The Story of Creation

Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world (after Christianity and Islam) with approximately 1.16 billion followers worldwide. Hinduism is much, much older than the other popular surviving religions. Although there are many Hindu religious scriptures, including Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, etc., no single Hindu religious text can be taken as the only authentic source to explain the complete process of creation and its philosophical aspects. Even the hymns of the Rig Veda, the oldest surviving religious text in the world, have been interpreted in many different ways by different scholars. Furthermore, Hinduism itself is divided into numerous sects like Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism, and so on, with each sect contributing religious texts to prove the superiority of their deity over the others. Hence, there are different versions and philosophical interpretations of the story of creation.

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Hindu religious scriptures state that the creation of the universe is a dynamic process with continuous cyclical repetition of Sristi, Sthiti, and Laya (creation, sustenance, and destruction). Brahma is the creator God. There are many many universes (multiverse?) in space, and the manifestation of any universe begins with the birth of a Brahma. 

According to the Vedas and Puranas, the Supreme Being, Brahmana or Adi Purusha, manifested himself from nothing (Swayambhu). He first created the primordial water in dark space and implanted the seed of creation into it. The seed developed into a large golden egg, known as Hiranyagarva. The egg cracked open, and Brahma himself emerged from the egg, and the process of creation of the universe began. 

According to some sources, Brahma manifested himself inside a lotus which had sprouted out from the naval of Shree Vishnu (Parabrahmana or Adi-Purusha), who was lying on the Sheshanaga (the great serpent), floating in the cosmic ocean (Khira Sagara). Two demons, Madhu and Kaitava, were born from the earwax of Shree Vishnu when he was sleeping (yoga-nidra). Both of them worshipped the Adi-Shakti Devi Mahamaya (the feminine counterpart of the masculine Parabrahman) and received the boon of ichha-mrityu (death at their will). 

After getting the boon, they started to create chaos. Brahma became afraid and started to beg Devi Mahamaya to remove the nidra (sleep) from Vishnu. After awaking from his sleep, Shree Vishnu started a fierce battle with the demons, which continued for thousands of years. Lord Vishnu finally realised that the demons were invincible because of the boon of ichcha-mrityu.

So, Shree Vishnu decided to tackle the situation with intelligence, instead of applying crude strength. He began to praise the demons for their courage and fighting skills, and expressed his wish to grant them a boon. But the demons were very proud of their own achievements, and they started boasting. They thought that they were even greater than the Vishnu, and they told Vishnu to ask for a boon. Shree Vishnu was waiting for the moment and asked for their lives.

Madhu-Kaitava agreed to fulfil his wish, but on the condition that Vishnu had to kill them on some dry surface. The creation was at an early stage and water was everywhere. Hence, Vishnu placed the demons on his own thighs and beheaded them with his Sudarshana chakra. The earth was formed by the remains of the demons, and thus, is known as medini (synonym of earth). Henceforth, Shree Vishnu has come to be known as Madhusudan, or the slayer of the demon Madhu. 

In mythology, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, altogether, are known as Tri-devas or Tri-murti. Brahma is responsible for sristi (creation) and represents Rajo-guna (activity and movement); Shree Vishnu is responsible for the sthiti (protection and continuous transformation of the universe) and represents Sattva-guna (purity and calmness), whereas Shiva is responsible for laya (destruction) as Kalagni and represents tamo-guna (negativity and ignorance). 

Just like the Tri-devas, who are considered as the manifestations of Adi Purusha, there are three Devis who are the consorts of the Tri-devas and are manifestations of Adi Shakti. Devi Maha-Lakshmi (consort of Vishnu) is the goddess of wealth and prosperity; Devi Saraswati (consort of Brahma) is the goddess of universal knowledge and wisdom; Maha-Kali or Parvati or Devi Durga (consort of Shiva) is the goddess of destruction and chaos, love and devotion, and protection and victory. 

Brahma, the Creator

In the religious texts, Brahma is depicted as a man with four heads and four arms, sitting on a lotus and chanting Vedas. The four heads represent four directions and four vedas.

Brahma is not immortal in the true sense. He lives for 100 Brahma years. Each Brahma year has 360 days. The complete annihilation of the universe happens with the death of Brahma. One day (or night of the same duration) of Brahma is known as a Kalpa. Each Kalpa is divided into 14 Manvantaras. Each Manvantara is governed by a Manu (mind-born child of Brahma). Therefore, there are 14 Manus in a Kalpa. The time lag between two consecutive Manvantaras is known as Sandhya, and this is the time of maha-plaban (deluge).

Each Kalpa is formed by 1000 Maha-yugas. Krita yuga (Satya Yuga), Treta Yuga, Dwapar Yuga and Kali Yuga are four Yugas of each Maha-yuga. Hence, on an average, each Manu rules for (1000÷14=) 71 Maha-yugas approximately. 1 Maha-yuga is equivalent to 4,320,000 (4.32 million) years. So, 1 Kalpa means 4.32 billion years. Hence, Brahma lives for 100×360×2 = 72000 Kalpas or 72,000 x 4.32 billion years. 

During the day of Brahma (one Kalpa), the creation process continues through the creation of the fourteen worlds (Lokas) and the manifestation of lifeforms. At the end of the day, destruction begins (not complete annihilation as seen at the time of the death of Brahma), which continues throughout the night of Brahma (another Kalpa). Mortals with physical existence (including humans and animals) reside in the Bhu Loka (physical world), Ancestors (Pitri-purushas) and spirits reside in the Bhuvar Loka, and the gods and the great Sages live in Svar and Mahar Lokas respectively. Brahma himself resides in the Brahma Loka. Nagas, asuras, demons, and all other evil beings live in the worlds below the level of Bhu Loka.

The Brahma who created our universe is known as Shataguna Brahma, and he is now fifty years (Brahma year) and one day old . We are in the Sveta-varaha Kalpa and the twenty-eighth Mahayuga of the seventh Manvantara. At the beginning of the Sveta-varaha Kalpa, many Manas-putras (mind-born children) of Brahma were born to continue the work of creation. First, four Brahma Kumars were born from the ichcha, or desire, of Brahma. But they were so pure in nature, they refused to propagate and decided to spend their lives in celibacy, meditation, and chanting veda. Hence, Brahma gave birth to the other manas-putras, including Svayambhuva Manu and Shatarupa (manas-putri or mind-born daughter). 

As the earth sank into the depth of the cosmic ocean at the beginning of this Kalpa, Brahma asked for help from Shree Vishnu. The Lord Vishnu appeared in the form of a Varaha (wild boar) and took the earth (Bhu Devi) to the surface with his tusks. Because of his incarnation, (Varaha Avatar), the present Kalpa is known as Sveta-Varaha Kalpa. The manifestations of life began after the emergence of the earth. All the devas, asuras, humans, nagas, etc. have descended from Svayambhuva Manu and Shatarupa. In every Manvantara, seven great sages help Manu to repopulate the earth and establish the teachings of the Veda. The seven great sages of the first Manvantara were Atri, Angiras, Marichi, Pulaha, Pulastya, Kratu, and Vashistha. In the first Manvantara, Lord Vishnu incarnated as Yagna (Yagneswara) and became the first Indra (Dev-raj or king of the demigods) of the present Kalpa.

The Manu of the present Manvantara is Vaivasvata Manu, son of Vivasvana. When the earth was flooded with water at the end of the previous Manvantara, Shree Vishnu appeared as a Matsya or fish (Matsya Avatar) and helped Manu to repopulate the earth once again and to establish law and order. Vaivasvata Manu had ten sons, including Ikshvaku (founder of the Suryavansham or Solar dynasty), and one daughter, Ila (founder of the Chandravansham or Lunar dynasty).

The seven great sages, or sapta-rishis, of this Manvantara are Vashistha, Viswamitra, Atri, Gautama, Kashyapa, Jamadagni, and Bharadwaj. Since the time of the beginning of the seventh Manvantara, twenty-seven Maha-yugas have passed. We are presently in the Kali-Yuga of the twenty-eighth Mahayuga.