Skandapurana 2.9.24
English (machine translation) 2.9.24
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Glorious Nārāyaṇa said:
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Now I shall tell you the nature of knowledge, as ascertained through Sāṃkhya.
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That by which the field and so forth are known is indeed declared to be knowledge.
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Vāsudeva, the supreme Brahman in the vast imperishable abode,
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was in the beginning one without a second, devoid of qualities, having a divine form.
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Root-matter, the cause of effects, accompanied by time, in the light of the imperishable,
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was then hidden, like the night in the radiance of the sun.
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Then, when he had the desire to create the cosmic eggs,
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she, the Great Māyā, first became manifest along with time.
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Taking up that power of time, through his imperishable nature,
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when Vāsudeva glanced with the desire to create, she was agitated at that very moment.
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From her, O sage, tens of millions of pradhānas and puruṣas were born;
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and by the will of the Lord, those puruṣas were joined with the pradhānas.
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The puruṣas deposited seeds in them, and from them were born
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countless cosmic eggs; among them, however, one is now analyzed.
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First the mahat arose from that golden virility of the puruṣa;
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from it, the egoity; from that, the three qualities, sattva and the rest.
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From tamas arose the five subtle elements and the gross elements;
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the ten senses from rajas, along with the intellect and the vital breath.
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From sattva arose the presiding deities of the senses, and likewise the mind.
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Generally, these deities are proclaimed as principles.
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Impelled by Vāsudeva, with their respective portions, they brought forth
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the divine body named the cosmic form, the shelter of the moving and unmoving.
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And since that Virāj person lay in the waters he himself created,
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he is called 'Nārāyaṇa' by the Vedic scriptures and the like.
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From his navel-lotus arose Brahmā endowed with rajas; from his heart-lotus
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was born Viṣṇu, endowed with sattva; and from his forehead, Hara, endowed with tamas.
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From these very places also arose the three powers:
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there arose Durgā of the nature of tamas, and Sāvitrī of the nature of rajas,
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and Śrī of the nature of sattva—all adorned with garments and ornaments.
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By command of the Virāj, they went to the three, Brahmā and the others:
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Durgā to Rudra, Sāvitrī to Brahmā, and the last one to Viṣṇu.
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From Durgā's portion arose thousands of goddesses, Caṇḍikā and others;
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from Sāvitrī's portion were born powers headed by the triple Veda;
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and from Śrī's portion alone arose those headed by Dussahā, O sage.
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There, the Brahmā who had arisen first from the navel-lotus of the Virāj,
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seated on that lotus in the single ocean, saw no one at all.
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Not having attained understanding of creation, nor knowing himself,
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contemplating, 'Who am I? Whence came I?', he wished to see the support of the lotus.
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Entering the stalk and descending, searching for its base,
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a hundred years passed for him, but he found no end to it.
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Coming upward again, weary, he sat down.
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The Lord, having an invisible form, said to him: 'Perform austerity! Perform austerity!'
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Having heard that, and not seeing its speaker anywhere,
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he performed austerity like one instructed by a guru for a divine thousand years.
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Then, to him whose self was purified by austerity, performing austerity on the lotus,
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Acyuta revealed in deep concentration the abode of Vaikuṇṭha,
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where the three qualities belonging to pradhāna, rajas and the rest,
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do not exist in the slightest, and where there is no fear of time or māyā.
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In that radiance resplendent like ten thousand suns risen together,
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he saw Vāsudeva, charming, of divine dark form,
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the four-armed, all-pervading Lord holding a mace, lotus, conch, and discus,
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clad in yellow garments, adorned with crowns and ornaments of precious gems,
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attended by four-armed attendants, Nanda, Garuḍa, and others,
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and by the eight perfections and the six divine opulences with hands folded in reverence,
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that Lord seated upon a throne together with Śrī.
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Bowing low with folded hands, Viriñca stood before him, delighted in heart.
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The Blessed Lord said to him: 'O Brahmā, I am pleased with your austerity.
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Choose a boon of your desire from me, since you are dear to me.'
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Addressed thus by him, Brahmā, knowing that Lord to be the impeller of his austerity,
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and himself to be the creator of the universe, asked for his desired boon:
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'Grant me the power to produce creatures. Homage to you, O Lord!
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And show such mercy that I may not be bound even in that [task].'
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Then the Blessed Lord said to him: 'Your desire will be accomplished.
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Meditating through absorption on identity with me, the cosmic person (Virāj),
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create offspring. Then, whenever a task cannot be achieved by you, remember me, the giver of desires.'
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Having spoken thus, Viṣṇu vanished. Brahmā too, through concentrated absorption,
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in his cosmic form beheld within himself all the worlds formerly dissolved.
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Having obtained the power of creation, he set his mind upon creating.
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Then the Sun, full of the light of the Absolute, indeed appeared.
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Having placed him in the midst of the cosmic egg, he then created with his mind,
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purified by austerity and devotion, the primordial sages, the four Sanas.
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He said to them, 'Create offspring,' but then they,
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the foremost of lifelong celibates, did not accept his command; and the creator of the universe grew angry with them.
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From the brow of him who was angered, Rudra, full of darkness, came forth.
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Restraining his wrath with his mind, he then created the lords of progeny:
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Marīci, Atri, Pulaha, Pulastya, Bhṛgu, Kratu,
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Vasiṣṭha, Kardama, Dakṣa, and likewise Aṅgiras.
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Then from his heart he created righteousness, and from his back unrighteousness;
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from his mind passion, speech from his mouth, and anger from his eyebrows.
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Purity, austerity, compassion, and truth: these four feet of righteousness
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he then created from his four faces.
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He created the Ṛgveda from the eastern face, and the Yajurveda from the southern;
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from the western face he created the Sāmaveda, and from the northern the one named Atharvan.
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The histories and Purāṇas, sacrifices, and a hundred brahmins,
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and the Vasus, Ādityas, Maruts, Viśvedevas, and Sādhyas, he created from his mouth.
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From his arms [he created] a hundred kṣatriyas, and from his thighs a hundred vaiśyas;
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from his feet he created a hundred śūdras—these, along with their livelihoods.
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He created studenthood from his heart, the householder's life from his loins,
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likewise the forest hermitage from his chest, and renunciation from his head.
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From his chest [he created] the hosts of ancestors, and the asuras from his loins;
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and from his anus he created death, Nirṛti, and the hells.
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Gandharvas, Cāraṇas, Siddhas, serpents, yakṣas, and rākṣasas,
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mountains, clouds, lightnings, oceans, and rivers,
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trees, beasts, and birds—all things stationary and moving—
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Brahmā, identical with Nārāyaṇa, created from his very limbs.
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When, even having beheld this creation, he was still not fully pleased,
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he meditated on Hari and created, through austerity, knowledge, and absorption,
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the seers, the Manus beginning with Svāyambhuva, and human beings as well.
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Then, being pleased, for the dwelling of them all as appropriate,
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he fashioned the heavenly world, the intermediate world, and the earthly world.
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Establishing them in an appropriate place according to the kind of action
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each had performed in previous times, the Creator fashioned their livelihoods.
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Nectar [he assigned] to the gods; food and herbs to men and seers;
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liquor and meat to yakṣas, rākṣasas, asuras, tigers, serpents, and the like;
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and he established grass and the like as the sustenance of cattle, deer, and other beasts.
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He assigned the sacrificial offering as livelihood to all the gods,
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and the ancestral offering to the formless and embodied ancestors.
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To the powers (śaktis) born of Durgā, [he assigned] the wine, meat, and the like
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offered by Daityas, rākṣasas, piśācas, and others intent on worshipping them.
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Likewise, to the powers born of Sāvitrī, [he assigned] the wild food of sages, grain, and herbs
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offered in sacrifice by seers and others who worship them.
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And to the powers born of Śrī, [he assigned] milk-rice, clarified butter, sugar, and the like
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offered by gods, asuras, and men devoted to their worship.
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Then that lord of the lords of progeny addressed all creatures:
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'The gods and the ancestors are to be worshipped with sacrifices consisting of divine and ancestral offerings.'
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When worshipped, these will indeed fulfill your desires.
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Those who do not worship them will surely go to hell.
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In this way the boundary [of conduct] was established by that [Lord] whose self is Nārāyaṇa.
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Therefore, what is due to the gods and the ancestors must constantly be performed by people according to rule.
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Then Brahmā, for the protection of the barrier of dharma of all beings,
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also established those Manus who were chief among the various classes.
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Thus, by the very will of Vāsudeva, from the Vairāja whose form is Brahmā,
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manifold creation takes place in every kalpa, O sage.
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Whatever designations, Vedas, scriptures, and rituals existed in the previous kalpa,
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the very same dharmas and authorized persons come to be in the next kalpa.
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That Viṣṇu who was mentioned, also having the nature of the Cosmic Person (Vairājapuruṣa),
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nourishes all the worlds, maintaining the established bounds.
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When the barriers protected by Manu and others are broken
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by asuras assuming shapes at will, then Vāsudeva himself,
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petitioned by Brahmā and others, manifests upon the surface of the earth.
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Whatever avatars of the Lord have been and are to be,
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it is not possible even for those skilled in counting to compute their number.
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For the protection of true dharma, the gods, and the virtuous, and for the destruction of their oppressors,
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and for the welfare of all beings, the manifestation of the Lord of the virtuous takes place.
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That Vāsudeva, immanent in material nature (prakṛti), in the spirit (puruṣa), and in their effects,
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also abides distinct, the supreme ruler of all, in his own abode.
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Just as Agni, Varuṇa, and others, having pervaded these worlds by their portions,
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abide in comfort each in their own world, so too does this Blessed Lord, O sage.
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Just as before creation he was existence, consciousness, and bliss, pure, one, and devoid of guṇas,
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he remains just the same—taintless—even when immanent [in creation].
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Just as ether (kham), entering into wind, fire, water, earth, and their respective effects,
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remains untainted just as before, so indeed does he.
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He is proclaimed to be the object of worship for all, the inner controller, and all-pervading.
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Then, at the time of ultimate dissolution, he becomes just as he was formerly.
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The Cosmic Person (Vairājapuruṣa) who is mentioned here, called Īśvara,
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is to be known as independent, omniscient, and having māyā under his control, O Nārada.
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His very manifestations are the three: Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva,
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endowed with the guṇas such as rajas, their activities conforming to their respective guṇas.
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Those who have arisen from Brahmā—gods, asuras, humans, and others—
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are called individual souls (jīvas), of limited knowledge and dependent.
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The bodies of individual souls and of rulers are termed 'fields' (kṣetra),
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composed of principles beginning with the intellect (mahat); but those who know them are called 'knowers of the field' (kṣetrajña).
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Knowledge of the fields and of the knowers of the field, of the primordial nature (pradhāna) and the spirit (puruṣa),
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of māyā, of the power of Time, of the Imperishable (akṣara), and of the Supreme Self,
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according to their distinct individual characteristics—that is called knowledge.
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Thus ends the twenty-fourth chapter, titled 'Definition of the Nature of Knowledge', in the Śrīvāsudevamāhātmya of the second section, the Vaiṣṇavakhaṇḍa, in the glorious Skanda Mahāpurāṇa consisting of eighty-one thousand verses.
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- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit