Editing Matsya (section)

==Evolution and symbolism==
{{main|Flood myth}}
[[File:Manu and Saptarishi.jpg|thumb|Matsya as a golden horned fish pulling the boat with Manu and the seven sages. Matsya's horn is tied to boat with the serpent, who is also depicted behind Matsya as a symbolic support. c. 1890 Jaipur.]]
The story of a great deluge is found in many civilizations across the earth. It is often compared with the [[Genesis flood narrative|Genesis narrative]] of the flood and [[Noah's Ark]].<ref name="Dalal2011" /> The fish motif reminds readers of the Biblical '[[Jonah]] and the Whale' narrative as well; this fish narrative, as well as the saving of the scriptures from a demon, are specifically Hindu traditions of this style of the flood narrative.{{sfn|Krishna|2009|p=35}} Similar flood myths also exist in tales from ancient [[Sumeria|Sumer]] and [[Babylonia]], [[Deucalion|Greece]], the [[Maya peoples|Maya]] of Americas and the [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]] of Africa.<ref name="Dalal2011" />

The flood was a recurring natural calamity in [[Ancient Egypt]] and [[Tigris–Euphrates river system]] in ancient Babylonia. A cult of fish-gods arose in these regions with the fish-saviour motif. While [[Richard Pischel]] believed that fish worship originated in ancient Hindu beliefs, [[Edward Washburn Hopkins]] rejected the same, suggesting its origin in Egypt. The creator, fish-god [[Enki|Ea]] in the [[Eridu Genesis|Sumerian and Babylonian version]] warns [[Ziusudra|the king]] in a dream of the flood and directs him to build a boat.{{sfn|Roy|2002|pp=79–80}} The idea may have reached the Indian subcontinent via the [[Indo-Aryan migrations]] or through trade routes to the [[Indus Valley civilisation]].{{sfn|Roy|2002|pp=80–2}} Another theory suggests the fish myth is home-grown in the Indus Valley or South India [[Dravidian peoples]]. The Puranic Manu is described to be in South India. As for Indus Valley theory, the fish is common in the [[Impression seal|seals]]; also horned beasts like the horned fish are common in depictions.{{sfn|Roy|2002|p=82}}

Even if the idea of the flood myth and the fish-god may be imported from another culture, it is cognate with the Vedic and Puranic [[Cosmogony|cosmogonic]] tale of Creation through the waters. In the ''Mahabharata'' and the Puranas, the flood myth is in fact a cosmogonic myth. The deluge symbolizes dissolution of universe (pralaya); while Matsya "allegorizes" the Creator-god (Brahma or Vishnu), who recreates the universe after the great destruction. This link to Creation may be associated with Matsya regarded as Vishnu's first avatar.{{sfn|Roy|2002|pp=83–4}}

Matsya is believed to symbolise the aquatic life as the first beings on earth.<ref name="Krishna36">Krishna p. 36</ref><ref name="Dalal2011" /> Another symbolic interpretation of the Matsya mythology is, states Bonnefoy, to consider Manu's boat to represent [[moksha]] (salvation), which helps one to cross over. The Himalayas are treated as a boundary between the earthly existence and land of salvation beyond. The protection of the fish and its horn represent the sacrifices that help guide Manu to salvation. Treated as a parable, the tale advises a good king should protect the weak from the mighty, reversing the "law of fishes" and uphold [[dharma]], like Manu, who defines an ideal king.{{sfn|Bonnefoy|1993|pp= 79–80}} In the tales where the demon hides the Vedas, dharma is threatened and Vishnu as the divine Saviour rescues dharma, aided by his earthly counterpart, Manu - the king.{{sfn|Bonnefoy|1993|p=80}}

Another theory suggests that the boat of Manu and the fish represents the [[constellation]]s of [[Ursa Major]] and [[Ursa Minor]] respectively, when the star [[Thuban]] was the [[Pole Star]] (4th to 2nd millennium BCE).{{sfn|Roy|2002|p=85}}