Mārkandeya Mahā Purana
48 - The Course of Creation.
Márkandeya relates how Brahmá created the Asuras, the gods, the pitruis and mankind, and the night and day and the two twilights- He mentions the limes when those beings are powerful -He relates the creation of the Rakshasas, Yakshas, Serpents, Pishachas, and Gandharvas– Next of all beasts, birds and other animals- Then of various sacred hymns and metres-Then of the lightning, thunder, and other phenomena—And lastly Brahmá assigned all things their shapes, pursuits and names.
Kraushțuki spoke.
1 O adorable Sir, right well hast thou related the creation briefly to me; tell me, O bráhman, fully of the origin of the gods.
Márkandeya spoke.
2 Creation is impregnated with the good and bad* actions of previous existence, O brahman; and because of this well-known law †, created beings, though they are destroyed in the dissolution, are not delivered, from the consequences of their actions.
* For kushalá kushalair read kushalákushalair.
† For khyátá read khyátya?
3 The gods and other divine beings, and stationary things, and the four classes of mankind, O bráhman, were produced in his mind when Bráhmá was engaged in creation.
4 Then being desirous of creating the four classes of beings, namely, the gods, the Asuras and the pitruis, and mankind, he
5 infused †† himself in the waters. The particle of darkness grew up in excess as the Praja-pati was rapt in meditation. First then out of his buttocks, as he was desirous
†† Or, united himself with.
6 of creating, were produced the Asuras. And then he cast aside that body which was composed of the particle of darkness; that body cast aside by him forth with became Night.
7 Being desirous of creating, he assumed another body and experienced delight; then were produced from his mouth the
8 Gods in whom goodness predominates. And the mighty lord of created beings abandoned that body also, and when cast aside it became Day wherein goodness predominates.
9 Then he took another body which was indeed characterized by the particle of goodness; tho Pitruis were produced from
10 him while he deemed himself to be a pitrui. The lord, after creating the pitruis, abandoned that body also, and when abandoned it became the Twilight that intervenes between
11 day and night. Next the lord assumed another body characterized by the particle of passion, and then were produced
12 Mankind who springs from the particle of passion. After creating mankind, the lord abandoned that body, and it became the Twilight that ends the night and begins the day.
13 Thus, these bodies of the wise God of gods have become famed as the night and day, and the evening twilight and
14 the morning twilight, O bráhman. Three are characterized by the particle of goodness, namely, the morning twilight, the evening twilight and the day; the night is characterized by
15 the particle of darkness, hence it is called Tri-yámiká. * Hence the gods are powerful by day, but the Asuras by night, and mankind at the coming of the morning twilight, and the pitruis
* That is, “having its course with the three others,” from tri and yama (from root ya); or, “keeping the three others in check,” from tri and yama (from root yam). The meaning “having three watches” from tri and yam (from root ya) is discarded here.
16 at the evening twilight. At these times these classes of beings are undoubtedly powerful and unassailable by their foes; and when they light upon the adverse times, they lose their power.
17 The morning twilight, the night, the day, and the evening twilight, these four are indeed the bodies of the lord Brahma and they are invested with the three qualities.
18 Now after creating these four, the Prajá-pati, feeling hunger and thirst, took another body composed of passion and darkness
19 during the night; during its darkness the adorable unborn god created bearded monsters wasted with hunger.
20 and they endeavoured to eat up that body. Some of those monsters, who said “let us preserve † it from them,” were called Rákshasas in consequence; and those who said, “let us devour †† it” were called Yakshas, from yakshaņa, “eating,” § O bráhman.
† Raksháma.
†† Khádáma.
§ Yakshana seems a mistake for jakshaņa.
21 When the creator Brahmá saw them, the hair of his head through his displeasure grew withered || and lost its erectibility ¶
|| For sh'íryanta read shirnas tu?
¶ Samárohana-bína.
22 Through its downward gliding** it became the Serpents, †† and from its loss †††† of erectibility they are known as the Ahis or Snakes. Thereupon in anger at having seen the
** Sarpana.
†† Sarpa.
†††† Hinatva
23 Serpents, he fashioned beings possessed with anger; §§ they were born as the flesh-eating demons, tawny-hued and fierce. Next while he meditated on the earth, * the Gandharvas
§§ For krodhátmáno read krodhátmano?
* Dhyáyato gám.
24 were born as his offspring. They were born from him as he drank speech in, † hence they are known as the Gandharvas. When these eight classes of divine beings were created, the
† Pivato vác'ham; the derivation is not apparent.
25 lord next created other things, birds and cattle. †† He created goats § from his mouth; and he created sheep from his
†† Pashavo; by ancient use for pashún.
§ Ajáḥ for aján, by ancient use; so also, avayo for avin 'sheep.'
26 Breast; and Brahmá fashioned kine || from his belly and from his loins; and from his feet swift ¶ horses and asses, and hares
|| Gavas for gás, by ancient age. But the MS. in the Sanskrit College??rary, Calcutta, reads instead---Tatah svac'hc'handato 'nyáni vayámshi vayaso 'sruijat.
“Then he created other winged animals from his bodily energy according to his wish.”
¶ Samátanga; not in the dictionary: from the root sam-a-tang?
27 and deer, camels and mules and other animals of various kinds; plants and fruit-trees were produced from the hair of
28 his body. When he had thus created the cattle and plants, the lord performed a sacrifice. From him at the beginning of the kalpa, at the commencement
29 of the Tretá Age issued the cow, the goat, mankind, the sheep, the horse, the mule, and the ass (these animals men call domestic cattle), and others (which they call wild animals,
30 hearken to me), namely the beast of prey, the cloven-hoofed beast, the elephant, monkeys, fifthly birds, sixthly aquatic beasts, and seventhly creeping animals.
31 And for the sacrifices he fashioned from his front mouth the gayatrí, and the třic'ha strophe, the tri-vruit hymn of praise, **
** The eleventh hymn of the ninth Mandala of the Ruig Veda sung in a special way.
32. the rathantara sámáns, and the agni-shtoma verses. And he created from his right mouth the yajur hymns, the tri-shțubh metre, sacred hymns, †† and the fifteen hymns of praise,†††† and
†† C'handas.
†††† Stoma.
33 the bruihat-sáman and the uktha verses. §§ He fashioned from his hindmost mouth the sáman hymns, the metre jagatí, and the fifteen hymns of praise, * the vairúpa sáman, and the atiratra
§§ For uktam read uktham.
* Stoma; but another reading is seventeen.
34. verse. † He created from his left mouth the twenty first Atharva hymn, and the aptor-yáman sacrificial verse, † the anu-shţubh metre and the viráj metre.
† A part of the seven soma-samstha sacrifices.
35 The mighty adorable god created at the beginning of the kalpa the lightning, the thunderbolts and the clouds, and
36 the ruddy rainbows, and the periods of life. †† And created things great and small were produced from his limbs. Having created the first four classes of beings, the gods.
†† Vayámsi; or birds.
37 the Asuras, the pitruis and mankind, he next created the things that exist both immoveable and moveable, the Yakshas, the Pishác'has, the Gandharvas and the bevies of Apsarases,
38 men and Kinnaras and Rákshasas, birds, cattle, wild animals and snakes, and whatever is changeless and changeful, stationary and moveable.
39 Whatever actions they were severally endowed with originally at their creation, those very actions they are endowed
40 with when they are created again and again. Noxiousness and harmlessness, gentleness and cruelty, righteousness and unrighteousness, truth and falsehood, -animated thereby they have their being; therefore, they severally take delight in
41 those characteristics. The lord, the creator, himself ordained diversity and specialization § among created things in their
§ Viniyoga.
42 organs and pursuits and bodies. And he assigned the names and shapes of created things, and propounded the duties of the gods and other beings, even by the words of the Veda at the
43 beginning. He gives names to the Řuishis, and to the serveral created classes || among the gods, and to the other things that
|| Sruishti.
44 were brought forth at the close of the night. ¶ As the signs of the seasons appear at their appropriate season, ** and various forms appear amid alteration, so those very signs and forms appear as actual facts †† in the ages and other periods.
¶ For sarvaryyante read s'arvaryante?
** For yathárttau read yatharttau?
†† Bháva
45 Such then* were the creations of Brahmá whose origin is undiscernible; they occur from kalpa to kalpa as he awakes at the close of his night. †
* For ta read tu?
† Or current of nutriment.
Summary of chapter 48 of the Mārkandeya Mahā Purana is as follows:
Mārkaṇḍeya elaborates on the secondary creation of immobile plants, animals, birds, devas, humans, and asuras born from the various subtle bodies assumed by Brahmā during cosmic meditation. Each species is endowed with specific attributes according to past cosmic karma.