Garudapurana 3.10

The Holy Garuḍa Purāṇa, Chapter 10. / Garuḍa said: / Praised thus by the gods, how did the blessed Viṣṇu, Lord of the Sāttvatas, / the great master, enter them, having given them shelter?

I wish to know this, O Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa, O great Lord! / Speak fully, O compassionate one, if my ear is worthy to hear it.

The Blessed Kṛṣṇa said: / The blessed great lord entered into those elements; / free from material attachment, the Lord Hari stirred them up.

In the beginning, the Blessed One created the cosmic egg made of gold, / extending fifty crore yojanas on all sides.

Above it is an atomic component of the same size, of a golden nature; / above that lies the earth-surface of fifty crores.

Thus its component is proclaimed to be one hundred crores. / Then it is enclosed all around by seven envelopes.

The first envelope of water is ten thousand crores; / the second envelope is to be known as that of great-souled Fire,

surrounded ten times greater than the waters, enclosing it all around. / The third envelope is to be known as that of great-souled Hara [Wind],

ten times greater than Fire, surrounding it on all sides. / The fourth envelope is to be known as that of Space, O great Lord,

ten times greater than Wind, surrounding it on all sides. / The fifth envelope is to be known as Ego,

ten times greater than Space, surrounding it on all sides. / The sixth envelope is declared to be the cosmic intellect, O King of Birds,

ten times greater than Ego, surrounding it on all sides. / The seventh envelope is declared to be the envelope of the three guṇas, O Lord,

proclaimed to be ten times greater than the cosmic intellect. / Immediately after the cosmic intellect, Darkness is remembered as the envelope,

proclaimed to be five times greater than the cosmic intellect. / Twice that is to be known as Passion, remembered as an envelope,

and twice that is to be known as Purity, the supreme envelope. / These three combined are spoken of as a single envelope.

The unmanifest space is declared to be beyond that; / there, devoid of limits, dwells the immutable Hari.

The eighth envelope within space is the river Virajā, / five yojanas in width, surrounding it on all sides.

It is most holy, known to destroy worldly existence for the worlds. / Thus along with the four-faced [Brahmā], they rejoice at that time, O bird-born one!

Having bathed properly in the Virajā river and cast off / the subtle body, they subsequently attain the liberation of Hari.

Know that crossing the Virajā belongs only to those of direct realization / who go along with Brahmā, and not to others, O son of Vinatā.

For those of direct realization such as Vyāsa and others, O King of Birds, / there is no crossing of the Virajā [yet], because of their karma still to be experienced.

Only together with Viriñca, in this kalpa, does there take place for qualified beings / the definite exhaustion of all their prārabdha karma.

Thus it happens indeed, there is no doubt; for others there is no total exhaustion. / Therefore, the crossing of the Virajā belongs only to them, O clever one.

There is no crossing of the Virajā for them, nor likewise for their associates, / because all their begun karma is not exhausted, O lord of birds.

And therefore there is no crossing of the Virajā at all, O lord. / At the cosmic dissolution, there is no destruction of the Virajā River, O king of birds.

She should be known as identical with Lakṣmī, the tearer of the subtle body. / The gods known as the Ṛjus are declared worthy of the status of Brahmā.

They too individually exist as endless, distinct groups; / and individually together with them, [other beings] are worthy of liberation, O king of birds.

Indeed, there are countless individual souls, and they create in each kalpa. / Those fully endowed with thirty-two marks are fit for the state of Vāyu;
with twenty-eight marks are those fit for the station of Girīśa; / and beginning from twenty-four down to sixteen are remembered the gods.

Endowed with eight marks are declared the sages; fewer than that are the universal emperors. / Beginning from a hundred births of Brahmā the supreme lord,

direct perception is declared [to arise], as well as the exhaustion of begun karma. / In one hundred kalpas, one attains the state of Vāyu, O twice-born.

In a hundred births, one attains the status of Brahmā, and afterwards the abode of Hari. / Beginning from forty kalpas of Brahmā, O king of birds,

direct perception arises also for Rudra, as well as the exhaustion of prārabdha karma. / In the forty-first kalpa, he attains the state of Śeṣa, O one of good vows.

And together with Brahmā he attains liberation properly, not otherwise. / Beginning from twenty kalpas of Brahmā the supreme lord,

direct perception arises also for Indra, as well as the exhaustion of prārabdha karma. / Only along with Brahmā does he reach Hari, supreme Nārāyaṇa.

Garuḍa said: / Beginning from eighty-five kalpas of Brahmā, O great lord, / does direct perception arise also for Rudra, as well as the exhaustion of prārabdha karma—

thus was heard by me, O holy one, as spoken by Brahmā, beloved of Hari. / Such was stated by you, O Śrī Kṛṣṇa; doubt troubles me.

Therefore sever my doubt, so that it may not arise again. / Having heard that statement of his, Kṛṣṇa spoke these words:

Śrī Kṛṣṇa said: / There is no contradiction at all between what was spoken by Brahmā and what was spoken by me. / Doubt exists only in the view of the ignorant; among the wise, there is none at all.

Eighty is said to be [ten times] eight, [or] eight times five, O king of birds; / [thus] forty kalpas of Brahmā: so meant the four-faced one.

Because principles must be kept very secret, it was spoken in that way by Brahmā of old. / The intention should be understood in just this way; there is no doubt here.

Those who understand it as eighty-five kalpas of Brahmā, O twice-born, / enter blinding darkness; truth, truth is spoken by me.

Beyond the Virajā, O wise one, is the unmanifest ether, / which is also endless and boundless; Lakṣmī is its presiding deity.

Of which there is no counting or numbering, O great lord; / it has no limit or class-designation; [it exists] always, there is no doubt.

Brahmā, the presiding deity of the cosmic egg, was then called Virāj. / Having created that order, the Blessed One is named Hari.

Pervading it especially, O Garuḍa, with the gods who preside over the cosmic principles, / below and above, Hari abides always.

Thus the primary creation has been spoken of; hear now about the secondary creation, O king of birds.

Garuḍa said: / The creation was spoken of by you before, and has been fully heard by me, O Hari.

What is to be known as primary, and what as secondary, O lord? / Explain this in detail to me, for I have great curiosity to hear.

Śrī Kṛṣṇa said: / Those that arise outside the cosmic egg, beginning with the unmanifest and ending with earth, / are all declared primary; by knowledge of them one is liberated.

The cosmic egg should be known as secondary, O king of birds; / that creation which takes place inside the cosmic egg is called secondary by the virtuous.

Creation and dissolution, worldly existence and devotion, / the deities, the chief sages, and the worlds beginning with Bhūḥ—

these belong to beginningless and endless time, and are always of one kind. / This flow of the world is real; it is never false in any way.

Those who speak of this otherwise are destroyers of everything. / This flow of the world is real, whose purpose is the service of Hari.

Truth, truth, again truth, raising my arm it is declared: / there is no scripture higher than the Veda; there is no deity higher than Keśava.

Abandoning all-surpassing Keśava, they worship another; / for them blinding darkness is ordained, and even for their ancestors and teachers.

Now hear, O king of birds, the supreme secondary creation; / whoever in the world knows it completely attains the supreme abode.

Thus ends the tenth chapter, titled “Description of Secondary Creation as the Cosmic Egg and Primary Creation of Elements”, in the Pretakalpa of the Dharmakāṇḍa, in the second section of the glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa, in the dialogue between Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Garuḍa.