Chapter 313

“Yajnavalkya said, I have, one after another, told thee the order of thecreation, with their total number, of the various principles, as also theextent of the duration of each. Listen now to me as I tell thee of theirdestruction. Listen to me how Brahman, who is eternal and undecaying, andwho is without beginning and without end, repeatedly creates and destroysall created objects. When his day expires and night comes, he becomesdesirous of sleep. At such a time the unmanifest and holy one urges theBeing called Maharudra, who is conscious of his great powers, (fordestroying the world). Urged by the unmanifest, that Being assuming theform of Surya of hundreds of thousands of rays, divides himself into adozen portions each resembling a blazing fire. He then consumes with hisenergy, O monarch, without any loss of time, the four kinds of createdbeings, viz., viviparous, oviparous, filth-born, and vegetable. Withinthe twinkling of the eye all mobile and immobile creatures being thusdestroyed, the Earth becomes on every side as bare as a tortoise shell.Having burnt everything on the face of the Earth, Rudra, of immeasurablemight, then quickly fills the bare Earth with Water possessed of greatforce. He then creates the Yuga-fire which dries up that Water (intowhich the bare Earth has been dissolved). The Water disappearing, thegreat element of Fire continues to blaze fiercely. Then comes the mightyWind of immeasurable force, in his eight forms, who swallows up quicklythat blazing fire of transcendent force, possessed of seven flames, andidentifiable with the heat existing every creature. Having swallowed upthat fire, the Wind courses in every direction, upwards, downwards, andtransversely. Then space of immeasurable existent swallowed up that Windof transcendent energy. Then Mind cheerfully swallows up thatimmeasurable Space. Then that Lord of all creatures, viz., Consciousness,who is the Soul of every-thing, swallows up the Mind. Consciousness, inhis turn, is swallowed up by the Mahat-soul who is conversant with thePast, the Present, and the Future. The incomparable Mahat-soul orUniverse is then swallowed up by Sambhu, that Lord of all things, to whomthe Yoga attributes of Anima, Laghima, Prapti, etc., naturally inhere,who is regarded as the Supreme and pure Effulgence that is Immutable. Hishands and feet extend over every part; his eyes and head and face areeverywhere, his ears reach every place, and he exists overwhelming allthings. He is the heart of all creatures; His measure is of a digit ofthe thumb. That Infinite and supreme Soul, that Lord of all, thusswallows up the Universe. After this, what remains is the Undecaying andthe Immutable. One who is without defect of any kind, who is the Creatorof the Past, the Present, and the Future; and who is perfectly faultless,I have thus, O monarch, duly told thee of Destruction. I shall nowdiscourse to thee on the subjects of Adhyatma, Adhibhuta, andAdhidaivata.–‘”