Agnipurana 17
English (machine translation) 17
- Language
- English
Contents
17.1
Agni said:
I shall now relate the play of Viṣṇu, such as the creation of the universe; listen:
he is the creator of heaven and the rest, the origin of creation and the rest, the cause of creation and the rest, endowed with qualities, [yet] devoid of qualities.
17.1.p1
:p 40
17.2
In the beginning there was always the unmanifest Brahman, not space, nor night, day, and so forth.
Then Viṣṇu, having entered primordial matter and the conscious spirit, agitated [them].
17.3
At the time of creation, the principle of cosmic intellect arose; from that came the ego-sense:
the modified, the fiery, and the elemental, which is dark.
17.4
From the ego-sense arose the subtle element of sound, and thence space;
from that, the subtle element of touch [and] wind; thence, the subtle element of form [and] fire;
17.5
hence the subtle element of taste [and] water; the subtle element of odor [and] earth is handed down.
From the dark ego-sense [arose the elements], and the fiery [produced] the senses;
17.6
from the modified [ego-sense came] the ten deities, and mind is the eleventh sense.
Then the self-born Lord, desiring to create various creatures,
17.7
created the waters first of all, and cast his potency into them.
The waters are called nārāḥ, for the waters are indeed the sons of Nara.
17.8
Formerly they were his abode; therefore he is remembered as Nārāyaṇa.
That egg, resting in the water, became golden in color.
17.9
In it Brahmā himself was born; he is known as the self-born, so we have heard.
The Lord Hiraṇyagarbha, having dwelt [there] for a full year,
17.10
split that egg in two, into heaven and earth as well.
Between those two halves the Lord created space.
17.11
He placed the earth floating upon the waters, and set out the directions tenfold;
there [he created] time, mind, speech, desire, anger, and pleasure.
17.11.p1
:n
17.11.p2
1 "viṣṇum" is the reading of the manuscript marked kha.
17.11.p3
2 "gandhamātrā dharitryabhūt" is the reading of the three manuscripts marked kha, ga, and gha.
17.11.p4
3 The text beginning from "tataḥ svayambhūrbhagavān" up to "sraṣṭumicchan prajāpatiḥ" is determined to be extracted from the Harivaṃśa section of the Mahābhārata, because the reading is identical in both in sequence.
17.11.p5
4 "tāsu bījamathāsṛjat" is the reading of the manuscript marked kha.
17.11.p6
5 "hiraṇyagarbhamabhavat" is the reading of the manuscript marked kha.
17.11.p7
6 "hiraṇyavarṇaḥ" is the reading of the manuscript marked ga.
:p 41
17.12
Prajāpati, desiring to create, fashioned creation conforming to that nature:
lightning, thunderbolts, clouds, red rainbows, and Indra's bows,
17.13
and first he created birds, and then rain from his mouth.
He fashioned the verses of the Ṛgveda, the Yajurveda, and the Sāmaveda for the accomplishment of sacrifice.
17.14
With them the Sādhyas sacrificed to the gods; and from his arm [arose] beings high and low.
He created Sanatkumāra, and Rudra, who was born of his anger;
17.15
Marīci, Atri, Aṅgiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu,
and Vasiṣṭha—these are determined to be the seven mind-born Brahmās.
17.16
These seven engendered creatures, and the Rudras, O best of men.
Having divided his body into two, with one half he became a man,
and with one half a woman; upon her that Brahmā indeed begot creatures.
17.16.p1
Thus ends the seventeenth chapter, entitled ‘The Description of the Creation of the Universe’, in the primary Mahāpurāṇa, the Āgneya.
17.16.p3
Now the eighteenth chapter.
17.16.p4
Description of the lineage of Svāyambhuva.
Other recensions (1)
- Agnipurāṇa (Nag Publishers edition, Delhi) — Sanskrit
Linked texts (1)
- Agnipurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit