Sūta said:
1-3. Water originated from fire. When the earth was destroyed in the fire and everything merged within the water), when, Therefore, the mobile and immobile beings were also destroyed, nothing could be known (seen) in that vast ocean of water.1 Then Brahma, called Nārāyana, lord Brahma of thou sand eyes, thousand legs and thousand leads, the Purusha who is golden in complexion beyond the ken of sense organs, slept in that water.
1. Ekārnava, ‘the primeval watery flood’ expresses the infinite unmanifest cause of the universe. Nilakantha on HV. P. 3. 9. 1-4 calls it the Karana Brahman from which all life comes into being. Purānas believe in this doctrine and use · Mahārnava, agādha, stabdha, salila (HV. 3. 10. 1), Yugānta-toya ‘Water flood at the end of Yuga’ (Bh. P. III. 8. 23) as synonyms for Ekārnava. This doctrine is very old and Brahma-Vādins (expounders of Vedas) have elaborated it to explain the process of creation and dissolution (VP. I. 2. 22).
4. Due to the preponderance of Sattva, he woke up and he beheld that the world was a void. About Nārāyana they cite this verse.
5. We have heard the epithet of waters, that waters are called Nära, and that they are minute or subtle bodies. Since he lies in waters, he is Therefore, called Nārāyaṇa.2
2. The usual derivation of Narayana in other Puräņas also. But Bd. P. I. 4. 27 traces it to Nara: Brahmå causes the sleep (i.e. perfect rest) of Naras (men), hence he is remembered as Nārāyaṇa.
narānām svāpanan brahma
tasmān nārāyanah smrutah||
6. Having spent the whole period of night equal to a thousand yugas, at the close of the night, he assumed Brahmāhood for the purpose of creation.
7. Brahmă assumed the form of Vayu3 and moved about in the water like a glow-worm at night during the rainy sea son.
3. The belief regarding the assumption of the form of Vāyu for reconnaissance before assuming the form of a boar, to lift up the earth, is as old as Tait. Br. 1. 2. 1. 3 which says:
apo vā idamagre salilam āsīt
tasmin prajāpatir vāyur bhūtva acharat|
sa imam apashyat|
tam varāho bhūtvāharat|
8-9. Then having come to know definitely that the earth lies submerged in those waters and being convinced about it by
reasoning (inference), he assumed another body as in the previous Kalpas for the lifting up of the earth. The noble soul then conceived mentally of a divine form.
10. Observing that the earth was overflowed with waters on all sides, (he thought to himself), “Oh, what great form should I assume and uplift the earth?”
11. He thought of the form of a Boar1 charmingly comfortable in sporting about in waters. It was unassailable by living beings. It was of the nature of speech and was designated as Dharma*
1. The germ of Varāha incarnation as given above is in Tail. Br. Purānas have given an elaborate description of that incarnation in Bh. P. III. 13. 17-33, Mt. P. Chs. 246-248, NP. I. 4. 1-52, Bd. P. I. 1. 5. 11-23 a number of verses in which are common to our text.
*Brahman i.e. the Veda in Bd. P. I.i. 5-11.
12. It had a girth of ten and a height of a hundred Yojanas. It resembled a dark blue cloud in complexion. It grunted like the rumbling of thunder-clouds.
13. It had a huge body like a mountain. Its curved fangs were white and sharp and terrible. The eyes were brilliant like lightning and fire. Its lustre was like that of the sun.
14. Its shoulders were round, plump and large. It had the lion’s valiant gait. Its buttocks were stout and listed up (well developed). It had auspicious characteristics. It was charming.
15. Assuming this large immeasurable form of a boar, Vişhnu entered the nether regions in order to lift up the earth.
16. He was the guide for the propounders of the Vedas.2
2. This beautiful description of the Boar-incarnation in Yajña terminology is found in other Puranas also. For example Bm. P. 213. 33-42. Bh. P. III. 13. 34-39. Writers on Smrutis, Tantra and even Shankara adopted it, e.g. Vişhnu Smruti 1.3-12, Shankara on Vişhnu Sahasranama 119-explanation of Yajnanga.
The comparison between Varaha and sacrifice (yajna) will be clear from the following attributes of the Varāha in the text e.g. 6.16b: Agni-jihva Agni (fire) is the tongue of gods. Through the fire gods eat the food (offered in sacrifice). A Vedic concept-Cf. RV. IV.57.1
darbha-romā: The darbha grass spread on the altar is compared to the shaggy hair on the body of the boar.
Brahmašhīrşhah: Brahma is the knowledge of the Vedas-Naturally its position is the highest, viz. the head.
He had sacrifice for his chest and the firealtar (chiti) for his face. The Fire was his tongue; the Darbha-grass was his hair and Brahma was his head. He was of great penance.
17. The day and the night constituted his eyes. The ancillaries of the Vedas were his ear ornaments. The Ajya (ghee offering in sacrifice) was his nose; the sacrificial ladle was his snout.
The sound of the Säman hymns was his roaring grunt.
18. Endowed with glory as he was, he was an embodiment of truth and dharma and was established in virtuous valour. He was engaged in expiation. He was terrible. He had the huge form with the knees of an animal.
19. His body was straightened up. The offerings of ghruta constituted his Linga (symbol). The sacrificial) spot was his seed. He was the great medicinal herb (incarnate for curing distress). The altar was his inner soul. Mantras were his hips. The Soma mixed with clarified butter was his blood.
20. The Vedas were his shoulders. He had the fragrance of sacrificial offering. The Havya (oblations for the Devas) and Kavya (oblations for the Pitris) constituted his velocity. Prāgvamsa1 (the room accommodating the sacrificers) was his body. He was lustrous and had undergone different initiations.
1. The body of Varaha was so big and spacious as to accommodate many men, as Prāgvamsha (the room in which the members of the sacrificer’s family and friends stay) is spacious.
21. The sacrificial fees constituted his heart. He was an all-pervading Yogin in the form of a great Sattva. He was charming with the sacrificial rites of Upäkarman. Pravargya (a rite in which hot milk is poured in a vessel, thus giving rise to fumes) constituted the whorls of hair on his chest*2.
**read Pravargyävartabhūşhanah as in Bd. P.I. 1.5. 18
2. Pravargya-vitla-bhūshanah in the text is obscure. Bd. P. I. 1.5. 8 reads in that context Pravargyāvarta-bhushanah which means “Pravargya were the whorls of hair on Varāha’s chest.
22. His gait and paths were the different Chandas. The secret Upanişhads constituted his seat. He was accompanied by his consort Chaya. He was lofty like a jewelled peak. Having thus assumed the form of a sacrificial Boar, the lord entered the waters.
23-24. He, the lord of the subjects, got at the Earth covered with the waters. He approached and lifted it quickly. He diverted the waters of the oceans in the oceans and of the rivers in the rivers. The lord, for the welfare of the worlds, lifted with his curved fangs, the Earth that had gone deep into the nether world.
25. Holding the Earth in his hands he brought it to its place. The supporter of the Earth at first mentally supported the earth and then released it.
26. Over the flood of waters, the Earth floated like an immense boat. Due to the activities of the lord, it did not sink.
27. With a desire to set up the universe, the lord lifted up the Earth. Then, he, the lotus-eyed lord, decided to divide the Earth. He levelled the Earth and created the mountains on it.
28. Formerly when the creation was burnt by the Samvartaka fire, all the mountains, being consumed by that fire, lay shattered and scattered all over the earth.
29. In that Ekārņava (the ocean of cosmic waters) the waters (solidified by cold) and collected by wind and were placed in a scattered manner here and there (wherever they were thus deposited); they became condensed into mountains.
30. Since they became motionless after being (thus) sprinkled, they were known as Achalas.1 Since they are endowed with knots and joints, they were called Parvatas. Since they had been swallowed and hidden (formerly), they were called Giris. Since they had been collected, they were called Shilocchayas.
1. Note the Purāņic etymologies of achala, parvata, giri.
31. Thus after the worlds, oceans and mountains are destroyed at the end of a Kalpa, the Maker (Creator) of the universe creates them again and again, in the beginnings of the Kalpas.
32. He again created this earth along with the ocean, seven continents and mountains, as well as the four worlds, viz. Bhūr and others. After creating the worlds, he began the creation of the subjects.
33. Desirous of creating different species of subjects, the self-born lord Brahmā recreated the beings in the same form as they had in the previous Kalpas.1
1. Purānas believe that despite the annihilation of everything at the end of a Kalpa, god Brahmă recreates the universe on the model of the previous universe. They state this succinctly as follows: dhātā yathapuram akalpayat.
34. When he was contemplating over the creation intellectually, the dark and gloomy creation manifested itself simultaneously with Pradhāna. *
*A. reads: Pradhyāna-samakālam: ‘simultaneously while he was meditating’.
35. Nescience (Avidyā) with five joints, viz. darkness, delusion, super-delusion, murkiness and super-murkiness**, became manifested out of the Supreme Soul.
**Com. on VP. I. 5 5 renders these as, ignorance, delusion, desire of enjoyment, anger and fear of death.
36. While he meditated, the creation became established in five ways. Just as a lamp is covered up with a pot, the creation was enveloped by darkness. Like a lamp lighted in a pitcher illuminated within and (dark) without, it was pure but devoid of feeling.
37. Its intellect and sense organs were concealed; it consisted of vegetation and since vegetation is declared to be primary it was called primary creation.
38. On seeing that the creation did not multiply, Brahma was dissatisfied and he went into contemplation.
39-40. When he contemplated thus the Tiryaksrotas (the animal world) came into being. Since this creation proceeded obliquely, it was called Tiryaksrotas. Predominated by Tamas, they were mainly ignorant. They took to wrong direction. They were self-swayed and devoted to self.
41-42. The lord saw this second creation of Tiryak-srotas, proud of themselves, conceited and divided into twenty-eight eleven based on the sense organs, nine of Udaya and the eight of Táraka, and other Śhaktis.
43. They were all illuminated within but covered externally. Since their activity was oblique, they were called Tiryaksrotas.
44. Having seen the second universe, the Tiryaksrotas, and having observed everything of it of that designation (nature), the Lord conceived of the (following) idea: Even as he was thinking uninterruptedly (nityam), the Sättvika creation appeared (of itself, automatically).
45. This third creation was called Urdhvasrotas, consisting of beings in which the stream of life passed upwards. Since life proceeded upwards it was called Urdhvasrotas.
46. The Urdhvasrotas beings have abundance of comfort and pleasure. They are circumscribed outwardly and inwardly and are brilliant externally and internally.
47. These created beings are air etc. They are well settled after creating themselves. The Urdhvasrotas being the third in the series of creations), that creation is known after them.
48. When gods with upward stream (the divine creation of Urdhvasrotas) were created god Brahma was satisfied. As he was the competent Over-Lord, he thought of and created beings that would be Sadhakas (aspirants after spiritual power).
49. While he began contemplating, and since he was of truthful (effective) conception, the Arvāksrotas that could accomplish the task of creation, manifested themselves out of the unmanifest (Avyakta). Since the stream of life proceeded downwards, they are called Arvākstotas.
50. They are characterized by the abundance of brilliance and were dominated by the attributes Tamas, Sattva and Rajas. Hence they have excess of misery and are continuously engaged in activities.
51. They are human beings who are enlightened externally and internally and accomplish the task of creation. Through the characteristics of Tāraka etc. they are of eight types.
52. These human beings are of accomplished souls. They are of the same nature as Gandharvas. Thus the creation of Arvāksyotas of Tejas (Light) has been narrated.
53. The fifth creation called Anugraha is of four types, through Viparyaya (Contrariety), Shakti (Power), Tushti (Satisfaction) and Siddhi (achievement). The created beings know factually the past and the present objects.
54. The sixth creation is said to be that of beings such as Bhūtādi. Bhutāli is characterized by contrariety and disability.
55. The first creation is of Mahat. It is known as Mahatsarga. The second is thc creation of Tanmatras and is called the creation of the Bhutas.
56. The third creation is that of Vikāras (the products of Prakruti) and is perceptible by the senses. Thus the Prakruta creation took place with conscious fore-knowledge.
57. The ‘Mukhya’ creation is the fourth in order. The Mukhyas are the immobile beings. The creation of Tiryaksrotas is the fifth consisting of animals.
53. The sixth creation of Urdhvasrotas consists of divine beings. The seventh creation of the Arvāksrotas is that of mankind.
59. The eighth creation is Anugraha. It is characterised by Sattva and Tamas. These (latter) five are the Vaikruta creation and the (first) three are Prūkruta.
60-61. The ninth creation Kaumāra is both Prākruta and Vaikruta. The three Prākruta creations were brought about without planning or pre-meditation. The six creations of Brahma function intelligently. Now understand the Anugraha Sarga in detail.
62-63. It is of four types found in all living beings through contrariety, power, satisfaction and achievement. In the immobile beings there is Viparyāsa (contrariety or loss of consciousness). In the animals, there is Shakti (power). Human beings are Siddhātmans (with souls capable of achieving spiritual progress). In Devas there is Tushţi (satisfaction).
64. There are thus the nine creations including Prakrutas and Vaikrutas. By their mutual combination, the types are many.
65-66. At the beginning, Brahmă created three mental sons equal to himself, viz. Sanandana, Sanaka and the intelligent Sanatana who possessed great power and enlightenment Those (sons) of great splendour and strength renounced (the world) due to their special knowledge of Vivarta (the unreal appearance of the world in place of Brahman). Due to multiplicity, they were spiritually awakened. They were abandoned (by their father). Without creating any subject they retired.
67. When they had left, Brahmã created other mental sons who could accomplish the object. They identified themselves with their position and abided till the final dissolution of the world. (Now) know them by their names:
68-70. They are water, fire, earth, air, ether, quarters, heaven, firmament, oceans, rivers, mountains, plants, the ‘souls’ of medicinal herbs, trees and creepers, units of time, Lavas, Kāşhthas, Kalās, Muhürtas, Sandhis (junctions of day and night like dusk, dawn etc.), night, day, fortnights, months, Ayanas, years and Yugas. These are the positions with which they identify themselves.
71. The classes of society are born of his limbs: Brahmaņas (were created) out of his mouth; Kshatriyas out of his arms; Vaishyas out of his thighs; and Shūdras out of his feet.
72. The lord is beyond Avyakta (unmanifest Prakruti). The Cosmic Egg is born of the unmanifest. Brahma is born of the Cosmic Egg. The worlds are created by him.
73. Thus this first section has been narrated to you all very briefly and not in details. The whole of this Purana, is briefly narrated in this first Pāda (quarter).