[69]Lit. the creation of the elements.
[70]i.e. pertaining to Indriyas—the organ of sense.
[71]From Prakriti—nature.
[72]Creation of the gods.
[73]An order of deities.
[74]i.e. relating to the excited condition of anything.

Maitreya said—"O ascetics, thou hast narrated unto me in brief the origin of gods &c. But, O best of the foremost anchorets, I wish to hear this at length". Parāçara said,—"O Brāhmana, on Brahmā being engaged in creation, from his mind issued the four orders of beings commencing with celestials and concluding with the immobile,—and although these are destroyed at the time of universal dissolution, they are never bereft of the mental tendencies they acquire in existence, consequent on their acts; or of the good or bad fortune resulting respectively from their fair or foul actions. [75] Then desirous of creating deities, Asuras, ancestors and men, all going under the name of ambha, Brahmā began to contemplate. And as the lord of beings concentrated his soul, passion overspread him; and first from forth his hips came out Asuras. And then (Brahmā) renounced his person surcharged with darkness; and, O Maitreya, on being renounced by him, Foulness was converted into Night. [76] And having assumed another body, he (again) became desirous of creating, and from the face of the pleased Brahmā, came forth, O twice-born one, celestials surcharged with the virtue of goodness. And that body also having been resigned, the quality of righteousness was turned into Day. And therefore it is that Asuras are powerful by night and deities by day. And he then assumed a person, fraught with goodness; and, he being honored as a sire, out of him sprang the ancestors. And having created the ancestors, the Lord renounced that form also. And on being renounced, the same became Twilight, remaining between day and night. And then he assumed a person filled with the principle of passion; and, O foremost of the twice-born ones, thereat sprang men fierce, with passion entering into their composition. And the lord of creatures speedily resigned that form also,—And it became Moonlight, which is termed prāksandhydā. [77] And therefore it is, O Maitreya, man and the Pitris, become powerful in Moonlight and Twilight. Moonlight, Night, Day, and Twilight,—these four, are the bodies of Brahmā, endowed with the three principles. And then he assumed another body filled with the principle of passion, and thereat sprung Hunger from Brahmā, and from Hunger, wrath. Then the reverend one in the dark created beings frightful and bearded, and always exercised with hunger. And (as soon as these) were created, they rushed at the Lord. And of those that cried,—‘Ho! don't do this,—save him,'—are Rakshas; [78] and others that said,—‘We shall eat him up,'—are Yakshas, from Yakshana [79] eating. Seeing them mischievous, the hair of the Deity fell off,—and having fallen off from his head, it again rose to his head. And from their movement (sarpana), the hair became sarpas, [80] —and from their having fallen off, they are known as ahis. [81] Then the creator of the universe, waxing wroth, generated some beings of wrathful souls. Twenty-hued, they are beings subsisting on flesh. And then came forth from him Gandharvas, whose office is music. O regenerate one, as these came into being, drinking in strains (of music), they are called Gandharvas, All these beings created the reverend Brahmā, directed by inherent force resident in these (respectively). Then he at his pleasure created another order of beings—fowls of the air. And he created sheep from his breast, and goats from his mouth. And the lord of creatures created kine from his womb and flanks. And he created from his feet horses, elephants, sarabhas, [82] gavayas, [83] deer, camels, mules, nyankus, [84] and other species. And from his down sprang medicinal herbs furnished with fruits and roots. And, O twice-born one, at the commencement of the Tretā-Yuga and on the eve of the Kalpa, Brahmā, having created the beasts and the drugs, then set them apart respectively for sacrifice. Fair complexioned males, sheep, horses, mules, and asses, were called Grāmyā [85] animals. And know also those that are wild. (These are) beasts of prey, the cloven-hoofed, elephants, monkeys, and, fifthly, birds, and, sixthly, aquatic animals, and, seventhly, reptiles. Then from his first mouth he generated the Gāyatri, [86] the Richas, [87] the Trivatstoma [88] the Rathantara, [89] and the Agnishtoma [90] among sacrifices. Then from his southern mouth he created the Yajus, [91] the Trishutva metre, the fifteenth Stoma, [92] the Vrihat Sāman, [93] and the Uktha. [94] And from his western mouth, he created the Sāmas and the Fagati metre, the seventeenth Stoma, the Vairupa [95] and the Atirātra. [96] And from his northern mouth he brought forth the twenty-first Stoma, the Atharva Veda, the Aptoryāma, [97] the Anishtubha metre, and the Vairāyya Sāma. Thus from his person came forth noble and ignoble. And having created gods, Asuras, Pitris, and men, that lord of beings, the great-sire, at the commencement of the Kalpa, created Yakshas, Piçāchas, [98] Gandharvas, and numbers of Apsaras; and that lord, the reverend Brahmā, the first Cause, created Naras, [99] Kinnaras, [100] Rākshasas, birds, beasts, deer, serpents, and mobile and immobile objects lasting or other-wise. And in successive creations, verily each creature is born into those acts which it used to perform in its former existence. [101] Some are cruel and some kind, some mild and some harsh, some virtuous and some vicious, some truthful and some false,—in consequence of their inheriting their respective natures as developed in previous births; and it is also for this that each affects a particular course of conduct (in preference to others). [102] The Deity is the lord of all objects of enjoyment, of all creatures, and all bodies; and it is the Deity who hath personally divided and differentiated them. And at the beginning from the Vedic Vocabulary he assigned names unto creatures, celestials and other, as well as unto sacrifices; and also fixed forms and shapes thereof. And from the auditory Veda, he assigned appellations unto the sages,—and appointed them to their respective functions. And as the signs of the seasons successively manifest themselves, the characteristics, of the Yugas are seen in due order. And instinct with energy arising from a desire of creation, He, actuated by the creative impulse, thus again and again bringeth about creation at the commencement of Kalpas".

[75]This passage is very obscure. It is not clear how acts, whether fair or foul or indifferent, can apply to immobile objects, the very statement of whose name carries with it a negation of movement.—T.
[76]In Sanskrit tamas means darkness, along with the principle of foulness.
[77]Meaning, going before twilight.