12.175
Yudhiṣṭhira said.
O Grandfather, tell me from where this universe, the world of immobile and mobile beings, is created, and where it goes at dissolution.
This world, endowed with ocean, sky, mountains, clouds, earth, fire, and wind—by whom was it created?
How are beings created? How are the divisions of caste? How is purity and impurity determined for them? How are their dharma and adharma established, and how is this so?
What is the nature of the soul among the living? Where do those who have died go? Please tell us everything, from this world to the next, your honor.
Bhīṣma said.
Here too, they recount this ancient story, the excellent one spoken by Bhṛgu to Bharadvāja when he asked.
Bharadvāja, upon seeing the great sage Bhṛgu seated on the peak of Kailāsa, radiant as if with energy, asked him.
Who created this world, endowed with ocean, sky, mountains, clouds, earth, fire, and wind?
How are beings created? How are the divisions of castes determined? How is purity and impurity established among them? How are their dharma and adharma defined? And then, how is all this so?
Please tell us, what is the nature of the soul among the living, and where do those who have died go? Kindly explain to us everything about this world and the next, O revered one.
Thus, when Bharadvāja asked his doubt, the great sage, who resembled Brahmā, explained everything to him.
The mind-born, known by this name, is renowned and was heard of by great sages; the god who is eternal, thus unbreakable, undecaying, and immortal.
The unmanifest, so called, is well-known as the eternal, imperishable, and immutable; it is that from which created beings arise and into which they perish.
He first created the god, the great one by name; this is well-known as ether, the supporter of all beings, the lord.
Water arose from space; from water came fire and wind; from the union of fire and wind, the earth was then produced.
Then, the self-born created a divine, radiant lotus. From that lotus emerged Brahmā, the repository of the Vedas.
The ego, thus known as the maker of the self of all beings, is Brahmā himself, of great splendor, who is these five elements.
The mountains are regarded as his bones, while fat, flesh, and the earth are his body; the oceans are his blood, and the sky is his abdomen.
It is well-known that in him, wind and breath, radiance and fire, rivers and veins, Agni and Soma, and the moon and sun are (represented as) his eyes.
The sky is his head above, the earth his feet, and the directions his arms. He is indeed difficult to comprehend due to his infinitude, and even the perfected beings have no doubt about this.
He alone is the Lord Viṣṇu, known as the infinite. He is the self of all beings, abiding within them, and is difficult to comprehend for those whose minds are not purified.
You have asked me here about the one who is the creator of ego, for the existence of all beings, from whom the universe arose.
Bharadvāja said.
Please resolve my doubt regarding the measures of the sky, directions, earth's surface, and wind, and explain their meanings to me.
Bhṛgu said.
This is the endless sky, attended by siddhas and cāraṇas, beautiful and filled with various abodes, whose end cannot be reached.
Above the path, below, the moon and sun are not visible; there, the gods themselves shine, radiant and possessing the brilliance of fire.
They also do not see the end of the sky, which is of renowned strength, because it is difficult to reach and infinite—know this from me, O bestower of honor.
But above and above, this immeasurable sky is obstructed by blazing self-luminous lights, even by the gods.
At the edge of the earth are the oceans; at the edge of the oceans is said to be darkness. Beyond darkness, they say, is water; and beyond water, indeed, is fire.
At the end of the netherworld is water; at the end of the water is the lord of serpents; beyond that, again is the sky; and at the end of the sky, again is water.
Thus, the limits of the Lord, the measure of water, and the origins of fire, wind, and water are difficult to comprehend even for the gods.
The colors of fire, wind, water, and the earth's surface, though appearing distinct, are in truth like the sky; they are differentiated only due to the perception of reality.
The sages study various scriptures, and in the three worlds and the ocean, evidence is established as appropriate. But for that which is invisible and inaccessible, who can provide evidence?
When the movement of perfected beings and deities is limited, then the secondary name of the Infinite is well-known as 'Ananta'. The name corresponds to the mind of the great soul.
But when that divine form diminishes and grows again, who else could know it, even if there were another of the same kind?
Then, from Puṣkara, the all-knowing, embodied lord Brahmā, full of righteousness, the ancient and unsurpassed progenitor, was created.
Bharadvāja said.
If one is born from Puṣkara, then Puṣkara becomes the eldest. Brahmā is the ancestor, and you say this; yet, I still have doubt.
Bhṛgu said.
Here, the form of the mind which has attained the state of Brahman—for arranging its seat, the earth is called the lotus.
The central part of that lotus is Mount Meru, which rises to the sky. In its center, the Lord of the universe sits and creates all the worlds.
