ga, four such Yugas taken a thousand times,
make a Kalpa which measures one day of Brahman.[1609] Brahman's night
also, O king, is of the same measure. When Brahman himself is
destroyed,[1610] Sambhu of formless soul and to whom the Yuga attributes
of Anima, Laghima, &c, naturally inhere, awakes, and once more creates
that First or Eldest of all creatures, possessed of vast proportions, of
infinite deeds, endued with form, and identifiable with the universe.
That Sambhu is otherwise called Isana (the lord of everything). He is
pure Effulgence, and transcends all deterioration, having his hands and
feet stretching in all directions, with eyes and head and mouth
everywhere, and with ears also in every place. That Being exists,
overwhelming the entire universe. The eldest-born Being is called
Hiranyagarbha. This holy one has (in the Vedanta) been called the
Understanding. In the Yuga scriptures He is called the Great, and
Virinchi, and the Unborn. In the Sankhya scriptures, He is indicated by
diverse name, and regarded as having Infinity for his Soul. Of diverse
forms and constituting the soul of the universe, He is regarded as One
and Indestructible. The three worlds of infinite ingredients have been
created by Him without assistance from any source and have been
overwhelmed by him. In consequence of His manifold forms, He is said to
be of universal form. Undergoing modifications He creates Himself by
Himself. Endued with mighty energy, He first creates Consciousness and
that Great Being called Prajapati endued with Consciousness. The Manifest
(or Hiranyagarbha) is created from the Unmanifest. This is called by the
learned the Creation of Knowledge. The creation of Mahan (or Virat) and
Consciousness, by Hiranyagarbha, is the creation of Ignorance.[1611]
Ascription of attributes (worthy of worship) and the destruction thereof,
called respectively by the names of Ignorance and Knowledge by persons
learned by the interpretation of the Srutis, then arose, referring to
this, that, or the other of the three (viz., Akshara, Hiranyagarbha, or
Virat).[1612] Know, O king, that the creation of the (subtile) elements
from consciousness is the third.[1613] In all kinds of consciousness is
the fourth creation which flows modification of the third. This fourth
creation comprises Wind and Light and Space and Water and Earth, with
their properties of sound, touch, form, taste and scent. This aggregate
of ten arose, without doubt, at the sam