Chapter 232

“Vyasa said, ‘Brahma is the effulgent seed from which, existing as itdoes by itself, hath sprung the whole universe consisting of two kinds ofbeing, viz., the mobile and the immobile.[877] At the dawn of His day,waking up. He creates with the help of Avidya this universe. At firstsprings up that which is called Mahat. That Mahat is speedily transformedinto Mind which is the soul of the Manifest.[878] Overwhelming the Chit,which is effulgent, with Avidya, Mind creates seven great beings.[879]Urged by the desire of creating, Mind, which is far-reaching, which hasmany courses, and which has desire and doubt for its principalindications, begins to create diverse kinds of objects by modificationsof itself. First springs from it Space. Know that its property is Sound.From Space, by modification, arises the bearer of all scents, viz., thepure and mighty Wind. It is said to possess the attribute of Touch. FromWind also, by modification, springs Light endued with effulgence.Displayed in beauty, and called also Sukram, it starts into existence,thus, possessing the attribute of Form. From Light, by modification,arises Water having Taste for its attribute. From Water springs Earthhaving Scent for its attribute. These are said to represent initialcreation.[880] These, one after another, acquire the attributes of theimmediately preceding ones from which they have sprung. Each has not onlyits own special attribute but each succeeding one has the attributes ofall the preceding ones. (Thus Space has only Sound for its attribute.After Space comes Wind, which has, therefore, both Sound and Touch forits attributes. From Wind comes Light or Fire, which has Sound, Touch,and Form for its attributes. From Light is Water, which has Sound, Touch,Form, and Taste for its attributes. From Water is Earth, which has Sound,Touch, Form, Taste, and Scent for its attributes). If anybody, perceivingScent in Water, were from ignorance to say that it belongs to Water, hewould fall into an error, for Scent is the attribute of Earth though itmay exist in a state of attachment with Water and also Wind. These sevenkinds of entities, possessing diverse kinds of energy, at first existedseparately from one another. They could not create objects without all ofthem coming together into a state of commingling. All these greatentities coming together, and commingling with one another, form theconstituent parts of the body which are called limbs.[881] In consequenceof the combination of those limbs, the sum total, invested with form andhaving six and ten constituent parts, becomes what is called the body.(When the gross body is thus formed), the subtile Mahat, with theunexhausted residue of acts, then enters that combination called thegross body.[882] Then the original Creator of all beings, having by hisMaya divided Himself, enters that subtile form for surveying oroverlooking everything. And inasmuch as he is the original Creator of allbeings he is on that account called the Lord of all beings.[883] It is hewho creates all beings mobile and immobile. After having thus assumed theform of Brahman he creates the worlds of the gods, the Rishis, thePitris, and men; the rivers, the seas, and the oceans, the points of thehorizon, countries and provinces, hills and mountains, and large trees,human beings, Kinnaras, Rakshasas, birds, animals domestic and wild, andsnakes. Indeed, he creates both kinds of existent things, viz., thosethat are mobile and those that are immobile; and those that aredestructible and those that are indestructible. Of these created objectseach obtains those attributes which it had during the previous Creation;and each, indeed, obtains repeatedly the same attributes at everysubsequent Creation. Determined in respect of character by eitherinjuriousness or peacefulness, mildness or fierceness, righteousness orunrighteousness, truthfulness or untruthfulness, each creature, at everynew creation, obtains that particular attribute which it had cherishedbefore. It is in consequence of this that that particular attributeattaches to it. It is the Ordainer himself who attaches variety to thegreat entities (of Space, Earth, etc.), to the objects of the senses(such as form, etc.), and to size or bulk of existent matter, andappoints the relations of creatures with those multiform entities.Amongst men who have devoted themselves to the science of things, thereare some who say that, in the production of effects, exertion is supreme.Some learned persons say that Destiny is supreme, and some that it isNature which is the agent. Others say that Acts flowing from (personal)exertion, and Destiny, produce effects, aided by Nature. Instead ofregarding any of these as singly competent for the production of effects,they say that it is the union of all three that produces all effects. Asregards this subject,[884] some say that such is the case; some, thatsuch is not the case; some, that both of these are not the case; andsome, that it is not that the reverse of both are not. These, of course,are the contentions of those that depend on Acts, with reference toobjects. They however, whose vision is directed to truth regard Brahma asthe cause.[885] Penance is the highest good for living creatures. Theroots of penance are tranquillity and self-restraint. By penance oneobtains all things that one wishes for in one’s mind. By penance oneattains to that Being who creates the universe. He who (by penance)succeeds in attaining to that Being becomes the puissant master of allbeings. It is by Penance that the Rishis are enabled to read the Vedasceaselessly. At the outset the Self-born caused those excellent Vedicsounds, that are embodiments of knowledge and that have neither beginningnor end to (spring up and) flow on (from preceptor to disciple). Fromthose sounds have sprung all kinds of actions. The names of the Rishis,all things that have been created, the varieties of form seen in existentthings, and the course of actions, have their origin in the Vedas.[886]Indeed, the Supreme Master of all beings, in the beginning, created allthings from the words of the Vedas. Truly, the names of the Rishis, andall else that has been created, occur in the Vedas. Upon the expirationof his night (i.e., at the dawn of his day), the uncreate Brahmancreates, from prototypes that existed before, all things which are, ofcourse, well-made by Him.[887] In the Vedas hath been indicated the topicof the Soul’s Emancipation, along with the ten means constituted by studyof the Vedas, adoption of the domestic mode of life, penances, observanceof duties common to all the modes of life, sacrifices, performance of allsuch acts as lead to pure fame, meditation which is of three kinds, andthat kind of emancipation which is called success (Siddhi) attainable inthis life.[888] That incomprehensible Brahma which has been declared inthe words of the Vedas, and which has been indicated more clearly in theUpanishads by those who have an insight into the Vedas, can be realisedby gradually following the practices referred to above.[889] Unto aperson who thinks he has a body, this consciousness of duality, fraughtagain with that of pairs of opposites, is born only of acts in which heis engaged. (That consciousness of duality ceases during dreamlessslumber or when Emancipation has been attained). That person, however,who has attained to Emancipation, aided by his knowledge, forcibly drivesoff that consciousness of duality. Two Brahmas should be known, viz., theBrahma represented by sound (i.e., the Vedas), and secondly that which isbeyond the Vedas and is supreme. One that is conversant with Brahmarepresented by sound succeeds in attaining to Brahma that is Supreme. Theslaughter of animals is the sacrifice laid down for the Kshatriyas. Thegrowing of corn is the sacrifice laid down for the Vaisyas. Serving thethree other orders is the sacrifice laid down for the Sudras. Penances(or worship of Brahma) is the sacrifice laid down for the Brahmanas. Inthe Krita age the performance of sacrifices was not necessary. Suchperformance became necessary in the Treta age. In the Dwapara, sacrificeshave begun to fall off. In the Kali, the same is the case with them. InKrita age, men, worshipping only one Brahma, looked upon the Richs, theSamans, the Yajuses and the rites and sacrifices that are performed frommotives of advantage, as all different from the object of their worship,and practised only Yoga, by means of penances. In the Treta age, manymighty men appeared that swayed all mobile and immobile objects. (Thoughthe generality of men in that age were not naturally inclined to thepractice of righteousness, yet those great leaders forced them to suchpractice.) Accordingly, in that age, the Vedas, and sacrifices and thedistinctions between the several orders, and the four modes of life,existed in a compact state. In consequence, however, of the decrease inthe period of life in Dwapara, all these, in that age, fall off from thatcompact condition. In the Kali age, all the Vedas become so scarce thatthey may not be even seen by men. Afflicted by iniquity, they sufferextermination along with the rites and sacrifices laid down in them. Therighteousness which is seen in the Krita age is now visible in suchBrahmanas as are of cleansed souls and as are devoted to penances and thestudy of the scriptures. As regards the other yugas, it is seen thatwithout at once giving up the duties and acts that are consistent withrighteousness, men, observant of the practices of their respectiveorders, and conversant with the ordinance of the Vedas are led by theauthority of the scriptures, to betake themselves from motives ofadvantage and interest to sacrifices and vows and pilgrimages to sacredwaters and spots.[890] As in the season of rains a large variety of newobjects of the immobile order are caused to come forth into life by theshowers that fall from the clouds, even so many new kinds of duty orreligious observances are brought about in each yuga. As the samephenomena reappear with the reappearance of the seasons, even so, at eachnew Creation the same attributes appear in each new Brahman and Hara. Ihave, before this, spoken to thee of Time which is without beginning andwithout end, and which ordains this variety in the universe. It is thatTime which creates and swallows up all creatures. All the innumerablecreatures that exist subject to pairs of opposites and according to theirrespective natures, have Time for their refuge. It is Time that assumesthose shapes and it is Time that upholds them.[891] I have thusdiscoursed to thee, O son, on the topics about which thou hadst inquired,viz., Creation, Time, Sacrifices and other rites, the Vedas, the realactor in the universe, action, and the consequences of action.'”