Vishnupurana 1.22.p4

1.22.p4

There are two states of Brahma—one with shape and the other without it—one perishable and the other imperishable. These two states are manifest everywhere. As the blaze of fire, at one place, spreads light and heat all around so this vast universe is nothing but the manifestation of the energy of the undecaying and eternal Brahma. And as the light and heat are stronger or feebler proportionate to the distance of the spot, so the energy of Brahma is more or less manifest in beings as they are more or less remote from him. O Brāhman, Brahma, Vishnu and Siva are the most powerful energies of Brahma: next to them, O Maitreya, are the inferior celestials—next to them are the patriarch Daksha and others—next to them, men, beasts, birds and serpents and then the trees and plants each growing feebler proportionate to their distance from the Supreme God. In this way, the world, although eternal and indestructable, appears and disappears as if being subject to birth and death.