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Philosophical Speculations of Selected Purānas [CH.
suffering. There are thus nine creations. The first three, called the unintelligent creation (avuddhi-pūrvaka), is the naturalistic creation of (i) mahat, (ii) the tanmātras, and (iii) the bhūtas, the physiological senses. The fourth creation, called also the primary creation (mukhya-varga), is the creation of plants; fifth is the creation of the tiryag-srotas; sixth the urdha-srotas; seventh the arvāk-srotas or men. The eighth creation seems to be the creation of a new kind. It probably means the distinctive characteristic of destiny of each of the four creations, plants, animals, gods and men. The plants have, for their destiny, ignorance; the animals have mere bodily energy; the gods have pure contentment; and the men have the realization of ends. This is called the anugraha-sarga1. Then comes the ninth sarga, called the kaumāra-sarga, which probably refers to the creation of the mental children of God such as Sanatkumāra, etc.
There are four kinds of pralayas: they are called the naimittika or brahma, the prākṛtika, the atyantika and the nitya. The naimittika-pralaya takes place when Brahma sleeps; the prākṛtika occurs when the universe merges in prakṛti; the atyantika-pralaya is the result of the knowledge of God, i.e. to say, when Yogins lose themselves in paramā-tman, then occurs the atyantika-pralaya; and the fourth, viz. the nitya-pralaya, is the continual destruction that takes place daily.
In the Vayu Purāṇa we hear of an ultimate principle which is associated with the first causal movement of God. This is regarded as the transcendental cause (kāraṇam aprameyam) and is said to be known by various names, such as Brahman, pradhāna, prakṛti, prasūti (prakṛti-prasūti), ātman, guha, yoni, cakṣus, kṣetra, amṛta,
1 The Vayu Purāṇa, vi. 68, describes it as follows: sthavareșu viparyāsas tiryag-yoniṣu śaktitā siddhā-tmāno manusyās tu tuṣṭir deveṣu krtsnaśaḥ. The sixth sarga is there described as being of the ghosts. bhūta-dikānām sattvānām sasthaḥ sargaḥ sa ucyate.
Ibid. vi. 58-59.
Ibid. VI. 30.
te parigrahinah sarve samvibhāga-rataḥ punaḥ. khadanaś ca'py asilaś ca jñeya bhūtā-dikāś ca te. In the Markandeya Purana, anugraha-sarga is described as the fifth sarga. In the Kurma Purāṇa, 7. 11, these bhūtas are regarded as being the fifth sarga. The Kurma Purana describes the first creation as the mahat-sarga, the second as bhūta-sarga, the third as Vaikarike'-ndriya-sarga, the fourth as the mukhya-sarga, and the fifth as tiryak-sarga. There is thus a contradiction, as the fifth sarga was described in the eleventh verse in the same chapter as the creation of ghosts. This implies the fact that probably two hands were at work at different times, at least in the seventh chapter of the Kurma Purāṇa.
