Studies in the Epics and Puranas c8.68

c8.68

So far mythological explanations of the creation of objects from the primeval Ātman have been considered. The *Taittirīya* supplies us with an emanatory theory of cosmogony where we are told that "from Ātman in the first instance proceeded space, from space air, from air fire, from fire water, and from water the earth."[34] This passage has served as a standing crux to all absolutistic interpreters of Upaniṣadic philosophy who tried to reduce everything except the Ātman to an illusion.