12.224
Yudhiṣṭhira said.
O Kaurava, I wish to hear about the beginning and end of all beings, as well as meditation, action, time, and likewise lifespan in every age.
What is the principle of the world, and, in its entirety, the coming and going of beings, creation and destruction— from where does all this arise?
If you are truly favourably disposed towards us, O best among the virtuous, I ask you this—please tell me about it.
After previously hearing the excellent words spoken by Bhṛgu, my understanding regarding the sage among Brāhmaṇas, Bharadvāja, became excellent.
She, having been born supremely righteous and established in a divine realm, therefore, I ask again—may you be pleased to tell me about that.
Bhīṣma said.
Here, I will tell you the ancient story that the venerable Vyāsa narrated to his son, who was inquiring deeply.
After studying all the Vedas with their auxiliaries and the Upaniṣads, and seeking the action of steadfastness through the insight into the skill of righteousness.
Śuka, the son of Vyāsa (called Vaiyāsaki), asked Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa about this doubt, which concerned the resolution of questions about righteousness and purpose.
You are worthy to speak about the creator of all beings, the certainty in the knowledge of time, and what a Brāhmaṇa ought to do.
To him who asked, the father—learned, all-knowing, and knower of all dharmas, versed in past and future—explained everything.
In the beginning, the Brahman, which is without beginning and end, unborn, divine, undecaying, constant, imperishable, inconceivable, and unknowable, manifested.
Fifteen nimeṣas (blinks of the eye) make one kāṣṭhā; thirty kāṣṭhās should be counted as one kalā. Thirty kalās also make one muhūrta; and the tenth part of a kalā is as stated.
A day consists of thirty muhurtas, and night is similarly reckoned, as established by sages. A month is considered to have thirty days and nights, and a year is said to comprise twelve months. Those skilled in calculation declare that the year has two solstices, the southern and the northern.
The sun divides time into day and night for the human world; night is for the sleep of beings, and day is for the performance of actions.
In ancestral rites, a month is divided into night and day; of these two, the dark fortnight's day is for performing rituals, and the bright fortnight's night is for sleeping.
In the divine reckoning, a year consists of a day and a night; their division is as follows: the northern course of the sun is considered day, and the southern course is considered night.
I shall declare, in the Brāhma, the enumeration of those former nights and days, which are mentioned as divine and human, at the beginning of the year, day and night.
I will now explain, in order, the beginnings of the years for them: in the Kṛta, Tretā, Dvāpara, and Kali Yugas.
They say the Kṛta Yuga consists of four thousand years. Of that, the junction (sandhyā) is one hundred years, and the portion of the junction is also of the same kind.
In the other (types), in those with junctions and junctional parts, and in the three, by a single loss, thousands and hundreds come together.
O dear one, these eternal worlds are sustained by the perpetual ones. This eternal Brahman is known to the knowers of Brahman.
In the Kṛta Yuga, dharma in its entirety stood firmly on four supports, and truth prevailed. No other (unrighteous) conduct arose or operated at all.
For others, dharma is gradually diminished from tradition, but through theft, falsehood, and deceit, adharma increases.
In the Kṛta Yuga, people were free from disease, fulfilled all their aims, and lived for four hundred years. In the Tretā and subsequent Yugas, their lifespan is reduced by a quarter each time.
It has been heard by us that the discourses of the Veda diminish in every age. Lifespans, blessings, and the very fruit of the Veda also decrease.
Some performed dharmas in the Kṛta Yuga, others in the Tretā and Dvāpara Yugas; others in the Kali Yuga performed dharmas as if according to their ability.
In the Kṛta Yuga, austerity is considered supreme; in the Tretā Yuga, knowledge is regarded as the highest; in the Dvāpara Yuga, sacrifice is said to be foremost; and in the Kali Yuga, charity alone is extolled.
The sages know this period of twelve thousand (years) as a yuga. A thousand such (yugas) completed is called a day of Brahmā.
For as long as the night of Brahmā lasts, then at its beginning, the Lord of the universe, at dissolution, having entered into the Self and slept, awakens at the end.
Those who know the day and night of Brahmā understand that his day lasts for a thousand yugas and his night also ends after a thousand yugas.
When awakened, he transforms the imperishable Brahman at the end of the night, and from that creates the great element; from that, the mind having the nature of the manifest arises.
The absolute reality, which is pure and composed of light, is the source of all this world; the existence of the one being is of two kinds: the immobile and the mobile.
At the beginning of the day, the awakened one creates the world by knowledge; first, indeed, the great element—the mind, which is of manifest nature—quickly arises.
Having overcome here, the radiant one sent forth seven mind-born beings; he went far, in many ways, with desires full of doubt.
The mind, impelled by the desire to create, manifests creation. From that arises ether, whose attribute is considered to be sound.
But from space, as it transforms, the pure and strong wind that carries all scents is born; its quality is considered to be touch.
From air also, through transformation, light that dispels darkness and shines arises there; this is said to be the quality of form.
It is said that from light, through transformation, waters possessing essence arise; from these waters, earth endowed with the quality of smell comes forth—this is described as the earlier creation.
The qualities of each preceding one are attained by each subsequent one in increasing measure. For them, whatever extent there is, that much quality is considered.
If someone, lacking skill, perceives fragrance in water and claims it is from water, one should know that the fragrance is actually in the earth, but is carried by water and air.
But these seven men, each possessing different powers, were not able to create offspring separately, without coming together in every way.
When these great selves come together and mutually resort to each other, taking refuge in the body, then that is called a person.
By taking refuge, the body, composed of sixteen parts, is formed; then the great elements enter it together with action.
He who, having gathered all beings and for the sake of practicing austerity, is the original creator and the great being—him, indeed, they call Prajāpati.
He indeed is the creator of all beings; he alone is the supreme Person. The Unborn one gives rise to Brahmā, the divine sages, the ancestors, and mankind.
Worlds, rivers, oceans, directions, mountains, trees, men, kinnaras, rakṣasas, birds, animals, deer, and serpents; both the imperishable and perishable, both stationary and moving beings.
Those beings, whatever actions they undertook before creation, those very actions they undertake again and again as they are created.
Among violence and nonviolence, gentleness and cruelty, righteousness and unrighteousness, truth and untruth—whatever the Creator considers, that alone pleases him.
It is the creator who indeed arranges diversity in the great elements, in the objects of the senses, in forms, and the application of beings.
Some people knowledgeable in action say 'human effort,' but others, Brāhmaṇas, say 'fate,' while those who contemplate beings say 'one's own nature.'
Effort, action, and destiny, by their very nature in producing results, are not distinct from each other; however, some do not discern this distinction.
Thus, both in this way and not in this way, whatever has come into being creates the world. Those engaged in action would call it unequal, but those established in sattva, who see with equality, do not.
Austerity is the highest good for a being; its foundation is self-restraint and tranquility. Through these, one attains all the desires that one wishes for in the mind.
Through austerity, one attains that by which the world is created. Having become that, he becomes the lord of all beings.
The sages, through austerity, studied the Vedas day and night; the eternal speech, without beginning or end, was revealed by the self-born (Brahmā).
He gives to these (newly born) the very names of the seers and the creations which are in the Vedas, at the end of the nights.
Distinctions such as names, austerity, actions, and sacrifices are worldly perfections; but self-realization is described in the Vedas as attained through ten progressive steps.
That which is spoken in the Vedic discourses, profound through the perspectives of the Veda, is perceived at the end, as appropriate, by the methodical method.
This sense of separateness, which arises from action and is bound up with duality, pertains to those who are estranged. But when self-realization is attained, it generally relinquishes its force.
There are two kinds of Brahman to be known: the sound-Brahman and the supreme Brahman. He who is well-versed in the sound-Brahman attains the supreme Brahman.
Initiatory sacrifices are prescribed for Kṣatriyas, oblation sacrifices for Vaiśyas, service sacrifices for Śūdras, and austerity sacrifices for the twice-born.
In the Tretā age, the procedure for these sacrifices exists, but not in the Kṛta age. In the Dvāpara age, sacrifices become disrupted, and likewise in the Kali age.
Mortals, who are not different in nature, having seen the Rig, Sama, and Yajur Vedas and the desired prosperity as separate, pursue austerity and indeed austerity itself.
But in the Tretā age, all those of great strength appeared; they were the controllers of all immovable and moving beings.
In the Tretā Yuga, sacrifices and social classes were united; but due to the restriction of lifespan, these became dispersed in the Dvāpara Yuga.
In the Kali age, the Vedas are not seen at all; all the bridges of dharma, along with sacrifices, are perishing.
In the Kṛta Yuga, the dharma observed among Brāhmaṇas was rooted in those who possessed self-restraint, austerity, and Vedic knowledge.
In every age, as unrighteousness prevails, even those established in their own dharma and the Vedic doctrines are altered according to the times.
Just as all living beings, both moving and stationary, are produced in abundance by rain during the rainy season, so too are dharmas established in every age.
Just as, in the seasons, various manifestations appear in succession, so too, those same forms are seen during the days and nights of Brahman.
The diversity of time, which is beginningless and endless, has been established; this has been declared to you before, and that (time) both produces and consumes all creatures.
Yama establishes the place for the creator of beings through restraint. By their very nature, those connected with dualities act in many ways.
O son, all that you have thoroughly asked me—creation, time, action, the Vedas, the doer, the effect, action, and the fruit—has indeed been declared to you.
But now I will explain the process of withdrawal of the senses; at the beginning of the night, when the day has ended, the Lord of the universe performs this very subtle act related to the self.
In the sky, the seven suns burn with their flames; by their radiance, the entire world is completely illuminated.
