Vishnupurana 1.5.7
The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition 1.5.7
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1.5.7
PARÁŚARA.--Created beings, although they are destroyed (in their individual forms) at the periods of dissolution, yet, being affected by the good or evil acts of former existence, they are never exempted from their consequences; and when Brahmá creates the world anew, they are the progeny of his will, in the fourfold condition of gods, men, animals, or inanimate things. Brahmá then, being desirous of creating the four orders of beings, termed gods, demons, progenitors, and men, collected his mind into itself. Whilst thus concentrated, the quality of darkness pervaded his body; and thence the demons (the Asuras) were first born, issuing from his thigh. Brahmá then abandoned that form which was, composed of the rudiment of darkness, and which, being deserted by him, became night. Continuing to create, but assuming a different. shape, he experienced pleasure; and thence from his mouth proceeded the gods, endowed with the quality of goodness. The form abandoned by him, became day, in which the good quality predominates; and hence by day the gods are most powerful, and by night the demons. He next adopted another person, in which the rudiment of goodness also prevailed; and thinking of himself, as the father of the world, the progenitors (the Pitris) were born from his side. The body, when he abandoned, it, became the Sandhyá (or evening twilight), the interval between day and night. Brahmá then assumed another person, pervaded by the quality of foulness; and from this, men, in whom foulness (or passion) predominates, were produced. Quickly abandoning that body, it became morning twilight, or the dawn. At the appearance of this light of day, men feel most vigour; while the progenitors are most powerful in the evening season. In this manner, Maitreya, Jyotsná (dawn), Rátri (night), Ahar (day), and Sandhyá (evening), are the four bodies of Brahmá invested by the three qualities.
1.5.7.n1
These reiterated, and not always very congruous accounts of the creation are explained by the Puráńas as referring to different Kalpas, or renovations of the world, and therefore involving no incompatibility. A better reason for their appearance is the probability that they have been borrowed from different original authorities. The account that follows is evidently modified by the Yogi Saivas, by its general mysticism, and by the expressions with which it begins: 'Collecting his mind into itself,' according to the comment, is the performance of the Yoga (Yúyuje). The term Ambhánsi, lit. 'waters,' for the four orders of beings, gods, demons, men, and Pitris, is also a peculiar, and probably mystic term. The commentator says it occurs in the Vedas as a synonyme of gods. The Váyu Puráńa derives it from 'to shine,' because the different orders of beings shine or flourish severally by moonlight, night, day, and twilight: &c.
1.5.7.n2
This account is given in several other Puráńas: in the Kúrma with more simplicity; in the Padma, Linga, and Váyu with more detail. The Bhágavata, as usual, amplifies still more copiously, and mixes up much absurdity with the account. Thus the person of Sandhyá, 'evening twilight,' is thus described: "She appeared with eyes rolling with passion, whilst her lotus-like feet sounded with tinkling ornaments: a muslin vest depended from her waist, secured by a golden zone: her breasts were protuberant, and close together; her nose was elegant; her tongue beautiful; her face was bright with smiles, and she modestly concealed it with the skirts of her robe; whilst the dark curls clustered round her brow." The Asuras address her, and win her to become their bride. To the four forms of our text, the same work adds, Tandrí, 'sloth;' Jrimbhiká, 'yawning;' Nidrá, 'sleep;' Unmáda, 'insanity;' Antarddhána, 'disappearance;' Pratibimba, 'reflexion;' which become the property of Pisáchas, Kinnaras, Bhútas, Gandherbas, Vidyádharas, Sádhyas, Pitris, and Menus. The notions of night, day, twilight, and moonlight being derived from Brahmá, seem to have originated with the Vedas. Thus the commentator on the Bhágavata observes, 'That which was his body, and was left, was darkness: this is the Śruti.' All the authorities place night before day, and the Asuras or Titans before the gods, in the order of appearance; as did Hesiod and other ancient theogonists.
Linked texts (1)
- Viṣṇupurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit