Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

The Geography of the Puranas c13: Chapter XIII Cosmogony, Cosmology and Cosmography

The Geography of the Purāṇas c13

Language
English

Contents

Chapter XIII Cosmogony, Cosmology and Cosmography

c13.1

IN the preceding chapters an attempt has been made to bring out as concisely as possible, the geographical content of the Purāṇas. We shall now discuss the genesis of a large part of the geographical ideas obtained in these works and their place in the general classification of learning.

c13.2

We shall first discuss what the Purāṇas tell us about the earth in its large relations, both in time and space, to the remainder of the Universe, opinions about the Creation, about the size and shape of our terrestrial globe, about the influence exerted by the heavenly bodies in determining or affecting geographical conditions on its surface. In the Preface we explained why it is justifiable, when dealing with the Vedic and Purāṇic geography, to wander into the fields of cosmogony and cosmography far beyond what are now regarded as the rightful limits of geography. The following paragraphs will show how closely the Purāṇic conceptions of the present conditions of the Earth may be connected with their idea of the origin and nature of the Universe.

General Character of Purāṇic Cosmology

c13.s1.1

In the Purāṇas the discussions on the difficult questions of cosmogony, cosmology and cosmography show keen and vivid thinking because they lie on the border between philosophy and theology. It appears at first that the Purāṇics were more interested in attempting to solve the insoluble mysteries of the Supreme Being and the Universe than they were in the world of Nature immediately surrounding them. The first sections of all the Purāṇas give an account of creation discussing all its aspects in full detail. During the period between the 5th and 13th centuries A.D., immense and weighty volumes were written as commentaries on the earlier account of Creation in the Sacred Books, in which complicated arguments were elaborated with the finesse of scholastic logic. In an age of faith, as the period under review was, the religious enthusiasm of the artisan-architect was transmuted into lofty and majestic temples while that of the theologian turned to the elucidation of the words of the Vedas. To analyse these words, to comment upon their minutest details, to reveal the meaning that presumably lay behind them, was not only a work of piety and devotion but an absorbing pastime for keen-witted thinkers. In the more concrete realism of natural science, this period is characterised by keen observation and creative thought but in matters of cosmogony and cosmography which were highly controversial and classical, opinions were either enthusiastically defended as casting light on the Vedas or else bitterly attacked as subversive of all truth. The Purāṇic concepts excel all previous and subsequent literature on these subjects.

c13.s1.2

The Purāṇas deal with many problems, pertaining to cosmology, cosmography and cosmogony. Some of these are abstruse and metaphysical—questions of the nature of the Supreme Being and the nature of time and space. With these we are not concerned. Others are more concrete—questions of the materials out of which the Universe was made and the manner in which it was made.

c13.s1.3

For the sake of clarity let us state some of these questions as follows:

c13.s1.4

(a) The question of whether matter existed prior to the creation of the world, that is to say, whether the Universe was fashioned out of a pre-existing substance or if it was made out of nothing.

c13.s1.5

(b) The question of the manner in which the Universe was fashioned after it had been created.

c13.s1.6

(c) The problem of whether the Brahmā Day is an actual division of time or merely a hypothetical division of the process of Creation.

c13.s1.7

The answers to these problems as given in the Purāṇas are elucidations or elaborations of the Vedic ideas. In fact, the Vedic ideas permeated through the ages the cosmology and cosmogony of the Persian, Greek, Jewish, Buddhist, Christian and Islamic Sacred literature. The cosmogony of the Vedas, which has a strong bearing on the Purāṇic views may be summarised as follows:

c13.s1.8

(a) Artistic origin of the Universe;

c13.s1.9

(b) Mechanical origin;

c13.s1.10

(c) Instrumental origin; and

c13.s1.11

(d) Philosophical origin.

Vedic Cosmology

c13.s2.1

The Ṛgveda mentions a number of gods who performed various functions during the process of creation. These gods were the artists who contributed their skill to the construction and completion of the Universe. They wove various materials into a pattern,¹ and shaped the Universe by blasting and smelting.² The Universe was compared to a house and the Rgveda alludes to various stages in the construction of this Universal house.³ References to cosmic dust as the building material of the Universe occur in certain hymns of the Rgveda, i.e. RV (X 81) and (X 82) which are addressed to Viśwakarmā who is anterior to Earth, Heaven, Asuras, gods and other animate and inanimate objects.

c13.s2.2

Through all this World strode Viṣṇu;
thrice his foot he planted and the whole
was gathered in his footstep dust. (RV. I-22, 17. Griffith's tr., p. 22)

c13.s2.3

and

c13.s2.4

When ye, O gods, in yonder deep close-clasping
one another stood
Thence, as of dancers, from your meet
a thickening cloud of dust arose. (RV. X 72, 6. Griffith's tr., p. 486-7).

c13.s2.5

The views regarding the mechanical origin of the Universe developed in the last phase of the Rgvedic period. It suggests the sacrifice (or disintegration) of the primeval body known as Ādi-Puruṣa who is conceived as the soul and nucleus of the Universe and an embodiment of the Supreme Spirit. The Earth, the Sky, the Wind, the Moon and the Sun, and all terrestrial elements were the results of the dismemberment of the Puruṣa—as a part of sacrificial ceremony.

c13.s2.6

The philosophical theory of cosmogony has its origin in the Song of Creation (RV. X 129, 1-4) which says that in the beginning there was neither being (Sat) nor not-being (Asat). There was no atmosphere, no sky, no days and no nights. The space was empty but for a Unit which was born by its own nature perhaps due to its inherent heat. This heat has been explained by Wilson as austerities, but it may conveniently be considered as a physical action in the process of formation of the Universe.

c13.s2.7

Desire was the next element which grew within the Unit. This caused the growth of further elements of the Universe and led to its gradual perfection. The Upaniṣads further elaborate this and they hold that Death concealed everything in the beginning. Death being the first existent desired to have a body and as a result of worshipping,⁴ water was produced. The froth of water hardened and formed the crust of the Earth on which Death toiled and produced fire and light. Afterwards Āditya (Sun) and Vāyu (Air) were produced from the same body (Death). Thus:

c13.s2.8

In the beginning there was the non-existent. It became existent and then grew. It turned into an egg (aṇḍa). The egg, after lying quiescent for one year, broke into two halves, one of silver and the other of gold. The former became the earth and the latter the heaven, the thick membrane turned into mountains, the thin into clouds, the small veins became rivers and the fluid became the sea. (Chānd. Up., VI. 32-3).

c13.s2.9

The instrumental origin of the Universe is based on the occurrence of parent bodies from which the Universe was created. Agni (Fire)⁵, Indra and Soma⁶, Sūrya (Sun)⁷, Indra⁸, Rudra⁹, and the other gods are mentioned as having been instrumental in the creation of the earth and the heaven—the twin parents of the whole Universe. The union of the earth and the heaven results in the birth of the sun, which is the most important agent in the creation of the world. ‘He is the soul of all that moveth or not-moveth, the Sun hath filled the air and earth and heaven’ (RV. I.115, 1. Griffith’s). He is later identified with Prajāpati, Viśwakarmā and sometimes with the Golden Egg and the Unborn Being.

c13.s2.10

The Unborn Being is also named as ‘Ātman’ (soul)¹⁰ who produced the Universe through an intermediary body. ‘Ātman’ first of all desired to create ‘worlds’ which he did by creating super-celestial regions of waters, the heaven with its celestial light, the moral earth and the subterranean region of waters. The waters encompass the heaven and the earth and their outer surfaces. The Ātman then produced the Universal Person for further creation and deities to govern the functions of the cosmos. He established hunger and thirst in the Universe and created Matter.

c13.s2.11

The central idea of various cosmogonic theories of the Vedic and post-Vedic period appears to be (1) the existence of waters in the beginning and (2) the creation of a cosmic nucleus—Prajāpati (RV. X 121, 7)—the maker of the Universe. This nucleus is often named as Hiranyagarbha (or Golden Egg) which is considered as the source of the existence of all mundane and heavenly entities because it contained fire (heat) within itself. The Aitareya Brāhmana gives more details of cosmogony on the same lines. It says, ‘Prajāpati desired, “May I be propagated? May I be multiplied?” He exhibited fervour and created the worlds, the earth, the atmosphere, the sky; He brooded over the worlds; from these worlds, when brooded over, Agni (fire) was born from the earth, Vāyu (air) from the atmosphere, Āditya (sun) from the sky. He brooded over these luminaries. From these that were brooded over, the Vedas were born, the Rgveda from Agni, the Yajurveda from Vāyu, the Sāmaveda from Āditya….’¹¹ The Kauśitaki Brāhmana goes a step forward. It explains the production of heat by saying that Prajāpati by undergoing penance was heated and there arose Agni (fire), Vāyu (Air), Āditya (Sun), Candramā (Moon) and Uṣā (Dawn). Each of these was ordered by their progenitor to practice penance to effect the propagation of Prajāpati.¹²

c13.s2.12

Not only the Purānas but also the basic concepts of cosmology in different parts of the old world conform to the general pattern laid down by the Vedic writers. The Vedic ideas persisted for thousands of years and with local or regional variations are traceable not only in the scriptures of the great religions of the world but also in the legends and mythology and philosophical thought of civilized nations which have found a place in world history.

c13.s2.13

*Jewish, Christian and Muslim Cosmogony*

c13.s2.14

The opening chapter of the Old Testament called 'Genesis' describes in brief outline the processes of Creation, as conceived by Moses, and forms the basis of the cosmological ideas of the Jews, Christians and Muslims:

c13.s2.15

In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form and void; and the darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day and God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the Waters and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth: and the gathering together of the waters called the Seas: and God saw that it was so....

c13.s2.16

On the third day God created 'grass and herbs yielding seed and the fruit trees yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth'. On the fourth day, He created the 'two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: He made the stars also'. On the fifth day, living creatures—birds and fishes and reptiles were created and on the sixth day He created animals including man.¹²

c13.s2.17

The ideas contained in the Genesis clearly fall under one or more of the theories of cosmogony enunciated in Vedic literature. The work of the first day was the creation of the Universe from *nothing material*; out of which earth and heaven, fire and water and life were to be evolved. It is interpreted that the *material* was the *hyle* or chaos of the ancient philosophers and the words 'heaven' and 'earth' referred to 'chaos'. The word 'earth' in the dictum 'The earth was without form and void' referred to the primordial mixture of land and water, a mingling of land that was not solid and of water that was not liquid. Air and fire at that time were of about the density of water. Similar explanations are applicable to various Vedic materialistic theories.

c13.s2.18

The Koran as mentioned above repeats the words of Moses and casually mentions that the process of creation is a manifestation of the Desire of the Supreme Being.

c13.s2.19

Lo! your Lord is Allāh who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then He established Himself upon the Throne directing all things. There is no intercessor (with Him) save His permission (Al-Koran, X, 4).

c13.s2.20

And He it is who created the heavens and the earth in six days—and His Throne was upon the Water—that He might try you, which of you is best in conduct (Al-Koran, XI, 7).

c13.s2.21

Allāh it is who raised the Heavens without visible support, then mounted the throne, and compelled the Sun and the Moon to be of service, each runneth unto an appointed time....

c13.s2.22

Say (O! Mohamed, unto the idolators): Do you really disbelieve in Him who created the earth in two days, and ascribe to Him rivals? He (and none else) is the Lord of the Worlds. He placed therein hills rising from it, and blessed it and measured therein its sustenance in four days, alike for (all) who ask. Then turned He to the heaven when it was smoke, and said unto it and unto the earth: come both of you, willingly or loath. They said: 'We come, obedient.'

c13.s2.23

Then He ordained them Seven heavens in two Days and inspired in each heaven its mandate; and we decked the nether heaven with lamps, and rendered it inviolable. That is the measuring of the Mighty, the Knower (Al-Koran, XLI, 9-12).

c13.s2.24

The 'Day' in the above context is defined by the Koran as one of thousand years:

c13.s2.25

He directeth the ordinance from the heaven unto the earth: then it ascendeth unto Him in a day, whereof the measure is a thousand years, of that ye reckon.

c13.s2.26

With the aid of the above and other quotations from the Koran it is possible to assert, with equal force, either the absolute transcendence over, or the complete immanence, of Allāh in His creation. The first doctrine was developed by scholastic theologians, the second by some extreme Sūfī extremists.

Buddhist Concepts

c13.s3.1

Buddhism believes that the world goes through periods of evolution and decline—which is one of the fundamental ideas in Vedic cosmogony. It does not reject the existence of the gods but it denies that they had any significant effect upon the cosmic process—in fact, according to Buddhists, the world came into being through the operation of natural laws. The following passage is attributed to the Buddha himself (from Digha Nikāya. 3:28).

c13.s3.2

There comes a time, my friends, sooner or later,... when the world is dissolved and beings are mostly reborn in the world of Radiance (*Abhassara*). There they dwell, made of the stuff of mind, feeding on joy, shining in their own light, flying through middle space, firm in their bliss for a long, long time.

c13.s3.3

Now there comes a time when this world begins to evolve, and then the world of Brahmā (which is below *Abhassara*, the third Buddhist heaven) appears, but it is empty. And some being, whether because his alloted span is passed or because his merit is exhausted, quits his body in the world of Radiance and is born in the empty world of Brahmā, where he dwells for a long time. Now because he has been so long alone he begins to feel dissatisfaction and longing, and wishes that other beings might come and live with him. And indeed soon other beings quit their bodies in the world of Radiance and come to keep him company in the world of Brahmā.

The Purāṇic Concepts

c13.s4.1

The Purāṇas are evidently based on the Vedas but they derive mostly from the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata—which represent the mytho-heroic stage of Hindū belief. Since the Purāṇas belong to a much later stage, they naturally present important modifications in the progress of opinion. They expand and systematise the theoretical cosmogony of the later epics. As the ultimate source is the same, it will be seen that their theories regarding cosmology, cosmogony and cosmography present striking similarities in fundamentals with those which prevailed in western Asia and the Mediterranean lands.

c13.s4.2

The first part (or *Lakṣaṇa*) of all the Purāṇas deals mainly with the details of Creation—primary (*Sarga*) and secondary (*Prati-Sarga*). The first explains how the Universe proceeds from Prakṛti (or eternal crude matter); the second, in what manner the forms of things are developed from the elementary substances previously evolved, or how they reappear after their temporary destruction. Both these creations are periodical, but the termination of the first occurs only at the end of the life of Brahmā when not only all other forms are annihilated, but the elements are again merged into primary substance, besides which only the Spritual Being exists: the latter takes place at the end of every Kalpa or the Day of Brahmā, and affects only the forms of inferior creatures, and lower worlds, leaving the substance of the Universe entire and sages and gods unaffected. Thus the Purāṇic cosmogony is based on the two basic principles: viz., (a) infinite and eternal revolutions of the Universe and (b) the co-eternity of Spirit (Puruṣa) and matter (Pradhāna).

c13.s4.3

Primary Creation

c13.s4.4

In the beginning, the Purāṇas quoting from the Vedas, assert ‘there was then neither day nor night, nor sky nor earth, nor darkness nor light, nor any other thing, save only one, unapprehensible by intellect, or that which is Brahmā and Puruṣa (Spirit) and Pradhāna (Matter). The two forms which are other than the essence of unmodified Viṣṇu are Pradhāna and Puruṣa; and his other form by which those two are connected or separated, is called Kāla (time). Where discrete substance is aggregated in crude matter, as in a foregone dissolution, that dissolution is termed elemental (Prakṛta)….’ (Viṣṇu P., Wilson, tr., Bk II, p. 12).

c13.s4.5

Cosmic Nucleus

c13.s4.6

We pass over the philosophical discussion regarding the equilibrium of qualities and their development at the time of creation; how the elements in successive order acquired the property of causality to one another and how each element was invested by its own rudiment (āvaraṇa) or each rudiment of its preceding gross and rudimental elements. We consider the stage when,

c13.s4.7

Ether, air, light, water and earth severally united with properties of sound and the rest, existed as distinguishable according to their qualities, as soothing, terrific or stupefying; but possessing various energies, and being unconnected, they could not, without combination, create living things, not having blended with each other. Having combined, therefore, with one another, they assumed through their association, the character of one mass of entire unity; and from the direction of spirit, with the acquiescence of the indiscrete principle (Avyaktānu-grahenda) intellect and the rest, to the gross elements inclusive, formed an egg which gradually expanded like a bubble of water. This vast egg, O sage, compounded of the elements, and resting on the waters was the excellent natural abode of Viṣṇu in the form of Brahmā….

c13.s4.8

In the egg, O Brahmā, were the continents and seas and mountains, the planets and divisions of the Universe, the gods, the demons and mankind. And this egg was externally invested by seven natural envelopes, i.e. water, air, fire, ether and Ahaṃkāra, the origin of elements, each tenfold the extent of that which is invested; next came the principle of intelligence; and finally, He who was surrounded by the indiscrete Principle; resembling thus the coconut, filled interiorly with pulp and exteriorly covered by husk and rind (Viṣṇu P., II, Wilson, tr., p. 18-19).

c13.s4.9

A similar account of the first aggregation of the elements in the form of an egg is given in all the Purāṇas with the usual epithet Haima or Hiraṇya (golden). The symbolic representation of the nucleus from which the Universe was created and which undoubtedly has its origin in the Vedas was adopted by many nations. Traces of it occur amongst the Syrians, the Persians, the Egyptians and the Greeks. The idea of the Orphic Egg amongst the Greeks and that described by Aristophanes as well as the consecration of an egg as a part of the ceremony in the Dionysiaca and other mystics show how far the concept of a nucleus from which the Universe grew was embedded in the philosophy of ancient nations. If we interpret the epithet Haima or Hiraṇya (golden) as ‘bright and reddish yellow’ and the word ‘water’ as ‘water-vapour’, i.e., in its gaseous state we can see in the description of the Golden Egg the origin of the idea of a ‘hot, incandescent nebula’ which is the starting point of modern cosmological theories.

c13.s4.10

The earliest cosmogony or theory of the Universe in which the laws of gravitation found a place was that of Kant, the Prussian philosopher (1755). He assumed that the collision of the hard particles of the primordial matter (conceived as supernaturally created) generated heat and rotation as they fell in upon one another under their mutual gravitational attraction. Thus, the original cold motionless cloud of matter became in due course a vast hot nebula, spinning so rapidly that rings of matter were successively thrown off its equator by centrifugal action, while the residual central mass remained as the Sun. Each ring was supposed to have condensed as a planet, which by a small-scale repetition of the same process threw off satellites; ultimately in this way the complete solar system came into being. Kant’s hypothesis is dynamically unsound but our interest in the theory lies in the fact that on the one hand it follows the pattern of Purāṇic cosmogony, i.e., the creation of the Egg or nucleus or Brahmā (or according to Kant, the existence of the original cold and motionless cloud and its transformation into a hot rotating nebula), during the process of universal creation, while on the other it is the forerunner of the very similar and justly famous nebular hypothesis of Laplace (1796) on which modern speculations on cosmogony are based.

c13.s4.11

Similarly, the idea of cosmic cycles, i.e., the incidental dissolution of the world at the end of definite periods (Kalpas of the Purāṇas) and its recreation thereafter was firmly established among the Chaldeans, the Ionians, the Greeks and the Pythagoreans from which Plato adopted it. Although the principle was accepted in essence many and various opinions prevailed about the period covered by each cycle, and about the violence and character of the changes produced by the Sun. The Stoics adopted it in its most extreme form involving successive liquefactions of the Universe. The Chaldeans thought that whenever all the planets come into conjunction on one straight line in the sign of the zodiac Cancer, the entire universe is destroyed by fire, but destroyed to be born again: similarly the world is destroyed by water when the same phenomenon occurs in Capricorn. The theory of a complete and universal birth and rebirth (paliogenesis) was held by some of the Greek philosophers. Plato and Aristotle, however, seem to have restricted the destructive effects of the celestial influence to the sub-lunar sphere and maintained that the realm above the Moon (i.e., Mahāloka of the Purāṇas or the worlds of gods who live in the upper two spheres) were eternal. On the whole, the belief in periodically recurrent destructions of the earth by water (one of which is mentioned in the old Testament and in the Al-Koran) was more widespread and was given greater definition than belief in corresponding destruction by fire. The main reason for this may be attributed to rudimentary geological observations (notably of the presence of shells on high ground) which showed that portions of the earth's surface had at one time lain beneath the waters.

Cosmic Cycles of the Purāṇas

c13.s5.1

The Purāṇas deal with the concept of the cosmic cycles at great length since it is the cornerstone of their cosmographical and cosmological theories. In fact, their whole philosophy revolves round the three main principles of existence, i.e., creation, preservation and dissolution.

c13.s5.2

At the end of this day (of Brahmā) a dissolution of the universe occurs, when all the three worlds, earth and the regions of space, are consumed by fire... when the three worlds are but one mighty ocean¹ Brahmā, who is one with Nārāyaṇa, satiate with the demolition of the universe; Sleeps... for a night of equal duration with his day; at the close of which he creates anew. Of such days and nights is a year of Brahmā composed; and a hundred such years constitute his whole life. One Parārddha, or half his existence, has expired, terminating with the Mahā-Kalpa called Padma. The Kalpa (or day of Brahmā) termed Varāha is the first of the second period of Brahmā's existence (Viṣṇu P., III, Wilson's tr., p. 25).

c13.s5.3

The Purāṇas mention three kinds of dissolution: (1) incidental (2) elemental and (3) absolute. The incidental is that which relates to Brahmā and occurs at the end of each Kalpa. A Kalpa calculated according to the Purāṇic texts is equal to 4,320 million years. The elemental is that which takes place after two Parārddha. A Parārddha is represented by 10¹⁸ years (Viṣṇu P.) or 10¹⁵ years (Vāyu P.). The absolute is final liberation A similar account of the first aggregation of the elements in the form of an egg is given in all the Purāṇas with the usual epithet Haima or Hiraṇya (golden). The symbolic representation of the nucleus from which the Universe was created and which undoubtedly has its origin in the Vedas was adopted by many nations. Traces of it occur amongst the Syrians, the Persians, the Egyptians and the Greeks. The idea of the Orphic Egg amongst the Greeks and that described by Aristophanes as well as the consecration of an egg as a part of the ceremony in the Dionysiaca and other mystics show how far the concept of a nucleus from which the Universe grew was embedded in the philosophy of ancient nations. If we interpret the epithet Haima or Hiraṇya (golden) as 'bright and reddish yellow' and the word 'water' as 'water-vapour', i.e., in its gaseous state we can see in the description of the Golden Egg the origin of the idea of a 'hot, incandescent nebula' which is the starting point of modern cosmological theories.

c13.s5.4

The earliest cosmogony or theory of the Universe in which the laws of gravitation found a place was that of Kant, the Prussian philosopher (1755). He assumed that the collision of the hard particles of the primordial matter (conceived as supernaturally created) generated heat and rotation as they fell in upon one another under their mutual gravitational attraction. Thus, the original cold motionless cloud of matter became in due course a vast hot nebula, spinning so rapidly that rings of matter were successively thrown off its equator by centrifugal action, while the residual central mass remained as the Sun. Each ring was supposed to have condensed as a planet, which by a small-scale repetition of the same process threw off satellites; ultimately in this way the complete solar system came into being. Kant's hypothesis is dynamically unsound but our interest in the theory lies in the fact that on the one hand it follows the pattern of Purāṇic cosmogony, i.e., the creation of the Egg or nucleus or Brahmā (or according to Kant, the existence of the original cold and motionless cloud and its transformation into a hot rotating nebula), during the process of universal creation, while on the other it is the forerunner of the very similar and justly famous nebular hypothesis of Laplace (1796) on which modern speculations on cosmogony are based.

c13.s5.5

Similarly, the idea of cosmic cycles, i.e., the incidental dissolution of the world at the end of definite periods (Kalpas of the Purāṇas) and its recreation thereafter was firmly established among the Chaldeans, the Ionians, the Greeks and the Pythagoreans from which Plato adopted it. Although the principle was accepted in essence many and various opinions prevailed about the period covered by each cycle, and about the violence and character of the changes produced by the Sun. The Stoics adopted it in its most extreme form involving successive liquefactions of the Universe. The Chaldeans thought that whenever all the planets come into conjunction on one straight line in the sign of the zodiac Cancer, the entire universe is destroyed by fire, but destroyed to be born again; similarly the world is destroyed by water when the same phenomenon occurs in Capricorn. The theory of a complete and universal birth and rebirth (paliogenesis) was held by some of the Greek philosophers. Plato and Aristotle, however, seem to have restricted the destructive effects of the celestial influence to the sub-lunar sphere and maintained that the realm above the Moon (i.e., Mahāloka of the Purāṇas or the worlds of gods who live in the upper two spheres) were eternal. On the whole, the belief in periodically recurrent destructions of the earth by water (one of which is mentioned in the old Testament and in the Al-Koran) was more widespread and was given greater definition than belief in corresponding destruction by fire. The main reason for this may be attributed to rudimentary geological observations (notably of the presence of shells on high ground) which showed that portions of the earth's surface had at one time lain beneath the waters.

c13.s5.7

The Purāṇas deal with the concept of the cosmic cycles at great length since it is the cornerstone of their cosmographical and cosmological theories. In fact, their whole philosophy revolves round the three main principles of existence, i.e., creation, preservation and dissolution.

c13.s5.8

At the end of this day (of Brahmā) a dissolution of the universe occurs, when all the three worlds, earth and the regions of space, are consumed by fire... when the three worlds are but one mighty ocean¹⁴ Brahmā, who is one with Nārāyaṇa, satiate with the demolition of the universe; Sleeps... for a night of equal duration with his day; at the close of which he creates anew. Of such days and nights is a year of Brahmā composed; and a hundred such years constitute his whole life. One Parārddha, or half his existence, has expired, terminating with the Mahā-Kalpa called Padma. The Kalpa (or day of Brahmā) termed Varāha is the first of the second period of Brahmā's existence (Viṣṇu, P., III, Wilson's tr., p. 25).

c13.s5.9

The Purāṇas mention three kinds of dissolution: (1) incidental (2) elemental and (3) absolute. The incidental is that which relates to Brahmā and occurs at the end of each Kalpa. A Kalpa calculated according to the Purāṇic texts is equal to 4,320 million years. The elemental is that which takes place after two Parārddha. A Parārddha is represented by 10¹⁸ years (Viṣṇu P.) or 10¹⁵ years (Vāyu P.). The absolute is final liberation from existence. We are here concerned with the incidental dissolution only.

c13.s5.10

The details regarding the processes involved in incidental dissolution, as will be seen later, are precise and instructive.

c13.s5.11

At the end of a thousand periods of four ages (i.e., a day of Brahmā) the earth is for the most part exhausted. A total death then ensues which lasts a hundred years and in consequence of the failure of food, all beings become languid and exanimate and at last entirely perish. The external Viṣṇu... enters into the seven rays of the Sun, drinks up all the waters of the globe, and causes all moisture whatever, in living bodies or in the soil, to evaporate; thus drying up the whole earth... (Viṣṇu P., 6, III; Wilson, tr., p. 632).

c13.s5.12

The intensity of the sun's rays then increases three times and the three worlds including Pātāla are set on fire. The flames then reach the higher regions, i.e. the atmosphere and those above it. When all is consumed, heavy and massy clouds appear. These deliver torrents of water and quench the dreadful fires which involve the three worlds. The rains continue uninterruptedly for a hundred years and deluge the whole world.

c13.s5.13

Thus the sequence of events during the period of incidental dissolution are (a) desiccation (b) destruction (by fire) and (c) deluge. After which the process of creation is repeated and marks the beginning of the next Kalpa.

Secondary Creation

c13.s6.1

The Purāṇas do not stop at the origin of the earth and the extra-territorial spheres but also establish the order and describe the manner in which 'the Diety created the gods, sages, progenitors, demons, men, animals, trees and the rest that abide on earth; in heaven, or in the waters.'¹⁵ After the creation of Mahat, Tanmātras and Aindriyaka (i.e., intellect, rudimental principles of senses) He created the inanimate bodies; then the animals (including birds) followed by divinities. The seventh creation was that of the Arvaksrotas, i.e. that of man. The inanimate bodies include the mineral and vegetable kingdoms, i.e., (a) trees, (b) shrubs, (c) climbing plants (d) creepers and (e) grasses.

Modern Views Regarding the Geological History of the Earth

c13.s7.1

It would be interesting to compare the Purāṇic concept of cosmic cycles and evolution of life with what is now believed to be the probable history of the earth since it was born. Modern geology, on the basis of uranium-lead ratios, deduces that the approximate age of the earth is about 2,000 million years, and during this period of 2,000 million years the face of the earth has been changing constantly. The primeval granitic crust of the earth was eroded by denuding agents like water, wind, running water, etc., and sediments were laid down in the primeval oceans. This extensive period of sedimentation was evidently followed by the revolutionary crumbling of the earth's crust known as the Laurentian revolution during which large masses of molten granite were poured over these layers while the layers themselves were uplifted and folded into gigantic mountains. It must, however, be noted that this revolution need not have been the first one to take place on the surface of the earth. In fact, there probably were several earlier outbursts of tectonic activity of which we have no record.

c13.s7.2

After the erosion of the first 'recorded' mountain chains, large areas of the continents were again covered by water, and thick layers of new deposits were formed on top of the previous ones. Then another revolution (the Algonkian) ensued, accompanied by new mountain formation processes and new intrusions of granite lavas, again followed by a long quiet sedimentation period. Then again a revolution, again a period of transgressional seas and another sedimentation.

c13.s7.3

After the fifth 'recorded' revolution, known as the charnian (date uncertain), the history of the evolution of the earth's surface is rather complete, since the sediments begin to contain fossils of different primitive animals in steadily increasing numbers. As before, the uplifted continents slowly began to sink back into the plastic mass below and the incessant pouring of rain washed away the rocky material of the mountains and high plateaus. Ocean water crept inland and covered large areas over the continents. This extensive inundation was the most characteristic feature of the Early Palaeozoic chapter of the earth's history and lasted for about 160 million years. Meanwhile the stresses in the earth's crust were slowly gathering their forces for the major outbreak that finally took place in the year 280,000,000 B.C.

c13.s7.4

The great disturbances of the earth's crust that opened the next, the Late Palaeozoic, chapter of the earth's history are known as the Caledonian revolution. The processes repeat themselves and similar revolutions occur in the ages which followed it. The Appalachian or Hercynian revolution took place in about 150,000,000 B.C. while the Alpine-Himalayan revolution occurred in about 40,000,000 B.C.

c13.s7.5

The earth's history is thus punctuated by (a) revolutions or periods of intense tectonic activity, (b) widespread transgression of seas and (c) destruction and revival of new forms of life after each revolution.

c13.s7.6

It would appear from the above that there is a fair degree of similarity between the Purāṇic concept of cosmic cycles and the geological revolutions. If we identify a Kalpa or Brahmā's Day with the inter-revolutionary period and the 'revolution' with the 'incidental dissolution' of the Purāṇas and the transgression of seas with the 'Great Floods' or immersion of the earth in an envelope of water as conceived by the Purāṇics, the two accounts tally fairly accurately except in point of time. The Brahmā's Day or Kalpa is given as 4,320,000,000 years while the later inter-revolutionary periods do not extend beyond 100-150 million years and are not of equal duration. It is evident that the Purāṇic ideas were based on insight, logical deductions, superficial observation or even speculation and not on a scientific study of the geological processes. But one must say that the Purāṇic ideas represent a fairly accurate speculation, or logical deduction.

c13.s7.7

¹ *Prāṇam pañca lakṣaṇam*, Amarakośa.

c13.s7.8

² The definition of a Purāṇa as found in the Viṣṇu, Matsya, Vāyu and other Purāṇas is as follows: *Sargaśca pratisargaśca vaṃśamanvantarāṇi ca; sarceṣvetasu kathyante vaṃśānucaritam ca yat* (Viṣṇu Purāṇa, III, 6, 25).

c13.s7.9

³ *Viṣṇu Purāṇa*, III, 6.

c13.s7.10

⁴ The list of the 18 Purāṇas called the mahā-purāṇas as given in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa (III, Ch. 6), is as follows: Brahma, Padma, Vaiṣṇava, Śaiva, Bhāgavata, Nāradīya, Mārkaṇḍeya, Agni, Bhaviṣya, Brahma Vaivarta, Liṅga, Varāha, Skanda, Vāmana, Kūrma, Matsya, Garuḍa and Brahmāṇḍa. This order does not hold good insofar as the lists in other Purāṇas are concerned.

c13.s7.11

⁵ For an analysis of the Agni Purāṇa, see *JASB*, March, 1832.

c13.s7.12

⁶ Refer to Noah and the Great Flood of the Bible and the Koran.

c13.s7.13

⁷ This account also occurs in the Mahābhārata in a simpler form.

c13.s7.14

⁸ *Asiatic Researches*, Vol. VIII, p. 252.

c13.s7.15

⁹ Details of these countries are given in chapters on regional geography which follow.

c13.s7.16

¹⁰ R. C. Hazra, *Studies in the Purāṇic Records of Hindu Rites and Customs* (Dacca, 1940).

c13.s7.17

¹¹ P. C. Sircar, *Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India* (Varanasi, 1960).

c13.s7.18

¹ Gaṅgā, Yamunā, Saraswatī, Śutudrī, Paruṣṇī, Asiknī, Marudvṛdhā, Vitastā, Ārjikeyā, Suṣomā, Sindhu, Triṣṭāmā, Susartu, Rasā, Swetyā, Kubhā, Gomatī, Kramu, Mehatnū, Sarayū. Dṛṣadwatī appears once only with Saraswatī (3, 23, 4). Gaṅgā and Yamunā are also mentioned only once in Ṛgveda.

c13.s7.19

² The only important plant mentioned in the Ṛgveda is the *soma* (which is repeatedly mentioned). The whole of the ninth mandala of Ṛgveda speaks highly of this plant and its utility in Āryan life. Other plants which have been mentioned in it are Aśvatha (pipal) (1, 135, 8, 10, 97, 5), Kimśuka (*patacha* or *parṇa*) (10, 85, 20); Khadira (3, 53, 19), Śamī (10, 31, 10), Śālmalī (Semal) (7, 50, 3), Kumuda (lotus, repeatedly mentioned), Kiyambhu (10, 16, 13), Kuśa (grass), Dūrvā (grass), (10, 134, 5, 142, 8), Sara (Muñja, grass) (1, 191, 3) and Ulāpa (10, 142, 3).

c13.s7.20

³ Pandit D. P. Misra's suggestion that Paṇis were Phoenicians is interesting. They were traders and had probably established colonies in India in ancient times.

Linked texts (10)