Vishnupurana 1.2.p1

A Prose English Translation of Vishnupuranam 1.2.p1

Language: English

1.2.p1.1

Parāçara said:—"I bow unto Him that is holy and eternal—the supreme Soul who is ever uniform,—even Vishnu, the Lord of all. I bow unto Hiranyagarbha, unto Hara and Sankara, unto Vasudeva the saviour, even him who bringeth about creation, maintenance and destruction to everything. I bow unto him that is uniform yet hath a multiplicity of forms; who is both subtle and gross;—who is manifested and unmanifested; unto Vishnu, the cause of salvation. I bow unto Vishnu, the supreme Soul, who pervadeth the universe, and who is the fundamental cause of the creation, sustenance and extinction of everything. And bowing down unto Him, who is the stay of the universe,—who is minuter than the minutest monad,—who resides in every being—unto the undeteriorating foremost Purusha, who is extremely pure, and constitutes knowledge of the highest kind,—who in consequence of the erroneous sight (of people) seemeth to be endowed with a shape; unto the Vishnu who can compass the creation, maintenance and destruction of the universe,—saluting the Lord of the world, un-born, unchangeable and undeteriorating,—I shall relate what formerly, asked by Paksha and other great ascetics, the reverend lotus sprung Great-sire said unto them, and what they rehearsed unto king Purukutsa on the banks of the Narmadā; and what he, in his turn, related to Sāraswata,—and the last unto me.

1.2.p1.2

He who is Prime and Greater than the greatest, who is the supreme Soul resident in himself,—who cannot be differentiated by by form, color, etc, who is without deterioration or destruction, and without birth, growth and dissolution; who can only be asserted as existing,—is called by the learned Vāsudeva, in consequence of his existing everywhere and in all objects. That Brahmā is prime and eternal,—without birth, change or deterioration. He is uniform, and pure in consequence of the absence of the ignoble. He is all this (that is)—he is Manifested and Unmanifested; and he exists as the Primal Purusha and Time. O twice-born one, the first form of the Primæval Brahmā is a Male Being. His other forms are Manifested and Unmanifested, Time and the rest. The wise see that sacred state of Vishnu, which is superior to Pradhāna Purusha, Manifest and Time. The forms of Vishnu, first consisting of Pradhāna, Purusha, Manifest and Time are the causes and expressions of creation, sustenance, and destruction. Do thou understand that Vyakta, Vishnu, Avyakta, Purusha and Time are the exertions of Him, resembling those of a child sporting. That which is the Unmanifested Cause, is called subtle Nature by the foremost saints,—external, and instinct with cause and effect. It is indestructible, supportless, immeasurable, undeteriorating, real devoid of sound or touch, and without form, etc. It hath three several modes;—and is the mother of the Universe, without beginning and is the end of all.

1.2.p1.3

Formerly after the universal dissolution, everything was permeated by it. O Brāhmana, those versed in the language of the Veda,—exercising self-control and meditating the Deity, read the sense expressive of Pradhāna, thus. Day was not, nor night, nor sky, nor earth. And there was neither darkness nor yet light. And there existed then Pradhāna, Brahmā and the Purusha,—incapable of being apprehended by ear and the other organs, or the intellect. As O Vipra, the prime Vishnu hath two forms, Pradhāna and Purusha, so, O twice-born one, he hath another, which is joined to him (on the occasion of creation) and severed from him during the universal dissolution; and this is called Kāla. (Time). During the past dissolution, in consequence of the Vyakta remaining nascent in Prakriti, this circumstance in popular parlance is called Kāla. O twice-born one, the revered Kāla hath no beginning and hath no end; and in it genesis, stability and dissolution are uninterrupted. On the occasion of the universal dissolution, when Prakriti and Purusha remain separate, O Maitreya, there exists the form of Vishnu termed Kāla. Then at the time of creation, the supreme Brahmā, the Prime spirit pervading the universe, reaching everywhere—the lord of all beings, and the soul of all—the foremost Lord, Hari, entering into Pradhāna and Purusha, agitated them. And as odour, simply by reason of its proximity, and without any act, stirreth the mind, even so did the Supreme Lord.

1.2.p1.4

That best of males, O Brāhmana, is he that stirreth, and He it is that is stirred; he possessing in himself the three modes alike when in equilibrium and when not, entereth into Pradhāna. And that Lord of lords, Vishnu, manifests himself in gross elements in subtle objects, and in such forms as Brahmā and others. And, O best of twice-born ones, on the occasion of creation, from the equipoise of the principles presided over by Kshetrajna, springs up that which manifests the principles. And then Pradhāna overspread Mahat; and the three kinds of Mahat pertaining respectively to goodness, passion and foulness, were enveloped by Pradhāna, even as the rind envelopeth the seed. And from the three kinds of Mahat sprang three kinds of ahankāra; (consciousness,) viz., vaikārika, taijasa and bhutādi. And, O mighty ascetic, as Pradhāna had enveloped Mahat, that cause of the elements and the senses, viz., akankāra from its containing the three principles, was in its turn, enveloped by Mahat. Then the bhutādi, etc., being wrought, produced the rudiments of sound, and from the latter came into being ether, having the property of sound. And (anon) the bhutādi overspread the rudiments of sound as well as the ether; and, ether being wrought, produced the rudiments of touch; and then sprang the powerful air, whose property is known to be touch. And ether furnished with nascent audibility, covered air, endowed with tangibility. And then the air, wrought up, brought forth the rudiments of form.

1.2.p1.5

Light came from the air, and its property is said to be form. And the rudimental air endowed with touch, enveloped the rudimental tangibility. And light, being agitated, caused the taste; and therefrom sprang water, the residence of taste. And the rudiments of form overspread the rudiments of taste. And water, stirred, developed the rudiments of odour; therefrom sprang hardness endued with the property of odour. The subtle condition of a property existing in diverse objects is called Tanmātra. In consequence of the Tanmātras not being differentiated, they are undistinguishable; they are not agreeable or unpleasant of cause dullness,—and they are not marked by any distinguishing feature. From the consciousness related to darkness sprang the five rudiments and the five elements; from the conciousness relating to light sprang the organs of sense and from the consciousness relating to goodness sprang the ten deities. The mind is the eleventh (organ). The deities are known to have sprung from the principle of goodness. O twice-born one, the touch, the eye, the nose, the tongue, and the ear for the fifth, are designed for the perception of sound, etc. and are backed by intellect. The other organs are the anus, the organs of generation, the hands, the feet, and the vocal organs for the fifth; and the functions of these are excretion, articulation, motion, and mechanic labor. Ether, air, light, water, and earth, O Brāhmana, are respectively furnished with the properties of sound etc.

1.2.p1.6

and in consequence of their being agreeable or otherwise, or bringing on delusion,—they are known as Vicesha.

Linked texts (1)

Viṣṇupurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit