Tattva Evolution: The Unfolding of Creation

Tattva-pariṇāma, the unfolding of the tattvas, describes how creation comes forth step by step. It begins from the undivided ground of Prakṛti (nature), passes through an exact sequence of twenty-four tattvas (basic principles of existence), and ends with the five gross elements that make up the visible world.

Bhagavān Kapila teaches this to his mother Devahūti in the 3rd Skanda (book) of the Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa. The sequence begins when Puruṣa (the pure witness, the Self) draws near to Prakṛti and disturbs its balance. It passes through Mahat (cosmic intelligence), the three modes of ahaṅkāra (the sense of “I”), the inner instrument and the ten senses, the five subtle elements and the five gross elements, and ends with the Virāṭ Puruṣa (the cosmic Person) arising from the cosmic egg. Each stage is linked with a śakti (power) of Bhagavān Viṣṇu: the vyūha forms of Bhagavān Viṣṇu are built into the very structure of creation.

The Starting Point: Puruṣa Meets Prakṛti

Prakṛti in its root state (mūla-prakṛti) is the three guṇas, sattva, rajas and tamas, held in perfect balance. There is no creation, no movement, nothing manifest. Puruṣa, the pure witness and the twenty-fifth tattva, rests in its nature beyond the guṇas, undisturbed.

Creation begins when Puruṣa comes near Prakṛti. In the Sāṅkhya of the Bhāgavata, this nearness is Bhagavān Viṣṇu’s will, shown as a glance that stirs things into motion (kṣobhaka-dṛṣṭi). It upsets the balance of the guṇas, and from that first disturbance the unfolding begins.

Stage 1: Mahat-Tattva

The first thing to unfold is Mahat-tattva: cosmic intelligence, the universal inner instrument in its purest form, the “great” principle (mahat means great). It is:

• The intelligence of the universe before individual minds arise
• Linked with Vāsudeva as the vyūha form of universal consciousness
• The faculty in which sattva is strongest: the first light of awareness in creation

At the level of the individual, Mahat corresponds to buddhi (the discerning intellect) and citta (the field of memory and awareness).

Stage 2: Ahaṅkāra in Three Forms

From Mahat arises Ahaṅkāra, the principle that makes things individual, the sense “I am this”. It is linked with Saṅkarṣaṇa as its vyūha form. Ahaṅkāra appears in three modes, depending on which guṇa is strongest.

Sāttvika Ahaṅkāra (Vaikārika)

The mode in which sattva is strongest. From it arise:

• Manas, the mind, the faculty of saṅkalpa (resolve) and vikalpa (doubt), linked with Aniruddha
• The powers of the devatās who preside over the senses (the divine powers that govern how the senses work)

Rājasa Ahaṅkāra (Taijasa)

The mode in which rajas is strongest. From it arise:

• Buddhi, the discerning intellect (at the level of the individual, different from the cosmic Mahat)
• The ten indriyas, the five senses of knowing and the five organs of action (see below)

Tāmasa Ahaṅkāra (Bhūtādi)

The mode in which tamas is strongest. From it arise:

• The five tanmātras, the subtle essences of the elements
• And from the tanmātras, the five mahābhūtas, the gross elements

Stage 3: The Ten Indriyas

From rājasa ahaṅkāra the ten indriyas arise as the instruments of experience and action.

The first five are the jñānendriyas (senses of knowing); the last five are the karmendriyas (organs of action).

Stage 4: The Five Tanmātras

From tāmasa ahaṅkāra the five tanmātras arise in order. Tanmātra means “that only”: the pure, subtle essence of each element.

1. Śabda-tanmātra, the essence of sound, gives rise to ākāśa (space)
2. Sparśa-tanmātra, the essence of touch, gives rise to vāyu (air)
3. Rūpa-tanmātra, the essence of form, gives rise to agni (fire)
4. Rasa-tanmātra, the essence of taste, gives rise to ap (water)
5. Gandha-tanmātra, the essence of smell, gives rise to pṛthivī (earth)

Each one carries the qualities of all those that came before it. Space has only sound. Air has sound and touch. Fire has sound, touch and form. Water has the first four. Earth has all five. This is why earth can be sensed by all five senses.

Stage 5: The Five Mahābhūtas

From the five tanmātras the five mahābhūtas (gross elements) arise:

These five gross elements make up the physical world in which embodied life takes place.

The Cosmic Egg and the Virāṭ Puruṣa

When all twenty-four tattvas come together in their ordered pattern, brought to life by kāla (cosmic time), pushed on by karma and lit by Puruṣa’s witnessing awareness, the Brahmāṇḍa (cosmic egg) arises. Inside it every layer of creation is present as a seed.

When the kṣetrajña (the knower of the field, the ātman, entering as Puruṣa at the cosmic level) brings the egg to life, the Virāṭ Puruṣa awakens: the cosmic body of creation. All the cosmic functions come forth from his body:

• From his mouth: speech and Agni
• From his nostrils: prāṇa (life-breath) and Vāyu
• From his eyes: sight and Sūrya
• From his ears: hearing and the Diśas (directions)
• From his skin: touch and the herbs and plants
• From his heart: manas (the mind) and Candra (the moon)
• From his consciousness: buddhi and Brahmā
• From his ahaṅkāra: all creatures

This is the Virāṭ Puruṣa at the cosmic level, the universal body in which all beings live.

The Same Unfolding in the Aśvamedhika Parva

The Aśvamedhika Parva of the Mahābhārata gives its own detailed teaching of this same sequence. In the Guru-Śiṣya Saṃvāda (the Brāhmaṇa-Gītā) of the Anugītā, Brahmā teaches it to the great ṛṣis Aṅgiras, Dakṣa, Bharadvāja, Gautama, Śukra, Vasiṣṭha, Kaśyapa, Viśvāmitra and Atri. It largely agrees with the Bhāgavata’s scheme above, while adding pictures of its own. (The setting of this teaching is given in Chapters 35–39.)

Mahat-Tattva, the Paramātmā in the Cave (Chapter 40)

From avyakta-prakṛti (unmanifest nature) arises Mahat. Here it is described as the nature of the Self, the great principle of intelligence, the first tattva and the prathama sarga (first creation). Brahmā gives twelve other names for it: Mahātmā, Mati, Viṣṇu, Jiṣṇu, Śambhu, Vīryavanta, Buddhi, Prajña, Upalabdhi, Khyāti, Dhṛti and Smṛti.

This Mahat-puruṣa has hands and feet everywhere, eyes, heads and faces in every direction, and ears everywhere. It fills the whole world. It is Īśvara, and shines in the hearts of all as the Supreme Person. The siddhis (powers) of aṇimā (becoming tiny), laghimā (becoming light) and prāpti (reaching anything) are its very nature.

Wise munis reach this Mahat-tattva, the Paramātman. They are devoted to goodness, given to meditation, always in yoga, true to their word, masters of their senses, full of knowledge, free of greed and anger, clear in mind, steady, and free of “I” and “mine”. Brahmā calls this Puruṣa, seated in the cave of the intellect, the guhāśaya-prabhu, “the Paramātmā who rests in the cave”. He is the Viśvarūpa (the one whose form is the universe), the ancient Person, the golden deva, and whoever knows him goes beyond the very limits of the intellect.

Ahaṅkāra-Tattva in Three Forms (Chapter 41)

Mahat itself, turning into the form of ahaṅkāra, makes the second creation. Its tāmasa form is called Bhūtādi. It is also called Vaikārika (since it is a change arising from Mahat, which is itself a change from the unmanifest) and Taijasa. These match the Bhāgavata’s three forms of ahaṅkāra described above, though the naming and emphasis differ a little here.

Ahaṅkāra has the nature of rajas. It has many names:

• Because the conscious ātman is its support, it is called Cetanā-dhātu
• Because all creation of beings happens through it, it is called Prajāpati
• Because it is the source of the devas of the senses and of the mind, and the maker of the three worlds, it is called Tri-loka-kṛt
• Because the whole world has its nature, it is also called Abhimantā, “the one who claims, ‘this is I, this is mine'”

The munis devoted to reflecting on the Self and to the yajña of svādhyāya (study of scripture) reach the eternal world named Aniruddha, identified with this collective ahaṅkāra.

Moved by the puruṣa’s wish to experience the guṇas, ahaṅkāra creates in three ways. Its tāmasa form (Bhūtādi) creates the five elements. Its Vaikārika form creates the senses of knowing. Its Taijasa form creates the organs of action and the five prāṇas, and through them it “colours” (rañjayati) the whole world of things to be enjoyed.

The Five Elements, Forward and Backward (Chapter 42)

From ahaṅkāra the elements arise in anuloma (forward) order: ākāśa (space); then vāyu (air) from space; then agni (fire) from air; then jala (water) from fire; and then pṛthivī (earth) from water. At mahāpralaya, the great dissolution of the universe, they dissolve in pratiloma (reverse) order: earth into water, water into fire, fire into air, and air into space.

Yogīs who, by the power of yoga, dissolve the gross elements into their subtle tanmātra forms are not dissolved themselves, even while the gross elements around them perish. This is because the sense objects, sound and the rest, are causes and exist only in the mind, and so are eternal; only the gross forms, called moha (delusion), are impermanent. The same chapter also sets out how each element relates to the inner self, the outer world and the presiding devatās.

Why the Sequence Matters

Understanding the order in which the tattvas unfold brings several important insights that help towards liberation:

1. The gross comes from the subtle: the physical world is derived, not primary.
2. Each level is more entangled than the one above it: the closer to earth, the thicker the identification.
3. Ahaṅkāra is the turning point: all division flows from the three modes of ahaṅkāra. Dissolve ahaṅkāra and the sequence runs backward, towards liberation.
4. Bhagavān Viṣṇu’s śaktis fill the whole sequence: Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa and Aniruddha are not missing from creation but present at its very roots.

Sources

• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 3, Chapters 26–27
• Mahābhārata, Aśvamedhika Parva, Chapters 40–42