THE STORY OF MATSYA

Manu, first man on earth, was performing a sacrifice when a fish from a nearby
river begged for Manu to protect him against the big fishes. Manu agreed and put
him inside a jar filled with water. However, by the next day, the fish had outgrown
the tank. He switched the fish to a tank, and when it outgrew the tank, he put it
in a lake, then the river Ganga, and finally the ocean itself. The fish revealed
itself to be Lord Vishnu, and Vishnu warned Manu that the gods were going to
unleash a great deluge on the earth to cleanse it of evil. The fish instructed Manu
to build a boat and have all species of plants & animals and the seven most
important sages on it. Manu did so, and when the great deluge came, the fish asked
Manu to tie a rope to it and the boat, for it would take it to the highest of
mountains so that all species on Earth would be safe. After the deluge ended, Manu
and the seven sages rebuilt the earth/