Brahmā Sṛshṭi Krama

Creation went on after the Liṅgodbhava, when Bhagavān Śiva appeared as a pillar of light before Brahmā and Vishṇu. Brahmā tried to create five times before Bhagavān Sadāśiva appeared as Ardhanārīśvara from between his eyebrows. Brahmā then made the great ṛshis, split his body into Svāyaṃbhuva Manu and Śatarūpā, and the daughters of Daksha filled the three worlds with beings. The chapters end by explaining how Brahmā, Vishṇu and Rudra and their three Śaktis all come from Śiva, and that Satīdevī is Śivā herself, born as Daksha’s daughter.

Creation begins again

Sadāśiva had withdrawn from Brahmā and Vishṇu after the revelation of Śabda-Brahma. The two devas were filled with deep fulfilment. They gave up their special forms: Brahmā his white haṃsa (swan) body and Vishṇu his white varāha (boar) body, and each took up his own divine nature again. By the grace of Śambhu, Vishṇu took his eternal home in Vaikuṇṭha, beyond the brahmāṇḍa (the cosmic egg of the world). Brahmā felt the wish to create and took water in his cupped hands from the first ocean.

From that water rose a great Virāṭ-aṇḍa, the cosmic egg. It was made of the twenty-four tattvas (principles) but was lifeless and had no consciousness. Brahmā meditated on Vishṇu for twelve years. Vishṇu appeared, and at Brahmā’s prayer he entered the Virāṭ-aṇḍa in his ananta (boundless) form, with countless heads, eyes and feet, filling the whole egg. The moment Vishṇu entered, the egg of twenty-four tattvas was filled with consciousness. So Vishṇu, as the Virāṭ-purusha, came to preside over all seven worlds from Pātāla to Satya. Above those seven worlds stands Kailāsa, which is beyond pralaya (dissolution). Beyond the brahmāṇḍa stands Vaikuṇṭha.

Brahmā’s five attempts at creation

Brahmā was set on creating. He went through five attempts, and each fell short as a means for the purushārthas (the aims of human life).

1. Pāpasarga. The first creation was full of tamo-guṇa and the five avidyās (ignorance, ego, attachment, aversion, fear of death). Brahmā saw it and grieved, for it was not fit for dharma.
2. Mukhya Sarga (trees, creepers and the like). The second creation was of trees, plants, creepers and beings that cannot move. This too could not serve the purushārthas well enough.
3. Tiryak-srotas. The creation of animals and birds, whose consciousness flows sideways. This too was seen as not enough.
4. Ūrdhva-srotas. The creation of the devas, beings of sattva whose consciousness flows upward, full of bliss and truth. Even this, Brahmā saw, was not enough for the full range of purushārthas.
5. Arvāk-srotas. By Śiva’s command, the creation of human beings (mānusha sarga). They are mainly rajo-guṇa, their consciousness flows downward, and they can reach all four purushārthas: dharma, artha, kāma and moksha.

Besides these, the Bhūtādi sarga arose by the will of Mahādeva. From prakṛti by itself arose three more: the Mahat sarga (the total buddhi), the Bhūta-sūkshma sarga (the subtle elements) and the Pāñcabhautika or Vaikārika sarga (the gross elements). Together these are called eight kinds of sarga. The ninth is the Kaumāra sarga, the creation of the mind-born sons of Brahmā, which is both prākṛta and vaikṛta. Brahmā says that he cannot list the many kinds inside each sarga.

The Sanakādi mind-born sons

In the Kaumāra sarga Brahmā’s mind-born sons were born: Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanātana, Sanatkumāra and a fifth. They were equal to Brahmā in wisdom, full of vairāgya (dispassion) and firm in their vows. These mahātmās thought only of meditation on Śiva and had no interest in the world of creation. When Brahmā told them to help produce offspring, they refused.

At this refusal Brahmā was disappointed and, under the influence of Śiva’s māyā, felt sharp anger and confusion together. Tears fell from his eyes. He turned his mind to Vishṇu, who appeared at once and advised him to do tapas (austerity) to Śiva.

Ardhanārīśvara appears

Brahmā did fierce tapas. Then, from the avimukta spot, the sacred point between Brahmā’s eyebrows at the root of the nose, Parameśvara appeared in his full portion as Ardhanārīśvara, who is Bhagavān Śiva as half woman and half man. He is unborn, a mass of tejas (radiance), the consort of Pārvatī, the knower and maker of all, Nīlalohita.

Brahmā saw this highest darśana and bowed with great devotion. He praised Bhagavān Śiva and made his request: “Deva! Please create the many kinds of prajā (beings).” Kind Mahādeva heard this and made countless Rudra-gaṇas like himself, equal to him in form and glory.

Brahmā then said: “Deva! Create beings with the fear of birth and death.” Mahādeva smiled and answered: “O Brahmā! I will not create beings filled with the fear of birth and death, without splendour, ruled by karma and drowning in the ocean of saṃsāra. I shall take the form of the Guru, give them true knowledge and lift them out of that ocean. O Prajāpati! By my command, you yourself create the suffering beings. You will not be bound by the bond of māyā.” Having said this, Śiva, of blue and red colour, vanished with his gaṇas before Brahmā’s eyes.

The creation of the great ṛshis

Brahmā now had Śiva’s own word to create. He did the pañcīkaraṇa (the five-fold mixing) of the subtle tanmātras: sound, touch, form, taste and smell. From this he made the five gross elements: ākāśa, vāyu, agni, jala and pṛthivī (space, air, fire, water, earth). From them he made mountains, oceans, trees, the divisions of time from the kshaṇa up to the yuga, and mortal beings.

He was still not satisfied. Meditating on Sāmba-Sadāśiva, he made the great ṛshis to help in creation:

Dharma was born from Brahmā’s saṅkalpa. By Brahmā’s command he took a human form, and these ṛshis set him in motion. Then, from the different limbs of his body, Brahmā made devas, rākshasas and countless other beings, each given a fitting body.

Svāyaṃbhuva Manu and Śatarūpā

Urged from within by Śaṅkara, Brahmā divided his own body into two halves. The left half became a woman and the right half became a man. From this first division the first human pair was born:

• Svāyaṃbhuva Manu, the male right half, the highest sādhaka (one who practises)
• Śatarūpā, the female left half, a yoginī and tapasvinī

Manu married Śatarūpā by the proper rite, and through them the line of human creation went on. They had two sons, Priyavrata and Uttānapāda, and three daughters, Ākūti, Devahūti and Prasūti.

• Ākūti was given in marriage to Ruci. From them came Yajña and Dakshiṇā as a pair, and from Yajña and Dakshiṇā twelve sons were born.
• Devahūti was given to Kardama Muni. Many sons were born to them, including Kapila.
• Prasūti was given to Daksha. His descendants filled all three worlds.

Daksha’s daughters and their lines

In this kalpa Daksha had twenty-four daughters. He gave thirteen to Dharma and eleven to various ṛshis.

Thirteen daughters given to Dharma: Śraddhā, Lakshmī, Dhṛti, Tushṭi, Pushṭi, Medhā, Kriyā, Vasu, Buddhi, Lajjā, Śānti, Siddhi and Kīrti.

Eleven daughters given to the ṛshis: Khyāti (to Bhṛgu), Satī (to Bhava, who is Śiva), Sambhūti (to Marīci), Smṛti (to Aṅgiras), Prīti (to Pulastya), Kshamā (to Pulaha), Sanati (to Kratu), Anurūpā (to Atri), Ūrjā (to Vasishṭha), Svāhā (to Agni) and Svadhā (to the Pitṛs).

In another kalpa, the text gives a second account. Daksha had sixty daughters. Ten were given to Dharma, twenty-seven to Candra (the Moon), thirteen to Kaśyapa, four to Tārkshya (Garuḍa), and two each to Bhṛgu, Aṅgiras and Kṛśāśva. Through these lines, above all through the thirteen wives of Kaśyapa, all creation filled the three worlds from Pātāla to Satya, with no empty space left: devas, ṛshis, daityas, trees, birds, mountains and creepers.

The Trimūrti and the Śaktis

These chapters hold the clearest teaching of the Rudra Saṃhitā on the Trimūrti and their link to Śiva Parabrahman.

Where the three come from

• Vishṇu is Śiva’s left side. Brahmā is Śiva’s right side. Rudra is born from Śiva’s heart.
• Śiva-Parabrahman is always nirguṇa and without change. The three are his forms in the guṇas.

The guṇa of each

• Vishṇu is sattva-guṇa outwardly. Brahmā is rajo-guṇa. Rudra is tamo-guṇa outwardly.
• Inwardly, Vishṇu has tamas inside and sattva outside. Rudra has sattva inside and tamas outside.
• Brahmā has rajo-guṇa both inside and outside.

The three Śaktis

• Sarasvatī, Brahmā’s Śakti, is mainly rajo-guṇa.
• Satīdevī or Pārvatī, Rudra’s Śakti, is of the nature of sattva.
• Lakshmī, Vishṇu’s Śakti, is full of tamas.
• All three are forms of Śivā Parā-Bhaṭṭārikā, the one supreme devī.

Brahmā says: “The Trimūrti, who are forms of the guṇas, together with the Devī-mūrtis, who are also forms of the guṇas, did the noble work of creation. I have told you this order of creation. I made all the brahmāṇḍas by Śiva’s command. Śiva is Parabrahman. We three, Brahmā, Vishṇu and Rudra, are only his divisions by guṇa, as the ṛshis say.”

Rudra as Śiva’s full avatāra. The text also says that Rudra, born from Śiva’s heart, is Śiva’s pūrṇāvatāra (full descent). In essence he is wholly nirguṇa Parabrahman, served by Hari and Brahmā, and not different from Sadāśiva.

Satīdevī is Śivā

The chapters end by naming who Satīdevī is. For the sake of the work of the cosmos, Sadāśiva himself placed Śivā, the Śakti of all, on the tip of his trident and held her there. That same Śivā was born as Daksha’s daughter, Satī, to do tapas and to raise up devotees through her many līlās (divine acts).

After Daksha’s yajña she left that body and did not take it up again. She returned to her dhāma (own abode). When the devas prayed again, she was born as Pārvatī, did her fierce tapas, and again won Śiva.

The text lists her many names, given by her guṇas and acts: Kālikā, Caṇḍikā, Bhadrā, Cāmuṇḍā, Vijayā, Jayā, Jayantī, Bhadrakālī, Durgā, Bhagavatī, Kāmākhyā, Kāmadā, Ambā, Mṛḍānī, Sarvamaṅgalā and many more. Of these, Pārvatī is the best known.

Sources

• Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Sṛshṭi Khaṇḍa, Chapter 15 (creation resumes, the five attempts, the Sanakādi sons, Ardhanārīśvara)
• Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Sṛshṭi Khaṇḍa, Chapter 16 (the great ṛshis, Svāyaṃbhuva Manu and Śatarūpā, Daksha’s daughters, the Trimūrti and Śaktis, Satīdevī as Śivā)