Garudapurana 3.11

The glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa — Chapter 11. / Śrī Kṛṣṇa said: / Directly Hari named Puruṣa, the blessed Puruṣottama, / Viṣṇu, lay upon the waters of the cosmic egg for a thousand years of men. / And Lakṣmī, in the form of water and in the form of the couch, O bird-born one,

and Vidyā, in the form of waves and in the form of the wind, O bird-born one.

She herself existed in the form of darkness; nothing else existed at all. / She was in the Garbhodaka waters, and nothing else existed at all.

Lakṣmī praised Hari in the Garbhodaka waters, O best of birds. / Through the two forms of Lakṣmī and Dharā, Prakṛti likewise with Hari

lay, and in the form of the Śruti praised Hari in the Garbhodaka waters: / “O Nārāyaṇa, homage to you! Listen to my petition:

Destroy the unborn one (Ajā), O fortunate one, and bring liberation to the worthy! / For Ajā is declared as the lower Prakṛti, and [I am] the higher Prakṛti.

Lower by a hundredfold is Brahmāṇī, the fair-faced wife of Brahmā; / Umā and Śacī are lower than she; those lower [than them] are proclaimed.

We do not pray for their destruction at all, ever, O Hari. / In every human being, O Brahman, two prakṛtis are established:

one is characterized by eternal worldly bondage and designated by the word ajā; / the second dispels darkness and is designated by the word aja.

Therefore, the two unborn ones are proclaimed in the world as elder and younger; / one gives happiness and misery, while the other gives misery alone.”

The groups of virtues, such as knowledge and majesty, belong only to those qualified for liberation; / one [sheath] that covers them is proclaimed as having darkness (tamas) as its limb.

O Lord, it protects and veils Mahāviṣṇu with respect to the individual soul; / that should be known as the supreme nature (prakṛti), remembered as the ultimate veiling power.

Thus, that supreme and wicked one is indeed proclaimed as having darkness as its limb; / it exists only among the classes of souls, O bird, never in Brahmā and the others.

It is taught as resembling a goblin for the soul who is eligible; / but the impeller of both these goddesses is the blissful one whose nature is the primal 'I'.

There, O illustrious Viṣṇu, you are beneficial as the one who conceals your qualities, / completely releasing the wicked ultimate veiling power, O great Lord.

Grant liberation, O great God, O great Lord, to your devotees; / for because of this ultimate veiling power, souls transmigrate perpetually.

Therefore, and because it is perpetual, remove it, / O illustrious God! Let this plea of mine be known.

Praised in this manner, Hari Kṛṣṇa, though ever fully awakened, / Mahāviṣṇu acted like one newly awakened, as an examination of the ignorant.

From his navel arose a golden lotus, the abode of the worlds; / that is to be known as material nature (prākṛta), presided over by Bhūdevī.

It is declared to be illuminating like countless suns; / Viṣṇu, consisting of consciousness and bliss, is distinct from it—there is no doubt.

Those men who know it as Viṣṇu’s own form / go to the lower world, as do those who associate with their associates.

And in the same way, the crown and other ornaments must be understood, O Lord of Birds; / Hari's crown and other ornaments are also of two kinds, without a doubt:

They are identical with his own form (svarūpa) and non-identical with his own form; / in the vision of his essential form, those that are assumed are to be known as not identical with his form, O Lord of Birds.

There he created the cosmic egg, which establishes all the worlds; / and during cosmic dissolution, one devoid of liberation who sleeps is called wise.

Its real nature is not to be understood in that way, O Lord of Birds; / for even dissolution, O illustrious one, does not exist for Brahmā and Vāyu.

Higher knowledge in the form of a mental modification is the true offering, there is no doubt here; / the cessation of the senses is called deep sleep by the wise.

If it were real in the case of Brahmā and Vāyu, O Lord of Birds, / how then is it said that they remain unchanging?

Therefore, that is not real for Brahmā and Vāyu, O Lord of Birds; / the state called deep sleep is similar to the dream state.

Understand from me that it exists in Brahmā only in a secondary sense; / therefore, this is not to be accepted as real, O Lord of Birds.

Those who consider it real possess eternal wealth and austerity.
Śrī Garuḍa said:
Deep sleep is said not to exist because it is the effect of ignorance.

For when there is a cause, then there is an effect, O Lord; / if you resolve this with an intention pregnant with meaning,

then tell me, O illustrious one, how he experiences fear and the like? / Indeed, let fear and the like exist—what harm would there be to us?

Addressed thus, Govinda also stated the reason there: / 'Fear is the effect of ignorance; here, indeed, the cause is absent from the effect.

Brahman is delighted, having understood it; therefore deep sleep exists there. / If ignorance and the like were in no way present in Brahmā,

how could he appear joyful? He would not act in any way. / Tell me, how would the manifestation of knowledge occur up to liberation?

If ignorance were not truly his, then, O great Lord, / tell me, why does Brahmā listen [to scriptures] with the utmost reverence?'

Having heard his words, Kṛṣṇa spoke this speech: / 'Know that his fear is not real, O noble-minded one.

His fear toward me is seen only for the sake of pleasing Hari; / it is declared to be unreal, like the appearance of fear in one free from desire.

Not even a trace of accumulated karma exists in him, O Lord of Birds; / how could there be any suffering, ignorance, or the like in him?

He acts out fear in accordance with Viṣṇu's command; / thereby he pleases Hari; of this there is no doubt.

Brahmā is constantly listening; ignorance should not be imagined merely on that account; / sometimes Brahmā is seen as sorrowful, and yet he is not, O Lord of Birds.

That which Brahmā might appear not to know is only for the sake of pleasing Hari; / Brahmā appears like one in sorrow in order to delude the ignorant.

As much knowledge as can exist without exceeding his inherent capacity, / exactly that much exists in Brahmā; no doubt should be entertained here.

The manifestation of knowledge is indeed the attainment, through reverence, / of knowledge that already exists; this is remembered as the manifestation of knowledge.

Therefore, [real] ignorance and the like do not belong to Brahmā, the supreme lord. / The four-faced Brahmā was born from the golden lotus.

Ever endowed with contemplation, he engaged in self-inquiry / in order to delude the ignorant and only for the sake of pleasing Hari.

His resolve is likewise so, not produced out of ignorance. / Considering, "Who indeed has created me here?", that lord,

Brahmā entered the stalk of the lotus in order to investigate him.

Thus ends the eleventh chapter, titled 'Determination of the Cause of Ignorance', in the dialogue between Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Garuḍa, in the section on Dharma, in the second part of the Uttarakhaṇḍa of the glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa.