1. Verily, in the beginning all this was Self, one only; there was nothing else blinking whatsoever.

2. He thought: 'Shall I send forth worlds?' (1) He sent forth these worlds,

3. Ambhas (water), Mariki (light), Mara (mortal), and Ap (water).

4. That Ambhas (water) is above the heaven, and it is heaven, the support. The Marikis (the lights) are the sky. The Mara (mortal) is the earth, and the waters under the earth are the Ap world . (2)

5. He thought: 'There are these worlds; shall I send forth guardians of the worlds?'

He then formed the Purusha (the person) , taking him forth from the water . (3)

6. He brooded on him , and when that person had thus been brooded on, a mouth burst forth like an egg. From the mouth proceeded speech, from speech Agni (fire) .

Nostrils burst forth. From the nostrils proceeded scent (prana) , from scent Vayu (air).

Eyes burst forth. From the eyes proceeded sight, from sight Aditya (sun).

Ears burst forth. From the ears proceeded hearing, from hearing the Dis (quarters of the world),

Skin burst forth. From the skin proceeded hairs (sense of touch), from the hairs shrubs and trees.

The heart burst forth. From the heart proceeded mind, from mind Kandramas (moon).

The navel burst forth. From the navel proceeded the Apana (the down-breathing) , from Apana death.

The generative organ burst forth. From the organ proceeded seed, from seed water. (4)

Footnotes

^237:1 Before the creation. Comm.

^237:2 Blinking, mishat, i. e. living; cf. Rv. X, 190, 2, visvasya mishato vasi, the lord of all living. Sayana seems to take mishat as a 3rd pers. sing.

^237:3 The names of the four worlds are peculiar. Ambhas means water, and is the name given to the highest world, the waters above the heaven, and heaven itself. Marikis are rays, here used as a name of the sky, antariksha. Mara means dying, and the earth is called so, because all creatures living there must die. Ap is water, here explained as the waters under the earth. The usual division of the world is threefold, earth, sky, and heaven. Here it is fourfold, the fourth division being the water round the earth, or, as the commentator says, under the earth. Ambhas was probably intended for the highest heaven (dyaus), and was then explained both as what is above the heaven and as heaven itself, the support. If we translate, like Sankara and Colebrooke, I the water is the region above the heaven which heaven upholds,' we should lose heaven altogether, yet heaven, as the third with sky and earth, is essential in the Indian view of the world.

^238:1 Purusha; an embodied being, Colebrooke; a being of human shape, Roer; purushakaram viratpindam, Sayana.

^238:2 According to the commentator, from the five elements, beginning with water. That person is meant for the Virag.