenda driven they are, it gives you an opportunity to learn and grow yourself, so yay for freedom of expression, I guess?